Originally Posted by rickmay

When you go into a slide with most any 4 wheel drive (AWD), people's natural tendency is to let up on the gas pedal. Doing this alone, is the worst thing one can do. Years ago, most cars were rear wheel drive, so when you let up on the gas, and kept your front wheels facing forward (steering in the direction), the rear wheels will drag (as in braking), and the front wheels will continue to roll. This causes the car to straighten out. It is also what most drivers will naturally do when they start sliding.

When you let up on the gas pedal with most 4 wheel drive (AWD), this causes all 4 wheels to, in effect, brake, which only makes the problem worse. That is why the SUV driver lost control of his vehicle and challenged the 18 wheeler. With 4 wheel drive (AWD), you actually want to maintain or slightly increase the gas, and steer in the direction. This should (with superior tires) put the car back on course (front wheels pulling in the direction and not sliding). The other alternative is not for people that cannot chew gum and walk at the same time. My 1997 Explorer, for example, had the emergency brake release left of the steering wheel and the pedal beneath it. You can let up on the gas if you pull the release button while using the parking brakes to slow down the rear wheels faster than the front while steering in the direction.

Originally Posted by rickmay

Most 4 wheel drive and AWD vehicles are truly lacking. The real 4 wheel drive cars (trucks) include the Jeep, the Rovers, Toyota Land Cruisers and Hummer to list a few. There is one major issue with every other 4 wheeler I can think of. They do not have a proper High/Low gearbox, which makes them way under-powered for many situations (and where they have a "low" it is not nearly low enough. Their "low" speeds may be as high as 85% of the high speeds. I will give you an example with my 1997 Explorer. It was a large V-8 with AWD, and the snowplows in my town would pile up about a foot of snow at the bottom of my driveway. This stuff is really heavy, and almost impossible to get thru. After struggling in "low" gear and lodging the car somewhat I found that I had to rock my way out. It came abundantly clear that you could easily burn out the transmission (because of its high gear, like any car) or the transfer case with this situation.

Originally Posted by cmbdiesel

Low range in the snow is a poor selection. What you want is the tallest gear you can use without stalling. Many years of driving in the snow, and much of that on the mountain jeep trails which lead to my cabin, taught me that.
I found this to be true with AWD, 4wd, RWD and FWD. Driven them all in places most people won't go. They all have their advantages and disadvantages.
Regardless of the drivetrain, applying too much power in snow is the best way to get stuck, but good.
One of the reasons the old Mercedes diesels are half decent in the snow is that they do not apply an overabundance of power to the wheels, just watch out when the turbo kicks in...

Originally Posted by Fulcrum525

BUT when the road isn't a complete sheet of ice...............

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

The road doesn't need to have a "complete sheet of ice" for you to reach the cornering limit. In fact, just a bit of rain can do it. In the rain, take the vehicle up to about 95 mph and try to push it through a corner. You'll find the cornering limit very quickly and no amount of 4wd is going to prevent the inevitable.

The cornering limit is strictly depending on the friction between the tire and the road surface. The variables are the material on the surface, tread compound, wheel speed, and angle of the tire with respect to the direction of travel. All of the variables can be manipulated up and down to come up with different results.

At 100 mph, you better have no material on the surface or you better have minimal angle on the tire with respect to the direction of travel. No "sheet of ice" present here but the cornering limit will be easily found.