Is it better to have 4 wheel drive around here? (Portland: ski resort, appliances)

[Yankeemama]

I love my 4WD here in Oregon and it's been worth it for my family though I think you can get along fine with a sedan except for snowy times and in certain areas when you travel you will wish you had 4WD but for city driving, a sedan is fine.

[zed42]

Just one comment
4X4, AWD, RWD, FWD are all the same once you step on the brakes.....too many idiots forget that.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Can you find a FWD sedan that gets 50mpg on free used cooking oil? Does your household actually generate 20 gallons of waste cooking oil every week? <dubious>

50 mpg since 1976,,, no dinosaurs or toxic batteries required

My 52 mpg Passat station wagon diesels go 1250 miles between fills.

Who needs to generate 20 gal of cooking oil / week

Plenty of places to get free cooking oil, 5 to 500 gal / week. Whatever you need.

Of course many other options for free diesel fuel equivalents. They are not picky what they burn.

1200ft elevation, vortex of the Gorge.(Cape Horn) Lots of 80 mph, freezing rain, plenty of snow. Portland (even Troutdale) is a Banana belt compared to my location.

25 yrs here, No 4x4 required ... previously in Colorado and Wyo mtns for 25 yrs. no 4x4 required there either.

Ymmv.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Of course many other options for free diesel fuel equivalents. They are not picky what they burn.

True. Years ago, I had an older ford diesel with a non computerized 7.3L IDI engine.

I could use kerosene, filtered hydraulic oil mixed with a little diesel, and even got out of a jam one time with a mixture of three gallons of Wesson and a gallon of diesel one time.

If you tried that with a modern diesel, you would ruin it quickly.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

True.

If you tried that with a modern diesel, you would ruin it quickly.

No problem with modern(?) diesel, including common rail and PD. Electronics.... they don't care what is running through the fuel lines.

Clean and dry is important with ANY diesel.

The Most eco And retro PNW 4x4 is AMC Eagle.

They can be had for <$2000, but they run on gas (ick / dangerous)

Can be converted to LP or CNG.

[leastprime]

far cheaper and better to buy a few bags of crushed rock (<1/4") for emergency purposes.
When I was driving to the portland area (VW Jettas), PU/4wd/awd all got stuck on the off ramps of I5, 217, 26, 405. I threw on a pair of strap-ons chains for just the few minutes that I needed them.
Better still is just don't drive during those periods of ice.

[leastprime]

StealthRabbit, are you even around Portland/Gorge during the winter months?

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by leastprime

...are you even around Portland/Gorge during the winter months?

Not last yr... out of USA for ALL of election yr

This yr, fly in and out every week (28 flights so far this yr)

Got into plenty of SNOW and ICE this yr!!! 10+ days of CHAINS + studs!

Got a farm... they require care (lots of mowing at the moment...) fly to PNW on sunny day to mow, fly out when the rain starts again.

AWD can be VERY nice for beginners, but DO know how to STOP!!!

remember the rules --- 4 second following distance. x 2 when wet; x 4 when slick / snowy.

Crunchy snow is GREAT for traction. The PNwe_tside does not get 'crunchy snow'.

[Dwayne Lassiter]

Originally Posted by Nor'wet

If you want to be self reliant & responsible, then the answer is: YES

If you want to look like a big shot, and snarf gasoline like it was going out of style, then the answer is: YES. That's if you live in town on the flats. Certainly if you're rural or on a bad slope, things may be different. Why, if you want to be reliant and responsible, you should generate your own power, dig a well, and farm everything you want to eat. Yes, there were some nasty days this winter, but that winter nastiness is nothing like what you get in other parts of the country.

[Leisesturm]

There is going to come a time when someone bragging about taking 28 flights in just the first six months of a calendar year will face criminal prosecution. There are already countries on this planet that require very, very expensive waivers for their owners to use vehicles older than six years. So no one does in those places. On City-Data there is a vigorous campaign in other forums to deny the fact that human activity has anything to do with the fact that the climate is changing. In fact there is vigorous debate that the climate is changing at all. There is going to come a time when there can be no debate about that. It will be too late by then, of course. That is the objective I suspect. Stall proceedings until the inevitable collapse and force our descendants to adapt to the catastrophe rather than attempt to prevent what many consider inevitable. I get that. But, please, use some discretion willya. Destroy your environment discreetly. Do what you have to do. Don't rub it in our faces. Respect US even if you don't have any self respect.