I love having four wheel drive! You can go like hell, even on ICE!

[LeftyFingerPop]

:)

[Maine-ah]

1. woo-hoo!

:toast: :woohoo:

[TZ]

2. So that was you that raced past me yesterday afternoon

Did you have any problems getting your truck out of that ditch?:P

[LeftyFingerPop]

4. I live in NY state...

and I know what you mean about the people with 4 wheelers on the ice.

I have a big 4 wheel drive truck, and I NEVER turn the 4 wheel drive on in icy conditions. Also, I open up my window so I can hear my tires...the pitch always changes when you are on some ice.

I don't drive really slow on ice, but I don't drive fast either. It always cracks me up when I see some idiot in an SUV who thinks he knows how to drive it riding someones ass on the ice, then pass them, then end up spun out a mile down the road. :P

[Thirtieschild]

27. So ice is why our 4WD vehicle spun out of control going up a forest road in the mountains

Spun backwards, fishtailed a couple of times, left us pointing the way we had come. We were on a forest road, no guard rails, hairpins and switchbacks (are they different?) When Mr. Disorganized got us safely back to the highway we all confessed what we'd been thinking.

Me: I wonder how long it will take for someone to find us at the bottom of the mountain.

Friend #1: I hope someone has a cell phone and will be alive to use it.

Friend #2: I knew we should have rewritten our wills.

Mr. D: I'm so embarrassed I had to look at the manual before I could put it in 4WD.

Mr. D. went through the Police Academy when he was 60 (for a newspaper article) and was taught how to handle a spin. I would have taken us off the mountain, but then I wouldn't have been there in the first place.

[madinmaryland]

24. Which one of these in the median is you this morning?

:rofl:

[TZ]

29. Nice post, TO!!

and a PFFFT to Lizerdbits for posting that for you to steal!!:P

[ThomCat]

3. Do they make that for electric wheelchairs?

I live one block from the county courthouse, and it took me 20 minutes to go one block in my wheelchair to get there, and then 20 minutes to get back. x(

I have no idea how I would have survived this on my crutches though. So as bad as this morning was, I'm very, very greatful to have this chair. :)

[LeftyFingerPop]

7. Yikes...

Do you live right in the city Thom?

I'm glad you have your chair and didn't have to use crutches to travel that block!

Let's keep our fingers crossed for an early spring! :hi: :pals:

[ThomCat]

53. I live in "downtown Staten Island."

if you can call it that. :P

I am very, very glad that NYC rarely gets more than two real weeks of winter.

[Maine-ah]

8. here check this out

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/294228/Wheely+extreme+off-roading.htm

[ThomCat]

12. Wow! I just spend a few minutes checking out all-terrain power wheelchairs.

:wow:

That's incredible!

I have no idea how anyone manages to travel with those things, and they'd be nearly useless indoors. The turning radius would be horrible. But if someone has a large enough van to travel on their own with two chairs (one for indoor, and one for ourdoors) then those are totally awesome.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

23. Is there a button marked "Turbo" on that thing?

There's gotta be some way to soup that thing up. You'll need a louder horn, though.

:hi:

[ThomCat]

52. I Wish there was a turbo option

:)

And, yes, it definitely needs a loud horn. :P

[MissMillie]

5. just means when you go into a skid

you slide on all 4 of those wheels....

[LeftyFingerPop]

10. In the old days when the police would not come down on you for it...

I used to go into icy parking lots and throw myself into skids and practice how to get out of them. That actually made me a better winter driver.

The keys for winter driving in my opinion are:

1) Distance. Lots of it. Keep as far away from other vehicles as you can while still keeping a steady pace.

2) Anticipate things well so you only have to touch your brakes when really necessary.

[TZ]

14. Yes the brake thing is also important

Somebody in a sedan kept touching their brakes in front of me, and it scared me into wondering if I was gonna end up skidding into their rear bumper, even with the distance I maintained.

[MissMillie]

15. staying off the brakes is the key

drive slowly w/ lots of room in front of you.

:thumbsup:

[1gobluedem]

17. The distance thing is vital

Too bad I am the only person in my city who seems to know it.

Oh, and stay OFF the phone when you're driving, please. You need two hands on the steering wheel in that weather. :crazy:

[Taverner]

55. At the Mt Bachelor parking lot in Bend, OR the State Troopers used to offer classes

Where you could skid all over and they would rate you on your abilities. Ahhh, the 90's....

[Pierre.Suave]

6. You know what really helps?

Winter Tires.

also, not driving like a jackass. Yes, 4 wheel drive helps you GO better, it DOES NOT help you STOP faster...

Think about that.

[LeftyFingerPop]

9. I know Jason...

and you are correct. I guess I should have used the sarcasm smiley in my OP. :P

[Pierre.Suave]

11. DAMN

did I miss it again?

Man, I always do that...

Sorry.

[quip]

16. Exacalacaly.

The dirty little secret is that 4WD offers the safest winter driving experience. Winter tires for non-4WD is the BARE minimum, IMO.

