fair enough. in 2006 Honda had a CR V with manual tranny, swing out side door, and all wheel drive.
I disagree with some of the other comments, I'll always have at least one all wheel drive vehicle in my garage.
Can you drive with a side mount tailgate open?
- Thread starter unL33T
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fair enough. in 2006 Honda had a CR V with manual tranny, swing out side door, and all wheel drive.
I disagree with some of the other comments, I'll always have at least one all wheel drive vehicle in my garage.
I hate carrying airbags around all unused. what a waste. hardly essential, maybe helpful.
Rainbow?
I'll always have AWD or switchable 4 wheel drive here. I took my sister and her husband and my wife on a last minute trip to Mexico one winter leaving from Ottawa airport. It was one of the shittiest drives I've ever had, the 401 hadn't been gritted and there was a fair amount of ice and snow. I could feel the car moving around but it still tracked fine, I watched as several cars (VW bug etc) went off the road into the median in front of me. We got there ok. I had several large beers at the airport.
I used to commute from Ottawa to Kingston a lot too and I have a GoPro video somewhere of a guy in front of me who slid out from the on ramp to the 401, fishtailed, hit the median and all 4 wheels left the ground as he hit. He was just driving an older sedan.
I used to commute from Ottawa to Kingston a lot too and I have a GoPro video somewhere of a guy in front of me who slid out from the on ramp to the 401, fishtailed, hit the median and all 4 wheels left the ground as he hit. He was just driving an older sedan.
No amount of safety gear, 4WD, traction control, snow tires, AWD, stability control....or anything else, will help a legitimate ****** driver who is trying to drive like a dry July day in a January snow storm.
I drove our old (Non AWD, and RWD at that) 300 through some hellish conditions with just good snow tires and it was sure footed, but I was also driving according to conditions.
Here's some photos of us arriving in Watertown a few years ago on our way home from a cruise. We drove through about 2 hours of near whiteout conditions between Syracuse and Watertown - reportedly they closed the interstate about 10 minutes after we passed through Syracuse due to the conditions. Watertown was a dream compared to what we had already went through though by that point.
Anyhow, like I said, AWD is great, 4WD is great, but so are a capable driver and good tires. Having driven the 300 through lots of crap I *still* wouldn't spec AWD knowing the fuel penalty it brings with it the other 99% of the year you don't need it.
No amount of safety gear, 4WD, traction control, snow tires, AWD, stability control....or anything else, will help a legitimate ****** driver who is trying to drive like a dry July day in a January snow storm.
I drove our old (Non AWD, and RWD at that) 300 through some hellish conditions with just good snow tires and it was sure footed, but I was also driving according to conditions.
Here's some photos of us arriving in Watertown a few years ago on our way home from a cruise. We drove through about 2 hours of near whiteout conditions between Syracuse and Watertown - reportedly they closed the interstate about 10 minutes after we passed through Syracuse due to the conditions. Watertown was a dream compared to what we had already went through though by that point.
Anyhow, like I said, AWD is great, 4WD is great, but so are a capable driver and good tires. Having driven the 300 through lots of crap I *still* wouldn't spec AWD knowing the fuel penalty it brings with it the other 99% of the year you don't need it.
Switcheable 4wd takes care of the fuel problem, I have an X Trail that has that and an old style Ford Explorer before that. I always buy the best snow tires I can afford too. Commuting down the 416 corridor I wouldn't have driven without AWD or 4x4 options. I tried it for a little while when I had free car hires so tried a bunch of vehicles the difference with and without snow tires and AWD was pretty big.
I would definitely do a true 4WD over an AWD anyday - yes, you can disable the 4WD system (and most hubs auto-unlock now) and then not pay fuel penalty for when you don't even need it.
My reason for staying away from true 4x4 is everything I've read says you can only use it at lower speeds and not on mixed surfaces. Neither of those is compatible with my use.
High speeds in 4X4 mode on any reasonably modern 4X4 isn't an issue. I don't remember it being an issue on anything built in the last 20-30 years actually, for that matter...unless you're talking about low-range mode.
