Once I owned a Honda Civic. It was a good little front wheel drive car. It could turn on a dime and was thrifty with gas. It had what Honda called a “Honda-matic” transmission, which was a two speed transmission that the driver shifted, but there was no clutch pedal. Here’s how it worked: To start moving the driver would set the transmission to Low and give the car gas. When the car reached 10 or 15 miles an hour the driver set the transmission to Drive and kept going up in speed. One time I was driving along at a speed of 60 or 70 mph and I reached for something on the front seat. My elbow hit the shift lever and knocked it into Low. One would think there would be a lockout to prevent the transmission from entering low gear at that speed, but there wasn’t. The Civic decelerated hard and the engine whined with RPM well past the redline limit. If I hadn’t been wearing a seat belt my head would have hit the windshield. I quickly shifted the transmission back into Drive and the Civic settled down. Apparently, no harm was done. What a great car! But one day I knew I had to replace it.
I was driving to a friend’s house. It was a snowy day, but the Civic had never had a problem in snow – until this day. My friend lived in the country on the side of a mountain and his driveway was long and flat, then curved and went straight up a long incline that was so steep it was not easy to climb even in dry weather. The Civic got half way up the steep part of the driveway when the front wheels began losing traction. The Civic went slower and slower until it came to a stop. I slammed on the brakes, hoping to hold the car in that spot, but it was not to be. The Civic began sliding backward down the hill. As it picked up speed it began to spin until it was no longer sliding backward. Now it was sliding forward. The car reached the bottom of the hill where the driveway curved, but I knew it wasn’t possible, at the speed I was going, to steer the car around the curve. The Civic plowed straight ahead into deep snow which quickly brought the car to a stop. The Civic suffered no damage.
I got out of the car and began walking up the driveway. Partway up the driveway I slipped on the ice and wrenched my back. I made it up the hill and enjoyed my visit, but when I left the house I was unable to bend over to tie my shoe. I knew I needed 4 wheel drive.
I sold the Civic and bought a 4WD Subaru. I never again had a problem getting anywhere, rain or snow or ice. The only problem was that brakes don’t work well on ice, so I had to allow for a longer stopping distance when the ground was slippery, but as long as the snow wasn’t above the Subaru’s bumper, the car would take me anywhere.
One time I was driving on an unfamiliar road late on a rainy night. I came upon a curve and as soon as I entered the curve I knew I was going too fast. The Subaru went off the road and straight into a ditch and hit an embankment on the other side of the ditch. When it hit the embankment the engine cut off. I pushed in the clutch pedal and turned the ignition key; the Subaru started right up. I shifted the part-time 4WD gearbox into 4 wheel drive, put the transmission into reverse, let out the clutch, and backed out of the ditch and up and onto the road. Amazingly, there was no damage; not a scratch or dent to show for that little escapade.
When I sold the Subaru I bought a 4WD Jeep. Unlike the Subaru, the Jeep is full time 4 wheel drive. The gearbox has a Low range and a High range, but no 2 wheel drive mode. When it’s raining and I’m trying to make a left turn on a busy highway, and finally that small break in the oncoming traffic comes, I can step hard on the gas and the Jeep jumps across the highway. There’s no spinning of wheels or hesitation or drama. The Jeep just goes.
When I lived in the mountains I considered four wheel drive a personal necessity. I didn’t like being trapped by snow. I wanted the freedom to go wherever I wanted to go, whenever I wanted to go there. Now that I live in the flatlands, four wheel drive is no longer a necessity, but it’s still a nice-to-have. I’ve always said that I’d rather have four wheel drive and not need it than to need four wheel drive and not have it.
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