You might want to READ THE WHOLE THREAD next time, so that you actually get all the information into your head before you make a suggestion that is as useless as the one you just made.
BC.
After reading through everyone’s responses, and reading through your responses, I have to agree that the big issue is probably a combination of weight distribution from the style of the vehicle, and the quality of the tires that came on your Scion XB.
The Scion XB cames standard with 185/60-15 tires.
You are saying that when you are driving up a steep gravel road, the front tires are breaking loose, and just spinning.
That leads me to believe that the fact that the drive wheels are so far forward on your little van-thing, and the rest of the cabin is so far back, when you are trying to climb the steeper part of the gravel road, all the weight is being transferred to the back tires, unloading the front tires, and allowing the tires to spin freely.
I am going to recommend that you install a M+S rated tire.
Typically these are called Winter tires.
These will have the more aggressive tread pattern you will need in order to get traction in the driving conditions you need.
This WILL decrease your gas mileage if you use these tires all the time, and they will wear out faster, so I HIGHLY recommend that you buy another pair of wheels to mount these tires onto, and when you get to the mountain area, you swap out the standard tires/wheels with the M+S tires/wheels.
Do that, and you won’t need to go back to driving a Corolla.
BC.
Er… I don’t actually know. It’s been at the shop for a while, since I hit a deer with it, which I do not recommend doing in this vehicle. Out little box has had kind of a rough life so far. I think they were like 70 aspect ratio instead of the 60’s that came with it and were just a mid-range “all season” rated tire from the Les Schwab chain out here. I think the traction tires Bladecutter was advising would probably be overkill, not to mention where are you going to get them in Florida?
And, again, try it without the traction control. There’s spots where the wheels start to slip that without the TC on, you can get through with your inertia, but with the TC on, it slows you down and can make the situation worse.
actually I can’t make head or tail out of boxwrench’s note.
example: “my scion is a real screamer . for 1.5 . if you put a aim air tube on you”
Pretty much all of his posts are gibberish. I just skip over them as soon as I see his name usually.
Yeah, I must have had more time than usual in order to have taken the time to read boxwrench’s post. As usual, it is mass of semi-literate gibberish. But, by reading his post (difficult though that may have been), I realized just how bizarre his suggestion is.
What’s next? Perhaps carrying extra weight in order to improve gas mileage?
;-))
How is MORE power going to help his car stop slipping going up-hill…and even with MODS…what you get a .1% increase in power???
that sounds like a convenient solution, just keep those extra 4 tires stored on the roof!
Have you tried backing your way up the hill? OK, seriously now, what about tire chains or something similar to increase traction? Take a look at this http://www.flextrax.com/fitV3.php and this http://www.spike-spider.com/
One thing to try is to try the Scion NOT loaded…Just you and the car and see if it makes it.
Thank you- this sounds like an excellent idea!!