JK and wet roads
01-17-2007 | 04:27 AM
#21
JK Super Freak
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,419
Likes: 0
From: Reno, NV
I recommend taking your JK to an empty parking lot and push it's limits.
You will be better suited in an emergency situation.
I've done this in the snow w/ all of my new veh. Seems like it would work w/ rain too.
BTW, I could not get the JK to do donuts in 4HI in the snow...even w/ the ESP turned off. Not fun, but safe.
I've driven my wife's Murano (front wheel drive biased AWD) and the JK on snowpacked roads, and actually felt better in the JK. I think I'm better w/ the oversteer vs understeer.
You will be better suited in an emergency situation.
I've done this in the snow w/ all of my new veh. Seems like it would work w/ rain too.
BTW, I could not get the JK to do donuts in 4HI in the snow...even w/ the ESP turned off. Not fun, but safe.
I've driven my wife's Murano (front wheel drive biased AWD) and the JK on snowpacked roads, and actually felt better in the JK. I think I'm better w/ the oversteer vs understeer.
01-17-2007 | 04:50 AM
#22
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 248
Likes: 0
From: Montreal, Canada
01-17-2007 | 07:14 AM
#24
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 442
Likes: 1
From: Loveland, CO
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doc5339 (12-19-2020)
12-17-2020 | 03:29 PM
#28
JK Newbie
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: Chicago, Illinois
It Ain't Necessarily So
If you're sliding, you are probably driving too fast for conditions.
That being said, remember this: Front wheel drive cars leave the road nose first, rear wheel drive cars leave the road tail first.
Front wheel drive cars have a natural tendancy to understeer in corners. Understeer is a condition where the vehicle's front tires lose traction before the rears and get "pushed" along. The vehicle starts to travel on a track that is shallower that what the steering input is demanding. The reason they understeer is because you're asking the front tires to do everything (drive the car, steer the car, stop the car) and the rear wheels are just twiddling their thumbs.
Rear wheel drive cars tend to have either neutral handling (all the tires have an equal workload) or they tend to oversteer. Oversteer is a condition where the vehicle's rear tires lose traction first and the vehicle's nose starts to point in a deeper track than the front wheels are demanding (and eventually sliding all the way around till your back is now your front).
Front wheel drive cars are considered "safer" because recovering from understeer is usually just a matter of letting off the gas. When you let off the gas, the vehicle slows down, and weight transfers onto the front tires, increasing their traction.
Recovering from oversteer is more difficult. You have to steer into the slide and gradually bring the vehicle back under control. Suddenly releasing the gas or even applying the brakes will cause the same results as above, transferring weight from the rear wheels (which already don't have enough traction) to the front wheels (which already had plenty), usually inducing a nice quick spin. A good example of this is a pickup truck which has no load in the bed. They are very prone to oversteer due to the fact that they are already suffering from a poor weight distribution. Luckily our JKs don't have this problem, they are basically 50/50 with a full tank of gas. So one step to helping your vehicle handle better is to keep the gas tank full, especially when you expect slippery conditions.
Now, the problem with saying that front wheel drive cars are safer is this: A front wheel drive car will understeer far sooner than a rear wheel drive car will oversteer. This is because, as stated above, on a front wheel drive car you're asking the front tires to do everything. 4WD also suffers from this to some extent. If you ask the front wheels to pull the car along AND turn the car at the same time, you will have less traction available than if you ask the front wheels to turn and the rear wheels to push.
Basically, the practical upshot of all this is that when you drive a FWD/RWD/AWD/4WD too fast for the conditions, some of your tires are going to slide and you'll be out of control. The only thing that changes is which tires are sliding and how you recover.
The other thing that I find myself muttering to people driving too fast in the rain and snow is that while 4WD or AWD can help you to GO, it doesn't help you STOP. You have the same stopping distance (or worse, since you're probably heavier) than anyone else on the road. Slow down!
-E
That being said, remember this: Front wheel drive cars leave the road nose first, rear wheel drive cars leave the road tail first.
Front wheel drive cars have a natural tendancy to understeer in corners. Understeer is a condition where the vehicle's front tires lose traction before the rears and get "pushed" along. The vehicle starts to travel on a track that is shallower that what the steering input is demanding. The reason they understeer is because you're asking the front tires to do everything (drive the car, steer the car, stop the car) and the rear wheels are just twiddling their thumbs.
Rear wheel drive cars tend to have either neutral handling (all the tires have an equal workload) or they tend to oversteer. Oversteer is a condition where the vehicle's rear tires lose traction first and the vehicle's nose starts to point in a deeper track than the front wheels are demanding (and eventually sliding all the way around till your back is now your front).
Front wheel drive cars are considered "safer" because recovering from understeer is usually just a matter of letting off the gas. When you let off the gas, the vehicle slows down, and weight transfers onto the front tires, increasing their traction.
Recovering from oversteer is more difficult. You have to steer into the slide and gradually bring the vehicle back under control. Suddenly releasing the gas or even applying the brakes will cause the same results as above, transferring weight from the rear wheels (which already don't have enough traction) to the front wheels (which already had plenty), usually inducing a nice quick spin. A good example of this is a pickup truck which has no load in the bed. They are very prone to oversteer due to the fact that they are already suffering from a poor weight distribution. Luckily our JKs don't have this problem, they are basically 50/50 with a full tank of gas. So one step to helping your vehicle handle better is to keep the gas tank full, especially when you expect slippery conditions.
Now, the problem with saying that front wheel drive cars are safer is this: A front wheel drive car will understeer far sooner than a rear wheel drive car will oversteer. This is because, as stated above, on a front wheel drive car you're asking the front tires to do everything. 4WD also suffers from this to some extent. If you ask the front wheels to pull the car along AND turn the car at the same time, you will have less traction available than if you ask the front wheels to turn and the rear wheels to push.
Basically, the practical upshot of all this is that when you drive a FWD/RWD/AWD/4WD too fast for the conditions, some of your tires are going to slide and you'll be out of control. The only thing that changes is which tires are sliding and how you recover.
The other thing that I find myself muttering to people driving too fast in the rain and snow is that while 4WD or AWD can help you to GO, it doesn't help you STOP. You have the same stopping distance (or worse, since you're probably heavier) than anyone else on the road. Slow down!
-E
