Limestone
New Member
AWD, 4WD, 2WD, RWD, FWD none of that really matters when we're talking about skidding while coming to a stop, and that was the OPs biggest concern...
ANY vehicle with no ABS is going to skid while coming a stop on a slippery surface. There is some braking techniques that help prevent it; engine braking helps (especially manual trans), good tires with low psi will help, chains will help... At the end of the day we're talking about friction ecoefficiency of the tires on the road surface. You can not stop any faster than that value. Period. Big break kit? Doesn't matter if your tires are skidding along the road surface. Wider tires could help. Studded tires could help. But that is all extreme stuff.
So, learning to brake gently at first then continually adding braking pressure until you come a stop and if the tires lock up, start over. Release the pedal and try again. This is known as "pumping the brakes". This is how ABS works, except it pulses the brakes for you many many many times per second.
If your front tires lock up and you hold the brake pedal down, you now have skis on the front of the vehicle. Good luck stopping or steering, you're now along for the ride.
I have driven manual front wheel drive vehicles in the worst possible snow and ice conditions. Some vehicles had ABS and some did not. Many feet of snow, in low to now visibility on highways, parking lots, surface streets, whatever. I probably shouldn't have, but I've done it. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment as the saying goes.
Never got stuck. Once you have basic techniques, the other tech (AWD, 4x4, ABS, trac control etc) are just extra tools that make driving in those conditions easier.
As an aside, the hands down worse vehicle EVER in the snow is an empty cargo van. They're RWD, front engine with an open diff, no weight on the rear axle and no trac control. Rear tires just spin if there is snow in the forecast and the front might as well be skis.
ANY vehicle with no ABS is going to skid while coming a stop on a slippery surface. There is some braking techniques that help prevent it; engine braking helps (especially manual trans), good tires with low psi will help, chains will help... At the end of the day we're talking about friction ecoefficiency of the tires on the road surface. You can not stop any faster than that value. Period. Big break kit? Doesn't matter if your tires are skidding along the road surface. Wider tires could help. Studded tires could help. But that is all extreme stuff.
So, learning to brake gently at first then continually adding braking pressure until you come a stop and if the tires lock up, start over. Release the pedal and try again. This is known as "pumping the brakes". This is how ABS works, except it pulses the brakes for you many many many times per second.
If your front tires lock up and you hold the brake pedal down, you now have skis on the front of the vehicle. Good luck stopping or steering, you're now along for the ride.
I have driven manual front wheel drive vehicles in the worst possible snow and ice conditions. Some vehicles had ABS and some did not. Many feet of snow, in low to now visibility on highways, parking lots, surface streets, whatever. I probably shouldn't have, but I've done it. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment as the saying goes.
Never got stuck. Once you have basic techniques, the other tech (AWD, 4x4, ABS, trac control etc) are just extra tools that make driving in those conditions easier.
As an aside, the hands down worse vehicle EVER in the snow is an empty cargo van. They're RWD, front engine with an open diff, no weight on the rear axle and no trac control. Rear tires just spin if there is snow in the forecast and the front might as well be skis.