Re: Wet Road Driving Comments Sought Please

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

In a brilliant stroke of genius, alice@domain.elided blurted out:

>My question.  Is a Scout2 as scary to drive in inclement weather as a 
>2WD PU?  Why or why not?  Can a Scout2 be a full year driving 
>vehicle.  I realize 4WD will be advantageous in snow ...that nothing 
>is good on glare ice (except an ice sailboat) ...but what about wet 
>days?  2WD with good tires?  Chains?  4WD?
>
>Is a Scout2 inherently a better design than a 2WD PU for wet weather? 
>I mean, they both have relatively light rear ends, don't they?    

Mark,

In my experience, the Scout is much better behaved on wet or icy roads,
because of not only the shear weight involved, but the weight distribution
itself.  The weight helps put more pounds per square inch from the tires on
the pavement.

I drive my Traveler year round with radial "mud" type tires.  These tires
feature a very open tread design, that I've found performs quite well in
snow, ice, and especially wet roads.  The open tread apparently sheds water
to such a degree to make hydroplaning almost an impossibility at normal
road speeds.  Couple that with the weight on the front axle, and water is
simple forced out of the way.

Extra weight means extra traction, but also means more mass to slow when
you need to stop.  As long as you learn how to brake properly, the extra
weight ins't enough of a hinderance to offset the benefits.  Braking on
glaze ice would be the worst situation, and my personal technique is to not
only drive slow and allow *lots* of braking room, but to slip the automatic
transmission into neutral so I can feel the wheel braking better and avoid
fighting the automatic transmission.  Of course with a manual tranny this
is a natural method of braking.  Avoid using engine braking
indiscriminately on glare ice, as you have little control over how much
deceleration being applied.

Chains are only appropriate when the tires lack traction on their own.
Obviously they can actually reduce traction on some surfaces such as bare
pavement.  2wd is appropriate on wet *pavement*, unless you're trying to
pull someone out of a muddy ditch!  In a heavy Scout II, you simply don't
need 4wd cruising down a wet paved road.  It's probably not good for the
drive train because there may be enough traction to cause drive train bind.

Bottom line: You should have purchased a Scout II!

John

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