So western Oklahoma has been hit with some pretty yucky weather. Ice, then snow, then melting, to get frozen all over again every night going on 4 days now.
Yesterday I was getting a little bit stir crazy. I hadn't been out since Christmas. When you are snowed/iced in and really don't have to be anywhere, it does get a little boring after a while. Plus, when you are stuck inside, it's nice to be able to have a cold beer, ya know?
Well, I decided to go to the store. My thinking was, my little car was front wheel drive, small, and light. It would be the better choice to get around town in, right? Yeah.. uh... it didn't quite cooperate with me. The sloped shape of her helped the snow accumulate on top of her and around the tires and such. After scraping her, warming her, and about 30 minutes of rocking her to try to get over the bit of drift around the tires, I gave up.
Then thought, hmm.. the van, sitting right next to her, didn't have near as much snow or ice around her. Maybe because she's boxy and it was able to just fall off, I don't know. But there wasn't the snow drift around her tires like there was on my little car.
Now, let me also admit, I have never been a rear-wheel driving person, front wheel drives my whole life. Especially in icy conditions. I was a bit afraid of what would happen. But, no time like the present to see how she'd roll. Hopped in her, turned the key, waited a bit for her to warm up, put her in gear, and man! She drove around like no one's business!!
Most of the main roads here have been dozed and salted, and they were mostly on the dry side, those were no problem. But the side streets are pretty much a sheet of ice. I didn't have but a few blocks of that to contend with until I got to the cleared roads. And, of course, me being not a complete idiot (no picking for going to get beer in the ice, lol), I went very slow. She didn't slide once. She handled great, even over a sloped iced parking lot and some ice piling up where the roads were cleared that looked like some people had had trouble.
Okay, my more knowledgeable friends... was it the weight of the van that made her handle so well? Does rear-wheel drives handle better on ice/snow? I'm sure it helped that I just went very slow, of course. But what's your opinions on how the different types handle?
TLDR; Was pleasantly suprised my big bulky van handled the ice/snow so darn well when my little car couldn't even get out of the driveway.
Yesterday I was getting a little bit stir crazy. I hadn't been out since Christmas. When you are snowed/iced in and really don't have to be anywhere, it does get a little boring after a while. Plus, when you are stuck inside, it's nice to be able to have a cold beer, ya know?
Well, I decided to go to the store. My thinking was, my little car was front wheel drive, small, and light. It would be the better choice to get around town in, right? Yeah.. uh... it didn't quite cooperate with me. The sloped shape of her helped the snow accumulate on top of her and around the tires and such. After scraping her, warming her, and about 30 minutes of rocking her to try to get over the bit of drift around the tires, I gave up.
Then thought, hmm.. the van, sitting right next to her, didn't have near as much snow or ice around her. Maybe because she's boxy and it was able to just fall off, I don't know. But there wasn't the snow drift around her tires like there was on my little car.
Now, let me also admit, I have never been a rear-wheel driving person, front wheel drives my whole life. Especially in icy conditions. I was a bit afraid of what would happen. But, no time like the present to see how she'd roll. Hopped in her, turned the key, waited a bit for her to warm up, put her in gear, and man! She drove around like no one's business!!
Most of the main roads here have been dozed and salted, and they were mostly on the dry side, those were no problem. But the side streets are pretty much a sheet of ice. I didn't have but a few blocks of that to contend with until I got to the cleared roads. And, of course, me being not a complete idiot (no picking for going to get beer in the ice, lol), I went very slow. She didn't slide once. She handled great, even over a sloped iced parking lot and some ice piling up where the roads were cleared that looked like some people had had trouble.
Okay, my more knowledgeable friends... was it the weight of the van that made her handle so well? Does rear-wheel drives handle better on ice/snow? I'm sure it helped that I just went very slow, of course. But what's your opinions on how the different types handle?
TLDR; Was pleasantly suprised my big bulky van handled the ice/snow so darn well when my little car couldn't even get out of the driveway.
