Yeah, I agree not to downshift once on the hill for sure. Clearly, I want to keep the drag on the wheels as constant as possible all the way down. Just what combination assures that is the issue.
Low speed.
@Cosna
Probably the best advice I have seen from you and one I use daily when driving in my road in the winter once the surface is coated is to pick a level area and test brake. Even test braking when conditions permit as much as practical give you constant feedback. Then and only then will you know the best course of action. For those who live on dirt roads, dealing with ice is a constant nearly every day of the winter some where on the road.
dagosa,
I just took time to read your link about skating. Fascinating. It confirms what I have found in this quest to find the best driving technique; things that look simple can be really, really complicated.
Anyone can drive when conditions are easy. When they are not, the details can mean the difference between life and death. In this game, we play for keeps.
@Cosna
This morning, my neighbor’s wife who is a PA and has a tight schedule, drove in while I was driving out. She had to drive down a half mile winding single lane steep dirt road covered with glare ice in her Jeep Grand Cherokee. When she back into the drive to let me get a run for the same hill, I called out, “how was it coming down” , She answered back, " no problem, I just do what I always do, put two wheels in the snow on the side and drive down and just let the Jeep do the rest."
You can’t do things like that with a 2wd but you can with Awd and especially an SUV. A 2wd car would get stuck in the 4 to 6 inches of snow while a 4 wd just uses it as traction when the road has none. You actually at times have to accelerate down hill you have so much traction doing this. When people dis 4wd and say they have no advantage braking, this is one technique we use all the time to brake. Now that Awd and 4 wd has traction control and stability control, the wheels in the snow get the drive going up and the wheels in the snow get the braking comming down instead of the side in the ice. This is why Awd and 4wd has such an advantage, especially the latest generation of them. They give you more options.
Back in the 50s on school patrol duty, I remember seeing a guy going up a slippery hill in the morning with his front wheel not even turning. Too cold for the limited traction to overcome the grease in the wheels. Of course RWD back in those days and snow tires.
I believe I would be inclined to start out in lower gear and at first indication of slipping put it into neutral and use the ABS. I’ve had to shift into neutral before in RWD and FWD but never experienced all wheel drive.
About 5 miles out of town there is a stretch of freeway with a reasonably steep hill, a turn at the bottom and back up the hill again. More than once its been white knuckles trying not to brake, but not wanting the car to go too fast to make the curve, going to neutral to avoid the wheel spin then trying to get enough momentum to get up the hill again on the other side without spinning. I guess its just practice, knowing the current conditions, and having to try a couple things on the way to see what works.
I had an 82 Volvo rear wheel drive, AT, and a long, south facing downhill driveway that thawed daily and froze again overnight. The thing that worked the best was to back down the driveway with the tailgate open and my son back there shoveling coal ashes on the ice as I backed down, slowly, in neutral. If I was alone I would drive front ways down, still in neutral, just edging down and trying to keep one side off the ice in the snow bank. Once in a while I’d lose traction anyway and just sled on down, doing my best to keep it sort on on the driveway and hoping it would stop in the deeper snow before I hit the pond at the curve.
All the new technology will help, but I had lots of situations where I stopped fully, halfway down, and then the car would start to slide down on its own, from a complete stop. I found pumping the brake hard still would shock the car some and cause it to jerk, so I could horse it into the snowbank.
I never did go into the pond.
I solved the problem completely by getting a new job and moving to California.
“I solved the problem completely by getting a new job and moving to California.”
I think that could classify as a paradyme shift. Rather than figuring out better ways, eliminate the need entirely. I like that.
@Bing Sometimes what seems like an insoluble problem requires thinking bigger thoughts.
I just took the time to read the link you shared. Fascinating. It just confirms what I have been finding in this quest to find the safest driving method; things that start out looking simple can end up being really, really complicated. Thanks for passing that along.
Anyone can drive when things are going well. When things are not, it can mean life or death, and the details can spell the difference. In this game, we play for keeps.