Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

With the current dump of snow on the southwest part of B.C., I had my first opportunity to use Gumdrop's 4WD for real. She came with a set of new all-season radials, which now have about 3000 km on them.

Driving in the snow in 4WD I felt the same sure-footedness I've felt in other all-wheel drive vehicles, like my sister's Toyota Previa. The only issue I could see was over-confidence: while you accelerate and corner much better in 4WD, your braking is exactly the same. It was interesting following somebody up the steepest hill between downtown Vancouver and my place in Burnaby (Parker/Curtis at Holdom). They were spinning wheels and fishtailing all over the place. I just chugged along.

Winter? Bring it on!

...laura

4wd is amazing that way, just don't get over confident!

Just one other thing to note, if you are driving somewhere where there actually is traction, take it out of 4wd, these vehicles do not have a centre differential, and as such driving on any surface that has decent traction while in 4wd is not too good for your vehicle...

haha o yeah the 4 w rules.the other day i was going up to the callaghan to do some grooming for the skate skiing trials up there, nd because its early season the parking lot is higher then usual.with the big dump no body could get up to it, even biy 350 trucks were stopping below but i went on up anyways (knowing that if i got stuck i had a snow cat and the matt tracks (track tired truck) to pull me out.anyways totaly killed it up the hill at least driving in foot o sugary powder.

Hey All,

Loving the snow.

Just a heads up, ALL your tires for you Delica MUST be DOT or you insurance is completely void.
That in combination with snow can be a slippery slope. I am not trying to spoil your fun just a thought for all.

Have fun out there.

Just a heads up, ALL your tires for you Delica MUST be DOT or you insurance is completely void.

BC has stated that the tires do NOT need the DOT stamp, however they must have the load rating stamped on the side wall.

Hi !
Yes it is fun driving the delica, i ha a dodge 4x4 but bolive me the delica roks:)
About the tires i just had them instald at c t and they dont have a stamp on dot.
Have fun all and TC.
Laur

Green1 wrote:4wd is amazing that way, just don't get over confident!

Just one other thing to note, if you are driving somewhere where there actually is traction, take it out of 4wd, these vehicles do not have a centre differential, and as such driving on any surface that has decent traction while in 4wd is not too good for your vehicle...

I found it handy to leave the hubs locked and activate 4WD when I needed it. Thanks to others in this forum for filling in the blanks.

The L400 Delica does have a differential in its transfer case, with the ability to lock it when needed. But not until 2009 for us Canadians, alas. I've just seen my first couple of 1993 Delicas on importers web sites...

...laaura

I found it handy to leave the hubs locked and activate 4WD when I needed it

That is exactly what I do as well.

The L400 Delica does have a differential in its transfer case, with the ability to lock it when needed

which is one reason that the L300 is considered a better offroader, with no centre diff it is permanently locked with no extra parts to break.

The L400 is intriguing, but from what I've seen so far, I think I'd prefer the L300

I found it handy to leave the hubs locked and activate 4WD when I needed it. Thanks to others in this forum for filling in the blanks.

How exactly does one do this? Do you put it in 4wd, drive a few feet until the light comes on, and then pop it back in 2wd?

I'm a little unclear on the whole 4wd system and the difference between having the front hubs locked and actually having power to the front wheels. Time to use google . . .

mattias wrote:

I found it handy to leave the hubs locked and activate 4WD when I needed it. Thanks to others in this forum for filling in the blanks.

How exactly does one do this? Do you put it in 4wd, drive a few feet until the light comes on, and then pop it back in 2wd?

Exactly. The front hubs won't unlock until you shift in to 2WD and back up a couple of meters.

mattias wrote:I'm a little unclear on the whole 4wd system and the difference between having the front hubs locked and actually having power to the front wheels. Time to use google . . .

With the front hubs unlocked there is no mechanical connection between the front differential and drive shafts and the wheels. This means you don't waste power or fuel turning all the front end driveline as you drive. Back in the old days 4WD vehicles had manual hubs, where you had to get out and turn a knob on each front wheel to engage 4WD.

...laura

Snow is fine, but the cold is a different thing... I've been having a really hard time trying to start the car in -20 here in Calgary. When I plug it in is fine, but I have to make sure that wherever I go there's a plug, otherwise... it takes a long time and effort to start.

I made the unfortunate discovery that my tires are crap in the snow. I figured as much as my front ones are "brand I never heard of" AT and my rear ones have no brand at all (but load info). I have to park on a hill outside my house, going up was okay, going down not good. Slid into the curb a few times even with it in 4L and first gear. Then I get it parked, apply the parking break, take my foot off the brake and down the hill she slides until comming to rest against the curb. Shame as there is still tonnes of tread on them, hate to have to buy a new set of 4 when there is so much wear left on the current ones.

Get a set of winter tires, but switch back to your current tires once it's not icy anymore... AT and All-season can't compare to real winter tires on ice.

well, I'm running no seasons (err... "all" season tires) and am actually relatively impressed with mine, no problems so far, and WAY better than the ones on my work van...

All season tires are fine year round as long as 1) they're GOOD all seasons, and 2) you know how to drive. (without the second even the best winter tires will leave you a hazard to yourself and everyone else)

as for starting... I'm pretty impressed with the batteries in the Delica... at -20 it started... was REALLY not happy about it, but it started. (mental note, must quit procrastinating on some form of heater)

Agree with the general consensus - the Deli has performed up to my hopes. I went up 20th street in Lynn Valley (coming from lower Lynn Valley up to Kirkstone at Mtn Highway - steep with a nasty hairpin) in North Van no problem whatsoever. It was a very good test and admit I was a bit nervous at the outset. On the other hand, I would NEVER attempt coming down that grade in the snow - at risk of repeating the obvious...there may be 4 wheels helping to propel the vehicle which is an advantage of 100% over normal driving, but braking is just the same as usual - 4 stoppers on 4 corners so nobody should expect the deli to stop any better than a 2 wheel drive vehicle in the snow...just drive slow as can be.

There is one thing I noticed that may contradict my own comment a little - using the gear selector to control speed when in 4x4 mode is quite a bit more effective than in 4x2 mode. The power to all the wheels when compression braking allows more control compared to just the back wheels locking up or slowing down quicker than the velocity of the vehicle. However, important to note that if you're going quite quickly in 4x4 - and gear down too sharply....you WILL run a high risk of going out of control completely instead of fish tailing - so again, don't let the confidence of this vehicle be your downfall!!!!

Good luck to all...