What's the best MPG 4WD?
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From: Moon Goddess on 31 Jul 2007 17:56 EdV <systmengr(a)hotmail.com> wrote : > Maybe you can also choose one with a higher ground clearance if the > road conditions are really that bad. They CAN be, and my work requires that I drive into neighborhoods all the time, which are least likely to get attention from snow plows. This past winter was just bad, I suppose. We don't usually get a lot of snow like that. Global warming, eh? :)
From: Moon Goddess on 31 Jul 2007 18:20 -hh <recscuba_google(a)huntzinger.com> wrote : > Moon Goddess <M...(a)no-spam.www> wrote: >> "Cathy F." <clfrc...(a)adelphia.net> wrote : >> > "Moon Goddess" <M...(a)no-spam.www> wrote: >> >> EdV <systme...(a)hotmail.com> wrote : >> >> >>> What kind of driving do you expect to do that you need a 4WD? snow, >> >>> mountain climbing, dirt roads, are you going to tow anything, do >> >>> you need a small 4wd or large 4wd. >> >> >> Mostly city snow driving. I need something as fuel efficient as >> >> possible, I do a lot of business driving. >> >> > Then I'd stick with front wheel drive, & give it tires which are >> > rated as very good/excellent in snow. >> >> Sounds wise, thanks Cathy. > > It is good advice. Around ten years ago, Car & Driver magazine did a > test where they looked at winter performance, and pitted a 4WD on All- > Season tires against a 2WD using snow tires...IIRC, for 8 of the 10 > tests, the 2WD w/snows outperformed the 4WD on All-Seasons. > > The C&D article used to be on their website, but it disappeared some > years ago. The below webpage reads like what I recall it having, so > it might be someone's effective mirror of the original: > > http://www.baileycar.com/winterdrive_html.html > > In a nutshell, the only time that 4WD outperformed 2WD/snows was in > acceleration and the very much related hill-climbing, because for both > of these tests, the benefit was in having 4 "fair grip" wheels pulling > was better than just 2 "good grip" wheels. For the rest of the > tests...and most noteably for *stopping*, having snows trumped having > 4WD. > > Naturally, having 4WD and Snows is better still, but for the simple > question of the relative ranking of 4WD *versus* Snows, the conclusion > is that Snow tires provide more benefit than AWD. > > Insofar as the Prius, I would recommend avoiding it as a potential > "snow car", with or without snow tires. Reason being is that there's > a plastic assembly that covers the engine pan area that is highly > prone to being damaged. Ohhhhhh... We bottom the car on all kinds of apartment lot speed bumps all the time anyway. Scrapes the frame. > A friend has one and he has had to get it > repaired two winters in a row, after it becoming damaged by him > driving through some of those snow chunks that snowplows leave behind. Yep, and it was a real pain last winter because they left 6-8" of snow in the neighborhood streets that partially melted, really slamming the car up and down, so badly that we bent a front axle and had to replace it. > A couple of suggestion on snow tire selection: > > 1. If you're going to keep the car for more than 2 or 3 seasons, > buying a cheap set of wheels (eg, steel) will pay for themselves in > around 4-5 mount/dismount cycles because of having to pay to get the > tires balanced each time. This applies regardless of if you're > willing to jack your car up in your diveway and DIY, or pay a garage > to swap out the tires each spring/fall. > > 2. For generic 'snow on road' sorts of winter driving, a narrower > tire is generally expected to perform better. Supposedly, its because > it will have a greater ground pressure, which will proverbially help > it to dig down through the snow to find pavement, instead of > 'floating' over the snow. Without going into a lot of tire stuff (ie, > "a 185/70R15 has the same circumference as a 195/60R16, but the tread > width is 10mm narrower", etc), you typically want to go find the > smallest diameter rim that will fit your car properly and put on the > right tire. Any good tire shop can help you through this process very > painlessly. Just tell them that you want: (1) to go to a more narrow > tread; (2) for the rim to clear your brakes; (3) for your speedometer > and odometer to NOT be out of whack (ie, snow tire have same external > circumference). This is all standard stauff and if they don't know > what to do, they're not a good shop. Interesting, thanks!
From: mrv on 31 Jul 2007 19:52 On Jul 31, 2:40 am, Moon Goddess <M...(a)no-spam.www> wrote: > Well humphh. :) I drive very well thank you. You just haven't seen the > mess that they leave most residential streets in, in the Denver area > after a decent storm My cousin just got a 2007 Prius in CO. If you see one with "Pizza" for a license plate, say hi for me. (She may be making a delivery...) Do note that CO offers a nice state income tax credit for the listed hybrids... http://www.revenue.state.co.us/fyi/html/income09.html 2007 model years: $1972 for the Ford Escape Hybrid $2265 for the Mercury Mariner Hybrid $3906 for the Lexus RX400h $3464/$3846 for the Toyota Highlander Hybrid $3013 for the Toyota Prius
From: B A R R Y on 1 Aug 2007 07:45 -hh wrote: > > It is good advice. Around ten years ago, Car & Driver magazine did a > test where they looked at winter performance, and pitted a 4WD on All- > Season tires against a 2WD using snow tires...IIRC, for 8 of the 10 > tests, the 2WD w/snows outperformed the 4WD on All-Seasons. I wish they would pit a 4x4 with low profile tires on 24" wheels to a stock '87 Yugo in the snow. <G> Why people buy 4WD and then eliminate all tire traction is beyond me.
From: JoeSpareBedroom on 1 Aug 2007 07:48
"B A R R Y" <beech23pilot(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:Fn_ri.46666$YL5.19870(a)newssvr29.news.prodigy.net... > -hh wrote: >> >> It is good advice. Around ten years ago, Car & Driver magazine did a >> test where they looked at winter performance, and pitted a 4WD on All- >> Season tires against a 2WD using snow tires...IIRC, for 8 of the 10 >> tests, the 2WD w/snows outperformed the 4WD on All-Seasons. > > I wish they would pit a 4x4 with low profile tires on 24" wheels to a > stock '87 Yugo in the snow. <G> > > Why people buy 4WD and then eliminate all tire traction is beyond me. Cuz it looks cool, I guess. On the other hand, all the trucks around here that do snow plowing have slim tires, like most passenger cars. |