i'm glad i can drive my patrol car home. looks like that might put a damper on the summer racing plans 
That's why I am considering buying a 2wd beater Nissan truck for $1000 to haul the race gear.i'm glad i can drive my patrol car home. looks like that might put a damper on the summer racing plans
my wife drives for work, that's why once her car is paid off, it gets sold for something more efficient.
I just plan on my next vehicle having alternatives. My guess is every vehicle from now on will be, at least for me.
I just plan on my next vehicle having alternatives. My guess is every vehicle from now on will be, at least for me.
Mine too, but are there super fuel efficient 4wd SUVs out there?
efficient awd vehicles are coming! see the last few pages of my ride pics thread. Cliffs Notes:
VW Tiguan 4motion TDI
VW Jetta Wagon 4motion TDI
MB GLK BlueHybrid diesel-electric hybrid
Subaru Legacy Wagon with the boxer diesel
Do I want my wife to have an AWD?
Her 4wd is pretty badass for what it is and I've heard there are more problems with AWD vehicles.
For driving on iced/plowed slick roads, and drifting turns, AWD rules.
For making tracks in 2 feet of fresh snow and crawling up insanely rocky dirt roads, 4wd is it.
What does she do more of?
my impression is that there is much more variability between individual designs (and between individual vehicles, lemon or not!) than across the sweeping class of "4WD" and "AWD".
there are so many varieties of drive to all wheels that writing off those that call themselves "AWD" seems sillly: full-time, part-time, manual hubs, automatically locking hubs, low range or not, front-biased, rear-biased, electronic transfer cases vs. manual, Haldex, Torsen, clutch packs vs. center differentials, etc.
She is eyeballing the Nissan Rouge. Not wicked efficient by any means, but it gets better mileage than her car (Chevy Malibu POS) and the CVT is slick.
Hmm, perhaps flooding the market with dollars wasn't the best way to solve the credit crisis.
While this is true, 'Woo's answer is close enough for the layman.
4WD generally refers to a system optimized for off-roading. Usually means part time system that rarely includes a center differential (and may inlude locking diffs). This is actually a good thing for off-roading, but bad for dry pavement. Usually they're selectable between 2WD and 4WD, and you'll spend most time on the road in 2WD.
AWD generally refers to a system optimized for slick roads. Always a full time system that at minimum has a center diff, but may include all kinds of limited slips, throttle controls, and active braking in addition. They rarely, if ever, have a 2WD selectable option. AWD have varying capability, but (given the same tires, which is the most important factor in traction) almost any will be better on slick roads than a 4WD vehicle.
edit: to address opie's concern, neither system is inherently more or less reliable. Subies AWD is pretty rock-solid, as is Toyota's 4WD.
i just wish we had an alternative to the minivan. with 3 kids of our own and an additional 4 yr old that my wife babysits during the week, our vehicle options are limited. we were looking into trading in the van for a volvo wagon with the rear seats but it's only about a 3mpg savings from the van on average and a lot less room. i guess we're just stuck with the 17/23 of the van 'cause it's even less economical to trade in a paid for vehicle that gets 17/23mpg for a car payment on a hybrid suv/van that gets 25/30mpg. i'd rather suck up the extra gas bill than fork out $$ every month for a car payment.
of course, there is always the dual side-car option for a motorcycle.
of course, there is always the dual side-car option for a motorcycle.
Neither really, but I'd say she drives through more powder than ice. She probably puts her Jeep into 4wd about three weeks of the year.
Good info.
i've never had a traction problem in my suby....although i did just destroy my cv axle last week 
More likely than not, she'd be best served by AWD and good tires. In fact most people would be far better served by snow tires on a front wheel drive vehicle than all-seasons on an AWD. AWD doesn't help in braking, and only helps in turning if you know how to use throttle to recover. For $500 in snow tires/wheels, and $50 a season to have them taken on and off (if you can't do it yourself) you'd be far far safer than dropping serious coin on a new AWD, not to mention the poor gas mileage you get in AWD vs FWD.
Regardless of the weather, I can't turn off the 4WD on my
Jeep....yep....14 mpg no matter what. It is pretty unstoppable in the snow mind you......
But how I miss Command-Trac....
Jeep....yep....14 mpg no matter what. It is pretty unstoppable in the snow mind you......
But how I miss Command-Trac....
to be fair most cars have wheels/tires big enough that $500 won't cover an extra snow tire/wheel set. (used OEM rims, shipping, and snow tires were ~$1300 for me.)
nevertheless i totally agree with ohio above.
/me runs snow tires on a rwd vehicle with chains in the trunk for security.
nevertheless i totally agree with ohio above.
/me runs snow tires on a rwd vehicle with chains in the trunk for security.
