AWD! Please!

[ElectricShitbox]

Average annual snowfall of 108" here, haha.

So I used to know this guy that did some drifting. For years he used his 240sx drift missile with a welded diff as his winter beater. That thing was a blast in anything other than deep snow. Nothing quite as fun as shooting two massive rooster tails of snow. Anyway, this is my way of saying that even though I've lived downwind of Lake Erie for nearly 4 decades, I have no clue if NY has any particular laws about snow tires/chains/number of driven wheels. I just get stuck or don't.

 

[Driven5]

Amount of snowfall is not the main thing that gives AWD value, snow covered direction and elevation change is. I've daily driven a Miata in the worst Green Bay winter for 100+ years, loving every minute of it, and driven a Sentra 100+ of miles out of Chicago on roads mostly covered by a solid sheet of ice. Flat land for the former, flat land in a straight line for the latter. If I was frequenting the mountains in winter, AWD would still be a requirement for me. No, AWD doesn't help slow, stop, or descend. It does however add directional control and climb as well as it descends. It can mean not having to choose between staying home or getting stuck. Sure 2WD on the right tires is better than AWD on the wrong tires, but AWD on the right tires can get you there safely when 2WD cannot regardless of tires. Good tires are technically no more of a 'need' than AWD is, but either (or both) can still be a reasonable requirement.

People frequenting the mountains in winter are the exception rather than the rule, but they are also far from non-existent.

My point around this entire dialogue here is to say that there are large swaths of people (whom Slate is directly marketing to) who will not consider a 2wd car for purchase, and it is a missed mark given the relatively simple integration of AWD on an EV vs an ICE.

I can see how it would seem this way from a personal perspective, especially one that also place a high value on AWD. But from a production-system professional perspective, the quiet brilliance of this strategy is one of the things that has impressed me the most about Slate.

Offering 2WD before AWD only misses the mark if they too severely underestimate the size of the 2WD market. As long as there is *enough* 2WD demand to get them through to AWD production, it buys them the two most important things to any resource-limited organization... Time and money.

 

[ElectricShitbox]

It can mean not having to choose between staying home or getting stuck. Sure 2WD on the right tires is better than AWD on the wrong tires, but AWD on the right tires can get you there safely when 2WD cannot regardless of tires.

This is basically the scenario for me here.

Because we get occasional piles of lake effect all at once, there's occasional times I truly couldn't get anywhere in a 2wd, even with good snows. But I basically always can just stay home for those times. If I had a job that I NEEDED to get to regardless of weather, I would need some ground clearance and awd. But my job isn't that important, so I have no problem chilling on my couch until I feel like snowblowing. But like, when I was in my 20s delivering pizza in my ranger, I would make a killing delivering through blizzards because it was 4x4. Plus side money pulling out stuck cars. I miss having a truck in general, haha.

But anyway, yeah, it's very dependent on location and lifestyle.

 

[metroshot]

Sounds like Slate is not for you. I recommend you get your deposit back and move on.

Can I ask where you got the quote from me ?

I don't recall saying this:
"But I can go on any manufactures website and customize my car a whole heck of a lot more than I can customize a Slate. We keep beating this horse but they are missing the mark hugely."

 

[Bayfire2441]

Can I ask where you got the quote from me ?

I don't recall saying this:
"But I can go on any manufactures website and customize my car a whole heck of a lot more than I can customize a Slate. We keep beating this horse but they are missing the mark hugely."

I thought I remembered seeing that in this thread so I looked back and its from Letas, not you. Not sure why they attributed to you.

 

[sodamo]

A true 4WD vehicle with low-range (4LO) is required for the summit of Mauna Kea, not just AWD, due to steep, unpaved sections and potential ice/snow, with rangers checking vehicles and rentals often prohibiting summit travel. Driving to the summit in a 2WD or standard AWD vehicle is dangerous and prohibited past the Visitor Information Station (VIS) because of the risk of brake failure and lack of traction, even if the road is mostly clear

 

[Driven5]

Off-roading that requires low-range 4WD? No way!

 

[sodamo]

Off-roading that requires low-range 4WD? No way!

Not sure if referring ti my post, but if you are, not off roading. Talking about coming down the mountain. 15% grades I think, unpaved.

 

[Driven5]

Just some light-hearted fun to keep it from getting too stuffy around here.

 

[Driven5]

Not sure if referring ti my post, but if you are, not off roading. Talking about coming down the mountain. 15% grades I think, unpaved.

Many off-road 'trails' are just unpaved roads.

 

[E90400K]

Not sure if referring ti my post, but if you are, not off roading. Talking about coming down the mountain. 15% grades I think, unpaved.

I'll not speak for the Group, but in my neck of the woods (literally), we call that, "off road".