4x4 2WD the same as any other not 4x4 car?

Iceweasel

I live in rural Aberdeenshire where we get snow much more than the 2 days or so the OP mentioned in post#1.

I have sold my 4x4 Freelander as I no longer need it due to having bought a decent set of winter tyres for my BMW.

I tried it last year with a set of 2nd hand tatty wheels and part-worn winter tyres. The results were such that the Freelander is now redundant.

The ability to handle snowy conditions is more about tyres than the vehicle. If I were to put my summer tyres on any LandRover it would be as useless in snow as my BMW is with summer tyres.

If you are sceptical, as I was, look here - at a comparison with several different types of vehicle against a high-power BMW which is famous for spinning tyres in snow and ice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOv2g5qTpvA

Almost any car, fitted with winter tyres will be OK in the snow.

Buying winter tyres is much cheaper than buying a 4x4 just for winter - and they're much cheaper than repairing even the smallest bump damage, never mind lost income through missing work.

Any

Thank you all for steering the conversation on merits of winter tyres even though I have said at the very beginning this is not what is it about.
For your information any of my cars will have at least good quality all season tyres, just as my car does right now. Unfortunately no idea where would I put winter tyres when I changed twice a year, that is the only thing stopping me from having proper winter tyres every winter.

I wanted to talk about characteristics of 2WD SUV, 4x4 and 4WD as the descriptions were confusing me.

Thank you

WTFH

ILW wrote: »

I would suggest that description would be illegal. 4x4 means 4WD!

Well, it's one of those terms that seems to have done a bit of a Hoover on us.
4x4 used to mean 4 wheel drive. It now appears to have taken on the meaning of a soft roader/off roader. So, in the US it would be called a "Sports Utility Vehicle", but it's not really used for sports is it, so SUV is also incorrect.

I'd suggest you need to look for 4WD or AWD to define how many wheels can be driven.

scheming_gypsy

Any wrote: »

Thank you all for steering the conversation on merits of winter tyres even though I have said at the very beginning this is not what is it about.
For your information any of my cars will have at least good quality all season tyres, just as my car does right now. Unfortunately no idea where would I put winter tyres when I changed twice a year, that is the only thing stopping me from having proper winter tyres every winter.

I wanted to talk about characteristics of 2WD SUV, 4x4 and 4WD as the descriptions were confusing me.

Thank you

Ah but you made the mortal sin of mentioning 4x4 outside the second week of June. No matter how many times you mentioned it wasn't about snow or winter tyres, you're clearly lying!

Iceweasel

Any wrote: »

Thank you all for steering the conversation on merits of winter tyres even though I have said at the very beginning this is not what is it about.
For your information any of my cars will have at least good quality all season tyres, just as my car does right now. Unfortunately no idea where would I put winter tyres when I changed twice a year, that is the only thing stopping me from having proper winter tyres every winter.

I wanted to talk about characteristics of 2WD SUV, 4x4 and 4WD as the descriptions were confusing me.

Thank you

My apologies for that - but you can forget all-season tyres - they are only a tad better in the snow than summer tyres.

Unfortunately it's going to take a big shift of popular mis-conceptions before enough folks switch to winter tyres and the tyre dealers offer free or low-cost storage of the tyres not in use. That's the norm in Austria for example, and would solve your storage problem.

I'll now wait for someone to tell me that Austria gets more snow than the UK.

Stooby2

I've had Land Rovers since I was 17 and found that 4x4 is better than two wheel drive for traction. In my early days I had the old Series Land Rovers that were two wheel drive in normal use and and you selected four wheel drive when you needed it.

I always ran off-road tyres and in the winter, it was bit of a game to see how far you could go on two wheel drive before having to engage four wheel drive. But generally, I'd leave it in 4x4 as I found having four wheel drive gives better control and stability in treacherous conditions.

In the winter of 2011/2012 I towed out dozens of cars stuck in the snow, including an afternoon of pulling cars from the bottom of a long cul-de-sac that was an ice rink. Even the cars on snow tyres couldn't mmake it up the slight incline to the main road. In my 1996 Discovery, permanent 4x4 on General Grabber tyres and with the diff lock on, I could drive in, slow down under control and stop, then tow the cars out one by one. The advantage of splitting the drive through all four wheels means a 4x4 will cope better when grip is at its worst.

Give me a 4x4 any day. Suzuki jeeps are very under rated but superb in snow and ice (and old ones are extensively used as triallers for off-roading).

Gloomendoom

Any wrote: »

I wanted to talk about characteristics of 2WD SUV, 4x4 and 4WD as the descriptions were confusing me.

Thank you

A 2wd SUV is just like any other 2wd car only it usually has better ground clearance (good in snow, rough tracks and fields) and consequently a higher centre of gravity... not so good if you are spirited driver.

We have a 2wd Sportage, live in the sticks, and occasionally venture across fields. Its main use is for commuting, roughly a 50 mile round trip, 95% on country lanes. It returns 47mpg overall. Over 50 mpg would be easily achievable on better roads and with a lighter right foot.

Why did we buy it? We wanted a roomy hatchback with good ground clearance. We didn't go for the 4x4 version because of the 10-12 mpg hit on fuel consumption, extra cost, and the fact that we had managed perfectly well with a fwd hatchback for years (apart from ripping the undertray off.) We tend to keep our cars a long time so the 7 year warranty was also a deciding factor.

Any

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

Ah but you made the mortal sin of mentioning 4x4 outside the second week of June. No matter how many times you mentioned it wasn't about snow or winter tyres, you're clearly lying!

:rotfl::rotfl:
I did mention snow in the OP though as well as saying please do not lecture me on winter tyres...

Any

Iceweasel wrote: »

My apologies for that - but you can forget all-season tyres - they are only a tad better in the snow than summer tyres.

Unfortunately it's going to take a big shift of popular mis-conceptions before enough folks switch to winter tyres and the tyre dealers offer free or low-cost storage of the tyres not in use. That's the norm in Austria for example, and would solve your storage problem.

I'll now wait for someone to tell me that Austria gets more snow than the UK.

Well I disagree with you on the fact that it is just a "tad better", I find them a lot better, unfortunately not as good as winter tyres but then again you can have many levels of "good" winter tyres.

That is the norm everywhere where winter tyres are legal requirement, as far as I know. Including my birth country.
Traffic rarely stops there and snow rarely gets on the TV in the news, the whole sky has to be falling down for few days non stop for that to happen.
Winter tyres make a massive difference, I know too well about that.

tykesi

Interestingly LR are about to drop the traditional Defender model due to non-compliance with pedestrian safety rules, as well as not enough air-bags.

.

Really? I thought it was because they can't meet emmissions?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-24446070