In 2006, I lived in Florida and bought a new green/grey FWD RAV4 and used it many times to drive up to NC. I would love to have one again - thatâs why we rented the 2011 V6 AWD model for a month when we first moved up here.
Any idea why it could not do what the Crosstrek did yesterday? In the RAV4 the tires spun when I had to come to a full stop halfway up the grade and then start again. Compared to the Crosstrek, the Toyota felt really top heavy and not solid on the ground. I have recently noticed the brand new RAV4 has a much lower stance and is more compact, less top heavy.
@dagosa, @MarkM - the Subaru Imprezza Sport and Crosstrek share the same engine and actually have about the same cargo/passenger room. The Imprezza sits lower and has less rubber on the tires in the Premium and Limited. Would one be better than the other for any reason? Would the new RAV4 AWD be worth looking at? It seems itâs been revamped considerably. The smaller Subarus are easier to park in the city than the more hulking Forester.
Many years rock crawling in Utah for example and there is no issue at all 4WD HI or LO with an automatic transmission at low speeds on dry pavement or rocks. High speeds create excessive heat in the differential and leads to issues IMO. Never stalled one either. Three outcomes; it moves, tires spin or the tires stick and the TC absorbs the energy. Manual transmission = different storyâŠ
@BlackMountainDreamer re: v6 RAV rental.
I am going to guess the following. If you did engage the lock and the real wheels spun, I might have tried not engaging the lock. The v6 RAV is no longer made because it did not sell well enough. It had a Great motor and testers loved it, but it was too much for the car and too expensive. Besides, the 2.5 was and is an excellent motor. Still, I like Subaru drive trains better but the Toyota motors better still. The 2006 was an improvement but the newest RAV rides like a truck. Thatâs why we bought a Venza to replace the old RAV. I would have a Subaru but I generally buy from the closest dealer.
You seem to be all over the place for reasons you need to consider to select a car. In your pride range, the best car for your original hill requirements, is a Subaru hands down. When you start talking about colors options and everything else, you confuse the issue, seemingly to avoid a Subaru. All their drive trains are the same. I would advise you just pick out the model Subaru you like best t and try it out on your hill.
@TwinTurbo Oops⊠@circuitsmith I have found that 4 wd at lower speeds is not a concern on dry pavement âŠas long as you are moving straight ahead. The low range 4 wd truck would seem worthwhile but at sometime you need to turn. Once in a while is not a big deal. But, I would not want yo be the second owner it the previous did it daily. As the speed increases, it becomes a severe handing and safety matter too. Even on dirt roads that have some grip you can experience the scrubbing. I have to replace the front tires of my tractor twice as often because I need to operate in 4 wd on hills for front braking. If you did it frequently with a truck then, the tires would probably be crap for high speed driving in little time.
i think there is a big difference between tractors and trucks. Tire construction, materials and geometry. Ive been jeeping out west for decades, driving there and back. Last 12 years from new englandâŠi leave more than a years worth of rubber on those rocks especially compared to a short length of road to a driveway. Same tires for the last 8 years and never had any issues on the expresswayâŠ
I live in a mountain village. I am sure from your description that our streets arenât that steep. But, I am curious how to measure. Does anyone know a URL which would tell me how to measure steepness in %, using normal tools? (Level, tape measure, etc.) Obviously, I can handle the math if I know how to measure it.
@TwinTurbo
Yes, of course. But they do have one thing in common; a transfer case with locking differentials. Tire scrubbing is a fact of life for both when traction is high. On a tractor, it pretty much survives because it is so robust. On a truckâŠwell, we can just read the ownerâs manual. Becuse most tractors only have brakes on the rear wheels, any front braking is done through the transfer case. Therefore you need to use it even when you have good traction going down hillsâŠso you need to use it a lot. The tires ? The rubber on tractor tires is quite hard with very deep treads because of the scrubbing. A car tire wouldnât last a day. But then, a tractor is always geared for off roadâŠmine only tops out at about 15 mph in the highest gear. Balancing and nitrogen filled tires are unnecessaryâŠeven though they have good traction for off road, they can get stuck easily because of their weight and front and rear apparatus which always seem to get hung up. But, it has amazing traction going up hillsâŠjust donât turn sideways. A. Lot of operators have been hurt of killed on steep grades with tractors. Even 5 mph can be too fast.