But, people are dumb. SUVs, however, are not. I happen to own three. :hide:

[TZ]

18. These three?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7465557&mesg_id=7465622


Kidding! I know SUV's are good for winter driving. But so many people here where I live do NOT understand how to drive them, therefore they end up causing the most accidents (this is obviously a peeve of mine but having been scared to death by two idiot SUV drivers in the last 24 hrs does that to a person)

[quip]

21. You are exactly right, too.

The false sense of security in a moran is a dangerous thing! :scared:

But let me tell you, TS-- there is nothing better than driving around the city lakes in the SUMMER in one of these:

:thumbsup:

[Pierre.Suave]

33. Is that what you are driving?

I like driving this around the lakes...

[quip]

45. Yeah, only the 2 door version. I like to take the doors off.

Nice wheels! Sunroof, at least? :shrug:

[Pierre.Suave]

46. Yeah, I got a sunroof, and I can put the windows down...

and doors that under ideal circumstances, do NOT come off...

:rofl:

Edit: I always thought that a jeep with the doors off would be a fun ride.

[quip]

Yes; doors coming off not designed as such is a Bad Thing™

When the weather warms up, we can go for a spin after one of our meet ups! B-)

[Pierre.Suave]

49. Sounds great.

We should do that.

[Pierre.Suave]

20. here is my set-up...

I have a rear wheel drive car with snow tires, it also has traction control and stability control.

I have zero problems.

[quip]

22. You really are right about the snow tires. With our only other non 4WD, we would

swap out tires each season. Actual snow tires vs all weather tires makes a big difference I found.

[Pierre.Suave]

25. HUGE difference

I would not drive in the winter without them.

[quip]

28. Hugh can say that again!

[Pierre.Suave]

30. Ok, that is easy

I have been here long enough to recognize a borg/star trek reference when I see one.

[quip]

31. Ahh, actually that was MY little twist.... it's really a play on the "you moran" sign, which morphed

into "Hugh Moran" (the proper name for the quintessential idiot)

[Pierre.Suave]

34. I see...

and I would know that how?

:rofl:

[quip]

36. Here's Hugh now:

:rofl:

[Pierre.Suave]

37. I have seen that pic before, but...

Is that Borgs name Hugh or something?

there seems to be a piece of info I am missing here.

[quip]

38. lol

Sorry, that was my fault. The ST ref was an added bonus related to nothing. Yeah, that was Hugh, the Borg. If you saw that episode, you'd know that "Hugh" is a wordplay referring to the personal pronoun "you" (a foreign concept to the Collective. Hugh, of course, has been severed from the Collective)

I should signal my turns better.... :P

[Pierre.Suave]

39. inspite of all this...

I refuse to watch Star Trek...

:P

How is Temeah today?

[quip]

43. Better, now that a friend JUST dropped off a book he just wrote (hot off of the presses)

I'm heading out to do errands; I hate this weather....

Where the hell is our mid-Feb thaw???? :grr:

[Pierre.Suave]

47. I dont know where it is...

Today is a snow day, thats for sure.

[TZ]

40. professor temeah..

edumacating the Lounge in Star Trek geekiness. How cute....And here I thought Orrex was the king of Star Trek geekiness.;-)

[quip]

41. I am

Orrex's prostate padawan.

[Phillycat]

44. AMEN.

[Coyote_Bandit]

13. Have you been

giving lessons to the Okie boys driving gigantic big red dualy trucks?

That is exactly how they drive.

[vincenzoboy]

19. 4wd is very useful

indeed.

[pokerfan]

26. Uh, just remember...

all cars have Four Wheel Stop and having 4WD just means getting stuck in more remote places.

I remember leaving a ski resort a few years ago. I was following a VW Bug out of the parking lot when this lifted 4WD pickup with 48" tires comes flying past us to get in front, almost taking out the Beetle in the process. Well, he didn't make it past the first switchback. He sailed straight of the road, landing in about ten feet of snow pointed down at a forty-five degree andle. As the Bug passed, he gave the pickup a little "meep-meep" on his horn. I saw the backup lights come one as I passed and I remember thinking, "Good luck with that."

[Xithras]

32. Heh, if you'd said Yosemite I'd have thought you were talking about my story

About 20 years ago I was driving my Bug through an icy and snowy Yosemite Valley when some guy in a jacked up Blazer blew past me doing about 60MPH (I was doing about 25). A minute later I came up to a sharp turn, and you'll never guess what I saw...the upside down tail end of that Chevy Blazer sticking out of a roadside snow bank. I beeped as I drove past :)

[pokerfan]

35. It must be in the Beetle drivers' guide

Such a wonderfully insouciant sound.

[Xithras]

54. I have an old Beetle horn in my garage.

Not from that bug, but as a memento from the Karmann Ghia I traded it for (and later totalled). I've thought more than once about mounting that thing on my Subaru...or in my wifes minivan. That would screw with people, wouldn't it? :)

Everyone knows the sound of a Bug horn. Beep Beep Beep.

[TrogL]

42. I have all-wheel drive and I can STOP on ice

I routinely piss of 4-by-4-ers around here. I can start as quickly as they can, but when it's time to stop (eg. to avoid running into telephone poles), I can get stopped and watch them sail through the intersection slamming into things.

If they hit a snowbank, I tow them out.

They are NOT amused.

[Pierre.Suave]

48. I have rear wheel drive, and...

I can stop on ice.

It has a lot to do with the tires you have, and almost nothing to do with how many driven wheels you have.

[LSK]

50. you cant stop thou

[Swede]

51. I see twice as many 4 wheel drives in the ditch as 2 wheel drives.

Drivers have a false sense of control and go way to fast with 4w.