Ben Swann and his driveway

[urq]

... beg to differ on the "no difference between 2WD and AWD" comment ... I
think it has been proven pretty conclusively that "traction" for a 2WD
vehicle is different than "traction" for an AWD vehicle.  I agree that for
braking there is little difference, but even there you might be able to stop
better in snow with an AWD with locked diffs.

I'll never forget the Christmas my now wife and I drove the urq up to her
sister's cabin outside Pollock Pines in the Sierra Nevada mountains.  Of
course her sister's family had a couple SUVs ... and all the other family
members got a ride up from the grocery store in town.  The last stretch of
the road was uphill and unplowed, and the urq isn't known for high ground
clearance ... AND I couldn't find a set of chains when I left town, so we
were driving on Gatorbacks.  The rest of the drive was plowed and perfectly
acceptable for the tires I had.  There was one stretch where I almost ended
up high centered, but I found that if I rode the edge of the ruts a bit I
could continue to get traction.  

Of course leaving was a bit of a different story.  Urq's aren't known for
liking to start in the COLD cold, and all 4 wheels had compressed the snow
beneath them to ice.  When I went down to Placerville to by chains I had to
dig the ice out from under all 4 tires and was back on the way.  

The other thing that mystifies me a bit is where do you put that sand?  I
guess you shovel it on the road?  I'm pretty sure the Plymouth is a FWD ...
which already puts the weight where you want it.  

Steve Buchholz

-----Original Message-----
 
I think you will be amazed at the difference, it is all about ground  
clearance.  About 15 years ago, I had a '89 turbo Plymouth Minivan. I never

measured the ground clearance, it was significant, it would pull out of just

about any amount of snow. That was with just M&S tires. Not to mention that

carrying 1/2 a ton of sand for really bad spots was no problem.  As to the 
AWD's, if there is no traction for 2 wheels, there is no  traction for 4.
 
Tom Faust
_______________________________________________