When winter arrives, the children get the sleighs out of the basement and you prefer to spend the evenings in front of your own fireplace, the smile on the face of many a driver freezes. Scraping ice in the morning, clearing the windows if you don't have a garage. And then the fear of slippery roads. Snow, slush or even ice. Winter has some surprises in store for us. The fact that you suddenly have to be much more attentive when driving is a surprise to many of us. There are said to be regions in Germany where drivers no longer even switch to winter tires because it wouldn't be worth it for the "few days" when it gets "slippery". But this is dangerous nonsense.
4 × 4 does not protect against accidents on snow and ice
Even more nonsensical is the argument of people who have a car with four-wheel drive. Here, there are motorists who are convinced: With four-wheel drive, it no longer needs winter tires. But that's really big nonsense. Our long-term test vehicle, the new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 2016, has all-wheel drive and I would never think of doing without winter tires. Unfortunately, a “member of the editorial team” recently found out that the combination of all-wheel drive and winter tires also has its limits in terms of grip. (No, it wasn't the author - but it might as well have happened to me.)
When static friction becomes friction friction
A fresh, closed blanket of snow, good 5 centimeters. The Outlander PHEV was preheated over the electric parking heater in the garage. At least for PHEV riders, winter does not bring frustration on the ice scratching. Thanks to electric parking heater our Outlander would have been ice-free, he would not be parked in the garage.
Now our garage entrance leads relatively steeply (+ 20 °) up the yard, backwards out of the garage, traction thanks to all-wheel drive no question. The Outlander rolls easily over the snow. That is the point at which neighbors Passat had to capitulate with front-wheel drive. That is the advantage of all-wheel drive. There is traction. Especially since the intelligent all-wheel drive of the PHEV is very sensitive when distributing power. Hence the feeling of 4 × 4 drivers, traction is there. So what should happen?
But as soon as it's no longer about driving, starting and accelerating, but about braking and deceleration, all the cars in front of Isaac Newton are the same. And if a tire does not find liability, then static friction goes into sliding friction and there can not be any four-wheel drive in this world.
Brakes? Only the gearing between tire and ground counts!
On a closed blanket of snow, with a light layer of ice underneath, a 2-ton SUV quickly becomes a sled, even with winter tires. It's just stupid if the garage is waiting in the end.
Seduced by the traction when pulling out, “AWell, it's not smooth, look, there's no wheel turning (Quote end)" Our editorial member drove a little too quickly towards the garage exit and when we braked the time had come. Static friction became sliding friction and instead of slowing down, the Outlander PHEV became faster. To the point where the garage had its supporting pillars. And a law of nature also applies here: “two” cannot be in one place at the same time. In this case the support pillar was there. The Outlander had to give in.
Drive carefully on ice and snow
Our Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV endurance tester is now going to the workshop for repairs. Our driver learned his lesson. Apart from the sheet metal and plastic of the PHEV, the only thing that suffered in the accident was the driver's ego. Fortunately. You can certainly say: “Lesson learned” – and still be lucky in misfortune.
We have long considered whether we should write about it - because such an accident is really nothing that you can use. But we think it is a good occasion to clarify the point with all-wheel drive, traction and the end of traction once again.
Drive carefully. Always. And on ice and snow, twice as careful - even if you are traveling with a 4 × 4!
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