Driving in the snow rain and ice is VERY different from smooth drive pavement. The Bridgestone/Firestone winter driving school in Steamboat Springs CO offers training to help you best control your SUV - they offer some important Tips & Techniques as well as a look at their winter driving tire the Blizzak.
 

One of the most important aspects of owning and driving an SUV is that you recognize that it is different from a passenger car, mini-van, pickup truck or sports car. It's a sport utility vehicle. And in today's market, with so many different variations within the overall SUV category, it's more important than ever to know what you're driving, and how to handle it. Again, not all SUVs are the same either.

 

Here are some general ideas and concepts to consider and be aware of when operating an SUV.

 

• Weight. The heavier your vehicle is, the more time /room should be allowed for acceleration and deceleration - that also means braking. Tips: Allow more distance between your vehicle and the next to allow for your reaction time to safely come to a stop. Also allowing more space for acceleration to safely merge onto a highway entrance for example.
  • Add on Weight. As we've just seen, Ford may be adding a warning label to the next generation suvs, letting the consumer know how much cargo carrying they really can/should do. Many SUVs have roof racks - this is not an invitation to pile it on as high as you want. There are suggested limits to the amount you should load up on top. Check your manual. Also be aware that if you add weight on top, that will change your center of gravity. Higher center of gravity means the upper level weight may pull your vehicle one way or the other as it makes corners or makes any abrubt moves.
  • Internal weight matters too. The cargo carrying capacity is important. Know how much additional weight your vehicle is rated - it's the payload number. When over loading an SUV that too can compromise its intended handling ability. Again, when heavier, it takes longer to make accelerations and decelerations. Watch for shifting loads as well - keep all of your cargo battoned down as much as you can. Find cargo nets, rear storage tie downs etc., that allow you to evenly distribute the weight and keep it from shifting when you drive. Obviously, the added weight will add stress to your suspension system, as well as your tires.

   

• Height. One of the much desired aspects of an SUV is that it sits higher than an average passenger car, thus allowing you to be safer in terms of seeing your surroundings instead of the hood of your car. This advantage needs to be respected. Use that higher view positioning to look ahead and act accordingly in a preventative manner. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, but you have to actively pay attention to the traffic patterns and your own driving, in order to take advantage of this higher positioning viewpoint.

  • Higher center of gravity. The dreaded 'roll over' situation. Many of the SUVs are taller in terms of where the weight distribution sits. A mini-van can be the same visiable height from pavement to the roof, but how that mass is distributed can be very different. With the initial concept of a sport utility vehicle's need to be 'useful' for four wheel drive situations, ground clearance was and for many still, is considered an important aspect of the vehicle's attributes. The ground clearance is what it sounds like. How much clearance between the undercarriage of the vehicle and the ground. For those who never take the roads less traveled, this is mostly not a neccessity. For those who enjoy and or need to travel bumpy roads, the clearance factor is something that will prevent the vehicle from getting caught on rocks or other debris in the road. Clearance also helps in terms of cresting the top of an acute hill whether it be in sand rock or dirt. Keeping the approach and departure angels high also helps for these situations - that's so the body and bumper don't hit the terrain before the tires can get traction, and on the way down or out, so the rear bumper and body have a clear path. Keeping components tucked up and under is very important, but also puts more weight at a higher point in the overall structure of the vehicle. But the height positioning of the majority of the mass isn't a figure that stands alone... how this weight is postitioned vertically is important with regard to how much is distributed horizontally and front to back.

 

• Width. How wide is your SUV? If you take one of the widest SUVs as an example, the AMG Hummer's width offsets the tremendous ground clearance by keeping a lot of the mass very firmly and centrally located. This is an intentional design based on the need for the military version's HMVEE design to be a capable vehicle in extreme conditions. Know what your vehicle is capable of doing, and respect its limitations and drive accordingly. The concern of tipping and roll overs occurs when the vehicle makes a turn, augmented by the speed of the vehicle at the time of the turn, and how sharp a turn is made.

 

• Your Reactions. How you drive is important for your safety and others, no matter what type of vehicle you drive. Speed limits should be respected. They are actually determined for each stretch of road for a combination of reasons. Once you've exceeded the posted limit you are not only making an illegal moving violation, but putting yourself, your family, and others on the road in potential danger. How you react to something unexpected in the road will make a difference. Some of the potential 'surprises' that might occur along the way, include (not limited to..): coming across a pot hole, a raised metal plate, animals or pedestrians darting into your path, mobile or heavy debris in the path, other vehicles making abrupt maneuvers or loosing control of their vehicle, and your own vehicle malfunctions, from a tire blowout, flat tire, radiator hose or other under the hood malfunctions. Driving without additional distractions should better allow you to stay in control of your vehicle when you are faced with any of these situations. If you do 'jerk' the steering wheel to try and 'swerve' quickly to avoid the pending obstacle, this will place your vehicle in a potentially hazardous position depending on your center of gravity and your forward speed - the momentum of which will then be transfered horizontally to the most forward side of your vehicle when you pull the wheels away from driving straight forward. Prevention can go a long way. Remember to respect the speed and distance points made earlier, if you're traveling at slower speeds, there is less of a chance of a maneuver that may result in a roll over, if you've left enough space in front of you, you have a greater probability of braking your vehicle in a safe manner and keeping control of your own SUV. This is not ignoring that accidents happen, and happen quickly, and sometimes an impact situation cannot be avoided. It is hopeful that the SUV structure and design will help you survive an impact, in any case you simply MUST be wearing your safety belts to take advantage of the original intent of the manufacturers design to keep you safe inside the vehicle in case of impact. Try not to get to the point where your reaction would be to swerve in the firstplace.

 

• Seat Belts. Check on the statistics if you don't believe us. Seatbelts save lives. But they must be worn to work - that means being belted in every time you drive. The safety of SUV's structures, and auxilliary feature designs including combinations of airbags, may prove to be advantageous in terms of saving lives in impact situations - but that all depends on the driver and passengers being strapped in. Many deaths and injuries are seen when the person is either thrown around within the vehicle or thrown out of the vehicle entirely.

 

• ABS. The anti lock brake systems of today's new vehicles, means you must brake differently than if your vehicle isn't equipped with ABS in terms of how best to keep your tires with traction to the surface to allow a safe stop. Without ABS, techniques on older vehicles for safely stopping involve 'pumping' the brake pedal. Using this action you apply the brakes, then release, then press again in a sequence that offers the greatest possibility for the brakes to work without 'freezing' up. That is, if the brakes without ABS are held down continually, in adverse terrain conditions - as in rain or ice - the possibility for the brakes to lock the tires in place may result in loosing traction and thus control when trying to come to a stop. Now with the newer ABS brakes, the advanced technology systems do the pedal pumping for you. In this case you need to apply firm and steady pressure to the brake pedal, and allow the responsive system to modulate the pressure internally in order to maintain the best possible traction without tire lockup.

 

• Four Wheel Drive/ All Wheel Drive. There are more systems on the market than ever! We'll try to update the overview of systems, how they work and what they are so you can compare the capabilities and determine which system is right for you. Here is a General 4WD safety tips information to view.