I'm having 4 new snows installed on the Jetta tomorrow. I was hoping to make to the end of the season on my current ones....but nay....flat tire. So 4 BFG Slalom somethingorother for $509 installed/balanced/valve stem...
Ahhhh, Command-Trac. You're stuck in 2wd until you're sliding sideways on a patch of unseen ice in the middle of a wet roadway yanking furiously on the 4wd lever while simultaneously downshifting to try to get all 4 wheels to slow down all at once.
On the flip side, when it was 6"+ of snow, the jeep was awesome. We'd get 20+ inches of snow and I'd have a blast driving around trying to get stuck. Periodically you'd have to clear snow out of the grill...
*Shrugs*. I was reading yesterday that oil is way over the odds at the moment and that a significant correction is on the cards, to somewhere around $60 a barrel. Who the hell knows, certainly not Chicken8 Little.
Just ran a search for snow tires at www.tirerack.com, and 4 16" (215/70QR16) Blizzaks on steelies ran $620.00. For 17" yeah, you'd have to add about $200, but most cars should run higher profile snow tires than stock anyway...
dudei just wish we had an alternative to the minivan. with 3 kids of our own and an additional 4 yr old that my wife babysits during the week, our vehicle options are limited. we were looking into trading in the van for a volvo wagon with the rear seats but it's only about a 3mpg savings from the van on average and a lot less room. i guess we're just stuck with the 17/23 of the van 'cause it's even less economical to trade in a paid for vehicle that gets 17/23mpg for a car payment on a hybrid suv/van that gets 25/30mpg. i'd rather suck up the extra gas bill than fork out $$ every month for a car payment.
of course, there is always the dual side-car option for a motorcycle.
HELLLLOOOOOO
I Keep my bigger wagon for long trips/load hauling and sh!tty weather days and got a motor bike for most of my getting around.
Fuel bills gone from $60+ a week to about $16!!!!
the future is here..
The few times we get snow around here all you see are AWD and 4WD vehicles in the ditch. Being able to put power to the ground for the most part only prevents you from getting stuck and helps you go too fast. It doesn't help with stopping or turning, that is all in the tires. I'm always a little scared driving my subie in ice as the AWD makes the car feel more stable than it really is, it is harder to feel the road and figure out the actual level of grip.
how many weeks of $45/wk savings will it take to pay off the motorbike, insurance, and gear?I Keep my bigger wagon for long trips/load hauling and sh!tty weather days and got a motor bike for most of my getting around.
Fuel bills gone from $60+ a week to about $16!!!!
Take my commute: 80 miles a day, 400 miles a week, or 20000 miles a year (finally moving offices to within 3 miles in April so I put up with it for a stretch)how many weeks of $45/wk savings will it take to pay off the motorbike, insurance, and gear?
Buy motorcycle (65mpg): $4500
Annual insurance: $400
Riding gear: $400
Sell motorcycle: -$4000 (I actually got $4500 out of it, but that's 'cause I got skeelz)
Subtotal cost: $1300
My alternative is an 87 4runner that gets 22mpg.
In the truck I'd consume 20,000/22 = 900 gallons
On the moto, I consumed 20,000/65 - 300 gallons
Assume $3.00/gallon (California). Difference in cost is $1800 or a net savings of $500.
Realistically, I didn't commute every day and I didn't commute every time on the bike, but most people would also keep it longer and be able to amortize the gear over multiple years.
You cannot calculate fun!how many weeks of $45/wk savings will it take to pay off the motorbike, insurance, and gear?
haha..but that has less interior room than my van and i don't even want to think about the tire replacement costs on that thing. although i would enjoy using it as a decoy vehicle to counterassault some of those E.L.F idiots
irate2:
your commute was freakishly long, and you sold your bike at close to your initial cost. i don't think either condition necessarily applies to the general case.
(that said i still have an inkling to get that electric motorcycle, whether a prudent decision financially or not... http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193516)
Roughly 34 weeks.how many weeks of $45/wk savings will it take to pay off the motorbike, insurance, and gear?
$1500 for a bike, insurance, helmet, leathers? wow.Roughly 34 weeks.
$1500 for a bike, insurance, helmet, leathers? wow.
Yep
Bike $1,100
Insurance $138 per year
Helmet, jacket, $198 (HRC helmet, dri rider jacket).
Boots $95
Note the bike is a 2nd hand 150cc 2stroke, yes it's small but it still gets from 0-100kmph a lot quicker than my car and I've had it up to 150kmph so far (recon I can get more without the backpack).
I am starting to throw poo at the pumps since we are 3 cents away from 4 bucks a gallon for diesel.
interesting points here.. perhaps the OPEC nations are engineering their own demise..
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120459389654809159.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120459389654809159.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
i'm just curious to know how old i'll be when i start kidding the yungin's about "back when we used gasoline for transportation..."
Interesting post by you. Aren't you a diehard republican?