Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

... related to this, what about highway drive when it is snowing.

Is it possible to switch to 4H on the highway when it is snowing, say 1 inch of snow on the road, and drive at 60km/h?

STL

STL wrote:... related to this, what about highway drive when it is snowing.

Is it possible to switch to 4H on the highway when it is snowing, say 1 inch of snow on the road, and drive at 60km/h?

STL

up to 100/120 km/hr I believe.

I've done it close to 100 km/hr when I started sliding.

Shifting between 2H (rear wheel drive) and 4H (all wheel drive) is shift-on-the-fly, meaning you can shift anytime.

jfarsang wrote:
Shifting between 2H (rear wheel drive) and 4H (all wheel drive) is shift-on-the-fly, meaning you can shift anytime.

Make sure you're moving in a straight line though...

According to the manual you can drive 100KPH+ in 4H, what I would be more concerned about would be:

• A: Turning on a hard surface, an inch of snow is not very deep and your tyres might still be making contact with the hard road on occasion.
  B: Would you really want to be going that fast in an inch of snow? Just because she a 4WD doesn't mean she is infallible. 4WD will help get you going in the snow but if you are doing 60KPH in one inch of snow and you have to suddenly stop you will have a problem. 4WD will not help you brake. With one inch of snow your treads will be filled and you will be riding snow on top of snow (or ice) which is very slippery.
  
  Naniamo is a city in western Canada:
  
  "Fatal Nanaimo Car Crash
  Two Children Die in Tragic Accident
  
  Road Conditions, Speed and Alcohol Suspected
  
  On 2008-12-22 at approx. 4:20 pm, RCMP members from Nanaimo detachment, South Island Traffic Services, and Central Island Traffic Services attended a 7 vehicle motor vehicle crash on Highway 1 near Haslam Rd. in Cassidy, British Columbia.
  
  A Ford Escape SUV was traveling northbound on Highway 1. There was a 35 yr old Nanaimo female and 4 children in this vehicle. The Escape lost control on the snow covered and icy roads and swerved into the oncoming southbound traffic. This resulted in a chain reaction type of collision involving a total of 6 other vehicles. A total of 9 persons were injured and taken to local hospitals with non life threatening injuries. One child was airlifted to Vancouver with undisclosed injuries. Sadly, two young children, approx. ages of 2 and 8 , were pronounced dead at the scene from injuries sustained. The two children were passengers in the Ford Escape.
  
  BC Coroners Office, RCMP Collision Analyst , and the RCMP Criminal Crash Investigation Team attended the scene to assist in the investigation. At this time, speed and alcohol are being looked at as possible contributing factors in the crash. The investigation is continuing.
  
  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police traffic units are dedicated to the safety of all that use the roadways and urge motorists to use extreme caution in the current winter conditions. Because you have a 4x4, doesn't mean you can't lose control and crash. Slow down and arrive to your destination safely."

Falco.

Thanks for the info. I now know that I can switch to 4H if needed. It doesn't mean that I want to drive fast, only that i can do a 50/60 km/h in 4H (which is definitively better than 2H on snow) if needed.

My hankook tires are quite efficient on snow and on the highway in Austria people can drive a bit too fast even when it is snowing and I don't want to be too slow. There is plenty of snow falling now and we should drive to Austria in a few days.

STL

I have to agree with Falco here. We're probably not used to so many deaths on the road here, but back east its quite common. Thing is, we're getting a lot of deaths for relatively mild conditions (the snow we got was a routine mid-fall snow dump back east). This is not necessary.

All the easterners I meet at work who drive in from the various 'burbs say the same thing; people are driving too fast and not accounting for braking distance. Half the problem is definitely inexperience.

Light trucks are the most likely to crash because of a few factors. Weight and power (more of it), combined with height and dampened suspension (less feedback from the road) make drivers overconfident.

My point is your vehicle is not the biggest concern. It's the driver. Slow down.

I agree with all what is said above ... i'm not a fast driver at all. Only that i don't want to be too slow because other are not safe drivers and may just not have enough breaking distance.

That's a good example of the difference between pareto dominant strategies (noboby can be made better-off) and Nash strategy (best response strategy).

This said I do drive slow (I have my 2 boys with me) and i like to be able to do it in 4H.

STL

STL wrote:That's a good example of the difference between pareto dominant strategies (noboby can be made better-off) and Nash strategy (best response strategy).

I nominate this for most unlikely quote on delica.ca.

RichD wrote:

STL wrote:That's a good example of the difference between pareto dominant strategies (noboby can be made better-off) and Nash strategy (best response strategy).

I nominate this for most unlikely quote on delica.ca.

Sorry I misunderstood.

I thought you were talking about an L400.

L300 4H : p/t 4WD (only on loose surfaces)

L400 4H : AWD - shift on the fly (any surface)

Both are labeled 4H.

jfarsang wrote: L300 4H : p/t 4WD (only on loose surfaces)

Yes I know, hence my question - highway 60 km/h with 1-2 inches of snow in 4H?

STL

I don't see any problem with that since you're wheels will have slippage.

I would put it into 4H before getting on the highway, make sure it's engaged, and then put it back to 2H. This will keep the auto hubs locked so you can switch back and forth as you are driving forward. As soon as you stop/backup, the auto hubs will disengage and you'll need to stop to shift from 2H to 4H again.

I have manual hubs on my Austrian L300 so that I have to engage them before entering the highway anyaway.

Many thanks.

STL

sorry to bump and old topic, but it's tire season

I've got Nexen ATIIs on my van at the moment and I'm unsure of their performance. They are ok on the road, they've had a bit of FSR roads and some mild off roading. They do lack the snowflake. So i'm in the market for some new sneaks for my L400.

#1 on the List is the Goodyear Duratracs. However the Crappy tire version is on sale. The Goodyear Wrangler Territory. Buy 3 get 1 free. They are the same price at regular price, but the 200 dollar savings could be nice. Any reviews?

The General Tires Grabber A/T2s are on sale for a good price ( 120 a tire ).

I just heard that the BFG ATs are losing the snowflake that's on them due to the hockey puck rubber so they are off the table.
The new Nokians ( Rotiivas ) look like a decent option.

Any insight or thoughts?

Territory's are great tires.

http://www.delica.ca/forum/goodyear-wra ... +territory

http://www.delica.ca/forum/new-tires-fo ... +territory

http://www.delica.ca/forum/bigger-tire- ... +territory