Impression of first time on slippery road

[FromAway]

Have you put bags of cat litter, sand, mulch, etc. in the bed to help with traction ?

It's not really necessary. It's AWD being normally FWD unless you are slipping. Putting weight in the back mostly helps RWD and longer bed pickups with regular cabs. The 4 door unibody and shorter length make the weight distribution much better. Extra weight in the back will just make it less steady. The only thing it would really help is if you are stuck and only your rear wheels are the only things touching solid ground.

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[Deleted member 1483]

Tires > awd/modes/etc

 

[Deleted member 1483]

I decided to drive my Hybrid in the snow today. Takeaways:

• Starting off from a stop in snow/ice it cuts power with traction control. I slid a little side to side but didn't seem to lose control.
• I would say disable traction control temporarily if you are trying to merge on the highway.
• When already moving I had no loss of control or any issues stopping.
• I did some pretty serious uphill climbs with no issue. It actually was pretty fun. Im confident this will handle whatever I need.

 

[KeinoDoggy]

Addressing your Subaru comparo -

Subaru's Symmetrical AWD system (in MOST of its applications) splits power 55/45 (front/rear) at all times unless it senses wheel slippage it can direct more power to the front or rear (but both axles are open and the wheel with the least traction gets all the power first before the brake is applied and power transfer to the other wheel).

So in short - your Subaru is true AWD in that all 4 wheels are receiving power all the time unless it detects slippage.

The major difference with the standard AWD system on the Maverick and a Subaru is that the Maverick is FWD only until it detects slippage and then it will engage the rear wheels. Like the subaru - both differentials are open and a wheel with less traction will receive all the power first until the computer recognizes slippage and then will brake that wheel pushing power to the other wheel but the differential itself is not doing the work - the brake of the slipping wheel is.

Slippery mode - getting into this mode will drastically improve your traction because computer is not waiting to ID slippage. This is the closest you'll get to a locked AWD system in the standard AWD system. The system is a dry-clutch friction system so it is subject to overheating and will disengage before that occurs. The buzz/vibration you are hearing is the dry clutch engaging the rear differential and your ABS system pulsing each wheel to mimic a locked AWD system for maximum traction. Slippery I believe also cuts throttle quickly to avoid slippage.

Today's systems are so good at analyzing and detecting slippage that the Subaru might have had all 4 wheels engaged milliseconds before the bronco Maverick did.

More than likely the Subaru would have also slid in that situation and/or in combo with the Pirellis Michelins.

Mav's standard AWD system is pretty impressive for on road use.

Appreciate you explaining this. Having a Hybrid, I would be interested in knowing how "slippery mode" works that makes it beneficial for the Hybrid models. I drove today in that mode through our snow and ice and I must say it did really seem to help.

 

[710-oil-614]

Appreciate you explaining this. Having a Hybrid, I would be interested in knowing how "slippery mode" works that makes it beneficial for the Hybrid models. I drove today in that mode through our snow and ice and I must say it did really seem to help.

TFL guys had a Hybrid that they took off road early on. Actually was quite impressive with a bed load of logs. Slippery will act the same for FWD in the sense that it will attempt to limit the slip for both front wheels.

A FWD Maverick really only drives 1 wheel at a time but it has a limited slip differential that will work with your ABS system to create "traction" (or resistance via brake force) on the wheel that is spinning free which in essence forces power to the wheel with more traction.

The front axle of a FWD Mav operates the same as an AWD Mav would - but the AWD Mav will quickly transfer power to the rear (via a clutch system) where a FWD Mav can only transfer power from front wheel to wheel by creating traction (brake force) on each individual wheel.

An AWD system is obviously preferential in slippery conditions for many reasons but a FWD Mav with the limited slip differential in slippery mode (and the right tires!!!) will fare quite well for on road slippery conditions.

 

[Joe Kelly]

The first winter storm is approaching east coast. I'm seeing cold rain but not wintery mix yet. Overnight temperature is in mid-20s so there might be a little ice on road ( but unlikely since it is raining right now but not yesterday or last night).

Now I was driving to work. On the first downhill with a turn, my Maverick slipped, swung to both sides three times. My speed was about 25-30 miles. It caught me a little off guard.

I should be a little more careful because the light rain usually makes the most slippery road. But still in comparison with my Subaru Outback with a set of almost end of life cheap tires, I'd say my Maverick AWD acted a little more.

Since this my first pick up (although still a car based one), I don't know if it is fair to compare it with a sedan/wagon. Comments are welcomed.

After that, I drove much slower and I could feel the slipping on every turn. So I switched to "Slippery" mode. After that, I could feel the driving difference immediately. I could feel the low vibration/buzz more, which is the typical feel as if I turned on the 4L mode on a 4WD SUV I drove before.

1. I would suggest you were over driving the road conditions. If you hit black ice which you can have with rain. Four wheel drive or two wheel drive will slip and slide down hill. I don’t care what you have. Ice is ice. All wheel drive is just that (drive) engaging it doesn’t mean all wheel stop. I suggest slowing down before you have a big repair bill.

 

[desmobob]

1. I would suggest you were over driving the road conditions. If you hit black ice which you can have with rain. Four wheel drive or two wheel drive will slip and slide down hill. I don’t care what you have. Ice is ice. All wheel drive is just that (drive) engaging it doesn’t mean all wheel stop. I suggest slowing down before you have a big repair bill.

Ice is why they still sell studded snow tires. They really help. (But I haven't owned a set in a LONG time...)

 

[KeinoDoggy]

1. I would suggest you were over driving the road conditions. If you hit black ice which you can have with rain. Four wheel drive or two wheel drive will slip and slide down hill. I don’t care what you have. Ice is ice. All wheel drive is just that (drive) engaging it doesn’t mean all wheel stop. I suggest slowing down before you have a big repair bill.

This! ^^^^^!

 

[B2000]

The Bridgestone Blizzaks I had on my Infiniti would actually stop on ice. They had sipes that would squeege the thin layer of water on top of the ice- which is what makes you slide- and bring you to a stop. Anybody running Blizzaks on their Maverick?

 

[MakinDoForNow]

TFL guys had a Hybrid that they took off road early on. Actually was quite impressive with a bed load of logs. Slippery will act the same for FWD in the sense that it will attempt to limit the slip for both front wheels.

A FWD Maverick really only drives 1 wheel at a time but it has a limited slip differential that will work with your ABS system to create "traction" (or resistance via brake force) on the wheel that is spinning free which in essence forces power to the wheel with more traction.

The front axle of a FWD Mav operates the same as an AWD Mav would - but the AWD Mav will quickly transfer power to the rear (via a clutch system) where a FWD Mav can only transfer power from front wheel to wheel by creating traction (brake force) on each individual wheel.

An AWD system is obviously preferential in slippery conditions for many reasons but a FWD Mav with the limited slip differential in slippery mode (and the right tires!!!) will fare quite well for on road slippery conditions.

Hybrid FWD slippery minimizes rate of Regen braking and will coast further. Acts more like most FWD vehicles. Seems to helps highway mpg and reduces acceleration power used in adaptive cruise. @GPSMan ran tests on all drive modes. I feel particularly in cruise that power conversion losses from Regen are minimized in slippery mode.

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