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Location: Bideford - a good place to test juddering Fiats and electric bikes.
Status: Offline
This morning I encountered two 3500kg Transit trucks operated by a builders merchant, one FWD and the other, double wheeled RWD.
Both looked fairly well loaded and apparently the former had had to pull the latter twice in the slushy snow.
This seems at first seemed to counter-intuitive but I guess the explanation would be that the double wheeled arrangement has a much lower footprint load which prevented the wheels pressing through the snow onto the road surface.
Any van owners had a similar experience
______________________________________________________________ Never let anything mechanical know you are in a hurry
All I know is that I drove into a ski resort with snow on the road with out spinning my wheels on my Sprinter twin RWD , but my friend in his Ducato had to fit snow chains to follow me
If they were both unladen the FWD would have most weight over the driving wheels - if they were both laden the RWD would have had the most weight over the driving wheels.
A RWD with no weight in the back would just have no meaningful traction whatsoever.
So it depends on whether they were laden or unladen at the time.
This is one that goes on and on. Have never had a RWD motorhome, but also have never had FWD motorhome stuck on wet grass.
If you believe that RWD gives better traction than FWD, have a look at all of the BMWs and Mercs getting stuck in the snow because they are RWD. Then watch the Mondeos, Audis etc go past.
However, the driver is also an important factor.
Gerry
stuck in the snow because they are RWD. Then watch the Mondeos, Audis etc go past.
However, the driver is also an important factor.
Gerry
And the tyres, the former aren't stuck BECAUSE they are RWD they are stuck because the driver can't drive and they are invariably fitted with the wrong tyres - too wide and too hard.
Audis often go by because they are 4WD and I've seen as many stuck Fords as I have BMW's and Merc's.
My Mazda is RWD and on the proper tyres (which it has, complete with "snowflake") I haven't got stuck (yet).
My FWD estate car on Bridgestones was useless in comparison until that got it's Avon "snowflakes" fitted in November.
I think the problem with all these rear wheel drive cars getting stuck is the traction control. I live at a junction on a hill and watching from my window is better than whats on TV. Last year I had a Smart car with traction and got stuck in Tesco's car park, as soon as you get a bit of spin the engine cuts, bloody useless
Loddy
PS I now own a Jimny and am unstoppable,
______________________________________________________________ We are put on this earth not to weather the storm
but to learn to dance in the rain
On the Smart you can't turn it off , on the jag like yours in a snow setting. I don't know about others but it seems in snow traction control is a hindrance
Loddy
______________________________________________________________ We are put on this earth not to weather the storm
but to learn to dance in the rain
I have had an FWD Transit with Continental Camping Tyres, it slipped on wet grass. The Fiat FWD is a lot better on grass. However a RWD Transit motorhome would be far superior due to the weight over the rear axle.
On cars - like unladen builders' vans - the issue with RWD is lack of weight over the driving wheels in my view. Wide tyres exacerbate the issue because they lessen the lb/sq-in of weight applied. Then add to the mix that RWD cars are typically higher powered and you're on a hiding to nothing.
My Jag is trying to put 420BHP through wheels with little weight over them, using tyres the best part of a foot wide (295 if I recall correctly). It's just not going to happen in snow and the wheels will spin even in D with no accelerator applied. Once they start spinning, it's game over because the surface turns to glass beneath them.
Nothing to do with driver competence (although I would say that )...better rubber compound may help a bit but realistically probably needs studded tyres to have a material effect. Which is why it stays firmly locked in the garage in this weather and we use one of the diesel FWDs in the household. Even on that, the M-B A-class is considerably better than the Fiat 500, I think because its engine is a lot heavier (both have wider tyres than would be ideal for this weather).
One thing I don't believe has been mentioned is the advantage of modern engine management systems, particularly on manual FWDs. I find best way to get safely (slowly) through snow is to put it in first, release clutch, no acceleration...the engine management system will prevent is stalling, it'll drive itself, and with no clod-hopping driver the wheels are less likely to spin.
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Germany
)...better rubber compound may help a bit but realistically probably needs studded tyres to have a material effect. Which is why it stays firmly locked in the garage in this weather and we use one of the diesel FWDs in the household. Even on that, the M-B A-class is considerably better than the Fiat 500, I think because its engine is a lot heavier (both have wider tyres than would be ideal for this weather).