"Mixed surfaces" is more of an issue - yes, you shouldn't be in 4WD on just wet (or worse yet, dry) roads (for example) as 4WD does require some slippage between the front and rear wheels to avoiding binding as there is typically no inter-axle differential like there is with AWD. That said, for example...driving out of a snowstorm and onto just wet roads while still remaining in 4WD isn't a recipe for instant disaster, but you should switch out back to 2WD again ideally.
But with on the fly 4WD systems (some even engage and disengage automatically for that matter now) it's not really a huge deal anymore - if you transition out of conditions that need the 4WD anymore, you hit the 2WD button and you're done. Even oldschool 4WD's can be switched in and out of 4WD "on the fly" but you typically had to stop to get the hubs to unlock. Really oldschool required the driver to lock/unlock the hubs manually as well.
Well all my material was late 90s part time 4x4 on Nissans and Toyotas. They aren't 30 years old. The 97 Sidekick I owned briefly still had locking hubs and it wasn't yet 30.
Pretty sure one was a 2008 XTerra as well that said you couldn't use 4x4 over 80 without causing damage. Might be remembering wrong on that though.
Automatic 4x4 might be alright with me but I've never seen a vehicle that had it along with a manual transmission.
Either way, AWD meets my needs a bit better. If I was planning on tons of offroading I'd go for 4x4.
my old Ford Explorer you couldn't use 4x4 low above certain speeds. Normal 4x4 was fine.
I owned a Chevy Tracker for about 4 years, and then a year or two later an Asuna Sunrunner (for those who remember those, basically a Tracker with different branding) for a few years as well. Both are kinda oldschool 4WD systems - my first one had manual hubs, the second one had automatic hubs, but you had to stop and backup about 10 feet to unlock, and also had to stop to shift INTO 4WD for them to lock first.
Anyhow, I used to drive both regularly at highway speeds in 4WD without issue, and even though they were old fashioned floor-shift 4WD systems you could go in and out of 4WD on the fly (so long as the hubs were locked) at will.
Anyhow, I used to drive both regularly at highway speeds in 4WD without issue, and even though they were old fashioned floor-shift 4WD systems you could go in and out of 4WD on the fly (so long as the hubs were locked) at will.
CR-Vs are AWD? No?
Anyway, I excluded those for being too slow. Also next to no towing capacity.
I had another thread about manual, AWD SUVs. This one was just supposed to get me an answer to the door thing.
My current considerations are:
Older Outback XT (I know, not an SUV but I've always liked these cars and it has a 3500 lb towing capacity and 250 hp, hard to find at a good price for their age)
X3 or X5 (can only find really old ones in manual and the older X5 only had fully open diffs which isn't very good)
Cayenne (too expensive)
Xterra (almost as tall as a full size van which could be an issue since I live in the city and have to park underground occasionally)
Suzuki Grand Vitara (not a big upgrade in power and has the side opening tailgate)
Take note that the AWD option on a lot of vehicles can reduce towing capacity fairly dramatically as the transfer cases often become a weak spot in the drivetrain. The same often goes for 4WD - towing capacities can be lower than the equivalent 2WD versions.
Depending on the size of trailer you're looking to tow this can either be of little to no concern, or a big concern.
Depending on the size of trailer you're looking to tow this can either be of little to no concern, or a big concern.
I never want to be stuck or held up due to weather. I went winter camping last year and the only reason they let me drive into the park was I had AWD and snow tires. After I went through they closed the gate behind me.
I drove my 944 all year once and it was fine but I was just lucky we had a mild winter with little snow. I've also gone offroading in a desert in a fwd minivan in Peru and we didn't get stuck but there were some close calls. And I've had days in London ON "snowmaggeddon" where 4x4s were stuck and I was fine in my fwd Saab.
On the other hand I've also managed to even get the WRX stuck with AWD and snow tires and that was right beside Pearson.
I dealt without AWD for almost 2 decades. I know the differences. I prefer AWD.
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Uitimatelt its l33t's decision, but just putting the info out there for otheres reading and consideration, but I do respect the fact he clearly understands it all and will make his own decision accordingly.
FWIW on the Magnum, for example, it's about a 2L/100KM difference. Over 20,000k per year that's an extra 400L of gas every year. Not exactly a token amount.
Holy crap, an Inreb endorsement? I'm up in Joe Bass territory now lol.
Either that, or it was just trolled and it went completely over my head.
Either is possible, wouldn't be the first time.
