Ice on Tarmac - 4x4?

Pretty much as already said: if all ice 4wd.
If patchy ice, and you will be running a wheel on ice every few yards to relieve any windup: 4wd.

Fresh snow is surprisingly grippy too, I never worried about using 4wd with the old series Landrover, but it had much stronger axles. Now I would be inclined to see how far I can get in 2wd first.

I have noticed though that a road I could easily get up in my Corsa, and in fact everyone else just drives up, does need 4wd, this RWD business is pretty useless.


Do remember that the previous owners probably had it in 4wd from December to February every year without worrying, and it didn't break when they had it :dry:

BTW, don't bother trying to pull cars out of ditches on icy or snowy roads, it won't work, you can just about get yourself moving on flat ice, no chance if you are tied to something stuck. (That is what a winch and an anchorage are for)

i towed a guy in a toyota avensis up a rather steep snow covered hill in 4WD low ratio two days after i bought my jim and it went no bother - when i offered the guy the tow he was like ''does that thing actually have 4wd??'' i had to show him what the Zooks are capable of...smiles all round ''some bloody tool that jimny is'' to quote his son haha

yeh me too, i towed a lwb merc sprinter van up a snow covered hill about 300 yds and a couple of cars no probs. Wasnt too sure about the Van at first but was spot on.

ooky_123 wrote:
Good description of Windup is here..
www.pps.net.au/4wdencounter/4wdtech/vehicle_features.html

Muchas Gracias.

She's still refusing to beleive me though, but this is normal behaviour.

Cheers.

So does this "transmission windup" happen on all 4x4s? or is it just a Jimny weak point?

I always thought you could select 4x4 and just drive around as normal.

Sure my sisters pinin can be put in partial 4x4 where the front wheels only get drive when the rears slip?

Wind up happens on the simple systems employed by suzuki, series Landrovers, early Jeeps etc. The old Alvis 6wd military vehicles were renowned for it, and had to be bounced over kerbs on roads to relieve it.

Your Pinin has Mitsubishi's Super Select transmission that offers a choice of RWD only, 4wd through a viscous coupler and centre differential*, and finally 4wd with a locked centre differential, which is the equivalent of a Jimny in 4wd.

*You can drive in this mode all the time if you like.