Iâm a little afraid of tractors myself. With the light front end and big rear wheels, seems to me it doesnât take a whole lot to do a wheelee backwards. At least Iâve heard of these types of farm accidents and never liked them, especially going up a long steep incline. Some put weights on the front to keep the wheels on the ground but still I wouldnât like it.
Good question on calculating the percent grade. I was wondering that myself.
@irlandes
I have an old wooden protractor I turn upside down and tie a string to a nob at the vertex with a small weight attached. There are plenty of sites that do degree to grade conversions with charts. I had to use it to get the horizontal distance to my shore line using rt triangle measure and the degree angle of the slope to map out a proposed plan for a road to my shore. It was accurate enough. Obviously surveying transit is ideal.
@Bing. As long as you know the tractor and do everything by the book, they have amazing traction going up steep grades and can be safer then a car doing itâŠweight distribution is very important. For example, when you move a bucket load of stone down a steep hill , it is best done with the weight on the high side. That means you back down for safety. It seems strange, but it handles much better. A little scary backing down really steep hills but everything is more stable. Control of your attachments, front and rear is part of driving them. You often have to raise and lower them to turn and balance in tight or steep areas. Obviously, both feet and hands have a job to do.
The accidents you refer to are the older designs, often two wheel drive. Four wheel drive is much more popular now for safer load handling and prevents those types of accidents. Plus, without a heavy attachment on front, you always add weight there to keep it balanced. Modern tractors provide those provisions. With a 1000 lb loader on front and over 500 lbs of calcium in each tire on back, a 3000 lb tractor normally operates over 5000 lbs. which makes it very stable and gives it lots of traction on hillsâŠt
@dagosa - so, we are about 98% sure that weâre going to order a new Forester XT. We test drove a new model RAV4 AWD up here and ran it through a series of tests. It performed dramatically better than the 2011 V6 in ascending halfway, stopping, then finishing the climb; also the vehicle stability mode did not engage and freeze/lock up the transmission when reversing up the incline, even when we were tilted by the grade while still in the driveway AND reversing simultaneously. We were even able to stop and start in that position, something many vehicles simply canât do. Although it performed well there was a strong burning smell coming from the engine - this did not occur when running the Crosstrek through the same tests. No odor whatsoever, no indication of taxing the car.
There was some driver error too. The very young salesman came barreling up in D. I, however, did my test run by shifting into manual mode at the bottom and crawling up the hill in 1st at about 15mph - rpmâs were just at 2000 - when he blasted up in D they almost hit 4000.
The simplest way to calculate grade is to take a 10 â 2x4 and have someone hold the upper end,while you take a level and a ruler and see how high the the lower end is in the air,if it is 3.4â in the air,then its a 34% grade,percent of grade equals,the fall in feet vertical over a horizontal distance of 100â now to get the degrees of the slope is a little different.a 100% grade equals a 45 degree angle(in contractors parlance a 1 to 1 slope,you can use a protractor to figure out the angles also.
Kevinâs explanation is what I had vaguely in my mind. Thanks, Kevin.
I have a strong math background, but I wanted to start with a known definition to avoid any errors from figuring it out on my own.
Ten foot 2X4âs are rare and expensive here, since houses are made of concrete. They do use a lot of 4X4âs in the forms, but the logistics of taking a heavy boardâŠ
I will probably use what I have, involving a level, and measure carefully with a tape measure the distance from the end of the level to the ground at several places. Then, take the data home and work on it until I am satisfied.
The level is clearly not ten feet long, but math will work it out. Due to the shorter pieces, measurement accuracy is much more important. Busy today, but will report back when I get the data. Thanks, Kevin.
I may also post a photo if I can get one that doesnât make it look flat.s
We not only drive up and down these streets. We park there. The locals with manual transmissions use large rocks by the wheel. My 2002 Sienna has a very good parking brake. I cinch it up solid, then put it in park and turn the wheel toward the buildings.
FWD RAV4 and used it many times to drive up to NC. I would love to have one again - thatâs why we rented the 2011 V6 AWD model for a month when we first moved up here.