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Including rims, wheel trims, fitting, balancing and tyres it cost me £287. Next time I do it it'll obviously be cheaper as I don't need new wheels :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
An AWD car wouldn't be 10k more expensive though, a 1.5 Subaru Impreza starts at £13,495 and a 2.0 starts @ £16,245 but then I'd expect to be using probably 30% more fuel so it's not worth it.
ssssshhhh...you just destroyed the rationale for millions of people who own SUV's because they think they are safer on a snowy road!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
I cant count the number of SUV's I have seen upside down in the ditch in a bad storm from the driver seat of my rig...they are a false hope for the unwary....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Who would even think of doing that? :D
That's down to 'stupid' drvers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa
Front wheel drive cars are always getting stuck in the snow here on even the slightest hill and 4x4s have no problems.
Stupid drivers who believe things out there are not as bad as they are because you never get stuck. I live in a world where we HAVE winter for 5 months a year bud. I know what the limitations of Front wheel drive are, and I manage JUST fine. SUV's give the driver, even a pretty good one a false sense of security, which usually can lead at one point to someone going faster than they should and THAT is where the accidents occur. If you are struggling for traction in a front drive small car, you never get up to an unsafe speed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Langdale Forest
But if you knew how to drive a SUV proprrley, it would be safer?
only in terms of traction. Braking and cornering are where accidents happpen.
Since you live on an island where a snowstorm can cripple the whole nation for 2 weeks, I am going to assume your winter driving experience is limited and was on roads not ploughed or handled properly. I don't know if you drove an AWD or 4WD on the snow or not, but I think I can tell you very safely that an SUV with 4WD will only be the asset you think it is if you are always very wary of the conditions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Langdale Forest
People who drive one of these beasts never slide accelerating, or spin their wheels a whole lot less. Once up to "speed" they are not thinking things are not slippery. Then they brake, or go to turn, and they find out what I found out in my little Nissan when I went to leave the parking lot. That it is slippery!
As someone who has driven over 300000 MILES in the last 2 years, about a third of that was in winter. Out of that time, I will say that without a doubt the vehicles that had the least respect for how slippery it was were driven by people fooled by that feeling they are getting in their SUV's. IN the Big Rig I was driving, I could feel the lack of traction because with the high center of gravity, you are very aware of the "feel" through the wheel and you will get wheelspin. The guys in the cars without this asset usually were going as slow as I was, or slower. The 4wd people? Driving like it was a nice day....and then you just had to look at the cars in in the ditch, and see people who had passed you not 10 minutes ago.
Dumb driving will put you off the road and smart driving wont, but when you are in a vehicle with great mass, a higher center of gravity but great accelerative traction, you are living in the danger zone. You have no concept of slippery it is from what your senses are telling you. I know this because my mother had a Jeep Cherokee and I found this was my personal experience. It never felt as slippery through the wheel or my senses driving that Jeep but I knew when I was in my car before that it WAS dangerous.
If experienced drivers can be fooled, you think the ignorant or clueless aren't more dangerous in a SUV?? Unfornuately, you cant tell people what to drive.
So I tell everyone, a car with good winter tires is SAFER in that it is more controllable and less likely to be in an accident than an SUV. My bias? Sure...but one borne out of living in a winter nation and driving for a living for the last 14 years.
You need to remember that the heavier the car, the more braking distance you need.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
Sorry to put a damper on your views, but after supervising snow clearing for three years in the Snowy Mountains, I would certainly rather have a AWD or 4WD if I was driving on snow and ice, especially if I had to go uphill. Now if I was coming downhill and had to rely on my gears to slow me down an icy road, I would certainly rather have a AWD or 4WD than your two wheel drive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel