Originally Posted By: Ramblin Fever
Have experienced this myself.
In fact, I've had the benefit of owning two exact vehicles, only difference...one is a 4x2, the other a 4x4
In all honesty, the 4x2 has always had the benefit of getting the slightly better A/T tires, and with that in play, there hasn't been anything the 4x4 did that the 4x2 couldn't do.
Reason one, I grew up in 4x4 country driving 4x2's, and learning how to *drive* before ever getting the luxury of a 4x4.
Truth be told, I bought the 4x2 7yrs after already owning the 4x4, turns out all these years later, the 4x2 has been a lot cheaper to own and I've only once got stuck.
We live in the mountains of Colorado
I love this post.
I grew up in TN mountains. We'd get 2-3 snowfalls a year 3-8 inches. it just takes 1/2" to make a sloped road very difficult. We had to learn to drive, install CHAINS, and sometimes walk. Dad kept a set of winter tires for his rabbit and could claw his way up our steep hill and driveway, but even then needed momentum. Since the muffler was always shot, the neighbors would hear us coming and often step outside and watch to see how far up the hill he could make it. He was a physician, and could have afforded a 4wd, but he preferred this stripped-down, rust-bucket, VW.
The rabbit seldom made it all the way once he gave up on hassling with winter tires, but it put up a good fight, made it far enough to just have to walk the final 100 yards, and was fun as get-out to sit shotgun.
The VW van with all-seasons made it 3/4 of the way.
The toyota corona wagon, with my mom driving it, never made it past 10 feet, unless it had chains... in which case it parked at our front door without hassle.
I eventually ended up with a PT 4x4 subaru (GL) and yes the 4x4 on that small car with narrow tires was extremely sure-footed. It was like driving a cat, or at least a tired cat.
I've since owned a few AWD, one more 4wd, and now a 2wd Jeep (which makes me feel dirty).
In DC-- I discovered it didn't matter if you had 4x4 or not. it was just a feel-good badge. The guy in front of you wasn't moving, or the 6000 people in front of him, so neither were you. I then learned with another vehicle, an 01 T&C, that if I dropped the front wheels to 15psi, I could plow through anything that we typically encountered up there. It was *almost* as good as the AWD legacy I'd traded for it.
My opinion- 4WD definitely can make it easier for anyone to avoid getting stuck, and some folks do need it. If I lived in the rockies, I'd definitely consider it, or in the snowbelt, maybe, if the conditions are bad enough, but for most folks in 75% of the US, it's a crutch, a feel-good, or a badge. And I saw it year after year.... giving the false impression that it would improve braking. I hated seeing the latest shiny SUV's on the DC beltway-- doing 40 in the snow and slamming into something when they couldn't stop. happened day after day. I pulled a lady and an infant out of a montero hanging off a bridge rail the last winter I lived up there. She was screaming and screaming that 4wd was supposed to prevent that. Most folks just don't understand what 4wd does, and does not, do.
NOW-- 2wd jeep chero. the oem tires were LAME in snow. Better tires totally changed that. I'm good. But my wife isn't-- she wasn't raised in snow. she never learned how to drive in it. She has a used MDX-- but frankly her solution is to stay home or hand me the keys.
Nothing teaches better than experience.
Not knocking 4wd. some folks really need it. I enjoyed it as a hobby, getting off in trails and mud, but truly, as a DD, I've only NEEDED in 5-10 times, and all of those situations could have been avoided with some type of planning. Where we live.... and most places I've lived.... it can avoid some inconveniences. But as important as folks make it... nope.
