What to Drive in Winter [11.27.7]

[T Mac]

Experts' best advice for driving on snow and ice: Don't, if you can possibly avoid it.

The Washington State Transportation Dept. advertises this catchier jingle: "Ice and snow, take it slow, or just don't go." It's safe to assume they know all there is to know about snow up in the Cascade Mountains, but most of the time, "just don't go" isn't realistic advice. On weekdays, most people need to reach the workplace, or at least the train station, regardless of bad weather. On weekends, a gallon of milk or that one missing ingredient for pumpkin pie can take us out of the house and onto slippery roads.

Fortunately, there are plenty of good choices for winter driving. These include a cross-section of vehicles from most product segments -- cars and trucks; luxury and nonluxury brands; small, medium, and large. For obvious reasons, we didn't consider convertibles. Most of our winter driving choices have all-wheel drive, for extra peace of mind, despite added cost and a gas mileage penalty.

Click here to read the entire story from Business Week Online and published on Yahoo! Finance

By Jim Henry

[bobtwhite]

It's nice to see the RL being recognized for its excellent winter handling, but what is up with the order these vehicles are listed in? The list doesn't seem to be by price, manufacturer, or alphabetical. I can't believe they are in any order of performance or preference. No way does the Accord or Buick Lucerne handle better than the RL in winter driving conditions.

[MontanaFred]

The article makes a good point about being over confident when you have all-wheel front wheel drive. I think many of us have found that applies to the Ridgeline. The Ridgeline is so good in snow and ice we forget that the laws of physics preclude 4,500 pounds of truck turning 90 degrees on ice when you are going too fast.

The Ridgeline certainly deserves to be listed in the "Best Winter Car" list and even more so in any "Best Winter Truck" list. I laugh at all the trucks I see with bags of sand in the back in a feeble attempt to gain traction. Meanwhile I am able to use my truck all winter for hauling building materials without shuffling sand bags around. I also don't have to be concerned about what might happen to any sand bag ballasts I might have in the bed of my truck if I get into an accident because I don't have any.

.

[kindem]

Here in Norway we're quite used to drive under winter circumstancies. Ridgeline is quite a car and handle all these conditions perfectly, well given we don't use the tires that comes with the car from US - the tires is not working very well.

Somebody think that a SUV with 4 wheel drive solves every problem but it doesn't. event though the car doesn't weight that much u don't have the same feeling with road conditions as with a smaller and lower car. When it starts to slide u've got a hell of a problem. We've tried it many times under different conditions. The only car or truck that gives u the same control must be the Dodge RAM even if it's bigger.

Later this year I'll give u some videos of Ridgeline on icy roads and I promise u that we like to have fun.

[SuperChris7]

We're having a terrible ice storm in Oklahoma. I was a little worried about driving to work this morning. The streets and interstate were solid ice. The Ridge did excellent! The VSA light didn't even come on. I really am not sure that it kicked in to 4WD. It handled like the roads were dry. I had to laugh at the Z71 Chevy that passed me, and then slammed on their brakes because they were skidding! I have had my REAL MAN TRUCK since 11/10, and I love my purchase!

[Bob B]

I live in Iowa where winter is an interesting driving experience. I have noticed that when the roads get slippery the first vehicles to reach the ditch are Mustangs and Camaros; the second group are 4-wheel drive vehicles (mostly pick-ups). I assume 4-wheel drive gives a false sense of invulnerability.

[kindem]

Yes Bob B ; "I assume 4-wheel drive gives a false sense of invulnerability."

in many ways I do agree with you but there's no doubt that 4-wheel drives is much better to climb hills or equal but when it comes to stopping it doesn't matter whether you have a 4-wheel drive or not. According to Norwegian insurance companies 4-wheel drives is often involved in crashes or ditching. It might be caused as u say due to false sense of invulnerability.

Anyway, the Ridgeline har proved to a very secure car given it's equipped with good tires

[RidgeX5]

My RL handles great everytime I go up to North Central PA to visit the inlaws for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even with the 20's it cuts through the snow without hesitation and I have yet to get stuck, knock knock..

Seth

[RidgeOwner3]

"This fall, even one of Land Rover's professional off-road driving instructors said the Ridgeline performed well on a steep, muddy off-road course that climbed up and down an off-season ski slope."

Cool.

BTW, the list is in order from small car to large truck. The Ridgeline is listed as a "Luxury/Specialty Pickup." The only other truck in this list is the Tundra.

My F-I-L just hit black ice in a mountain storm last week with his 4WD Chevy Silverado and was lucky to end up on it's side in the snow with very little damage. He was fine and climbed out through the passenger door above him without a scrape. He said he had thought about manually shifting into 4wd, but then it was too late. I have to wonder if the automatic AWD system in the Ridgeline would have handled it better.

[Teezer]

Originally Posted by kindem

Anyway, the Ridgeline har proved to a very secure car given it's equipped with good tires

So, what tires do you use in Norway?