What car should I buy?

[orthodoc]

No, no, no. Speed-sensitive steering does NOT mean that a driver knows about black ice (where are your numbers proving that SUV drivers don't know about black ice and other dangerous conditions, tw?). It means that the steering is closer to pure rack-and-pinion at lower speeds and has a little play at high speeds, so that amateur drivers don't inadvertently twitch the wheel at 110 mph and throw themselves across the median.

And you're confusing 4WD with all-wheel drive. All-wheel drive assigns more drive to the wheel(s) with traction. 4WD drives equally from all four wheels. All-wheel drive was engineered for higher speeds; 4WD is meant for low speeds. Do not use 4WD above 50 mph.

[xoxoxoBruce]

tw's throwing around information he heard decades ago, and even the little that has some basis of truth is sadly out of date.
But this isn't helping Lola because being an urban Texan, I doubt she needs anything capable of real tough going, just family transportation.

[tw]

Originally Posted by orthodoc

It means that the steering is closer to pure rack-and-pinion at lower speeds and has a little play at high speeds,

Heavy power steering so common in SUVs means you cannot tell when tires start losing traction. With speed sensitive steering, you can actually feel which wheel has struck ice. Know that a road is turning to ice long before the crash can happen.

There is no significant increased play at higher speeds. Once a car is moving more than 5 MPH, then power steering is no longer useful. It only keeps the driver ignorant of road conditions. Twitching at 110 is not eliminated by speed sensitive steering. Vehicles with worst steering keep power steering always on. To mask an inferior design and poor tracking. Especially true of some vehicles that did not use rack-and-pinion (ie trucks and SUVs).

A 'not informed' driver 'feels' safer when power steering is always left on. No speed sensitive steering is why some SUV drivers *feel* safer on ice. They have no idea. Power steering always left on also masks a crappy steering system. And can increase the automaker's profit by $20.

Lumberjim - why do I keep posting this here and in another thread. And you still do not read it?
Again: All-wheel drive and 4 wheel drive are functionally same. The original 4 wheel drive was so tightly interlocked that Jeeps would even flip over front to back. Newer designs 'loosened' that interlock while new names were invented for each variation. But in every case, wheels still must be interlocked. Otherwise it (4 wheel / all-wheel) does not get you started.

Lumberjim, your own video demonstrated 4 wheel drives unable to move when some wheels spin and the interlock is too loose. If any one wheel spins on ice and the wheels are not interlocked tightly, then the engine only spins that wheel faster and spins no other wheel. Even your video demonstrates what I kept saying here and in other threads.

Sometimes you can hear tires fighting even in a parking lot. If tires rotate independently, then a screech on sharp turns does not happen. Some SUVs are so tightly interlocked as to even screech tires while turning into a parking space. Sales brochures forget to mention that.

Interlocking is, for example, why I found a new all-wheel (4 wheel) drive truck under a porch. His truck went off road, through a mailbox, and ended up underneath the porch. Why? He was using all-wheel drive. He believed popular myths rather than learn why interlocked wheels decrease safety and control at speed.

Posted again are many reasons why 4/all wheel drive means less safety at speed. And why it is necessary to get the vehicle started. The next useful reply will finally say why interlocked wheels are safer; why tires do not fight for traction.

Myths about four/all wheel drive and ABS (which the same people repeatedly deny without saying why) are irrelevant to Lola Bunny who is asking for a safer and more reliable vehicle. Who will tell her she needs all-wheel drive ... by saying why.