We experienced Team O’Neil Winter Safe School with Ford performance trucks and SUVs
Are you a safe driver in the winter with snow and ice-covered roads? Whether you finished driver’s ed a few months ago or several decades ago, you can always learn new techniques, especially with new technologies developed to help drivers stay out of trouble. Even if you have mad skills and are good on vehicle tech, practicing driving in slippery conditions is a good idea.
Ford invited me to attend Team O’Neil’s Winter Safe School in Dalton, New Hampshire, in late February. Any hesitation was instantly forgotten when a Ford rep said they’d lend me a 2024 Ranger Raptor pickup truck to drive from my home in northern Connecticut to and from the event. We’d also be driving other Ford performance vehicles during the class.
A vehicle transportation team dropped the Ranger off on Monday morning, February 23, 2035. On Tuesday, my itinerary included driving 225 miles north to the Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa in Whitefield, New Hampshire. I attended the Winter Safe School with five other journalists on Wednesday and then drove home. I’ll write about my overall experience with the Ranger Raptor separately.
Team O’Neil
Team O’Neil, located on 583 acres in Dalton, New Hampshire, offers more than 25 courses in rally, winter, tactical, drifting, off-road, and security driving. Team ONeil provides one-to-five-day courses to drivers and enthusiasts of all levels.
We drove Ford performance trucks and SUVs to school
We drove four Ford performance vehicles with distinctly different driving characteristics during the Winter Safe School. Each student drove all four cars multiple times, with instructors who demonstrated the skills we would practice and then coached us when we took the wheel.
There isn’t space to do justice to the four vehicles, but the following are some of the high points of the four Fords.
Explorer ST: The most powerful Explorer ever, the ST has a 400-hp 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 engine, sport-tuned suspension, and performance front and rear brake calipers. Of the four vehicles, the ST drove the most like a family car, only faster and tighter.
Ranger Raptor: With a 405-hp V6 EcoBoost with 430 lb-ft of torque, advanced four-wheel-drive, front and rear-locking differentials, and an anti-lag-tweaked 10-speed automatic transmission, this Raptor is built for desert racing.It has a long-travel suspension with FOX Live Valve Shocks and a Watts link rear suspension. Multiple off-roading tech features and driving modes also tune the shocks, steering, throttle response, exhaust, transmission, traction control, and ABS brakes.
Mustang Mach-E Rally: The rally-inspired EV was the fastest of the four vehicles and the lowest center of gravity because of its low-mounted battery. With its dual-motor all-wheel-drive, the Mach-E Rally puts out 480 hp and a walloping 700 lb-ft of torque.The Rally has an inch more ground clearance than the Mach-E GT and is tuned for both on- and off-road. In addition to its protective aluminum underbody shield, the Mach-E Rally has a RallySport drive mode that sets up the suspension, throttle response, and damping for better control while traveling on diverse surfaces fast. Our car also had studded snow tires for incredible grip on icy surfaces.
Bronco Raptor: The Bronco Raptor had the same powertrain as the Ranger Raptor, but it also had a Raptor HOSS suspension with FOX Live Value shocks for maximum travel and 37-inch all-terrain tires.The Bronco Raptor had the highest center of gravity, but that didn’t affect its stability or performance. The participants who drove it from New York to New Hampshire said the Bronco elicited many smiles and thumbs-up during the trip.
Team O’Neil Winter Safe School curriculum
The Winter Safe School consists of classroom sessions and behind-the-wheel training. The instructors fielded our questions fully and provided a workbook with the course material. They enjoyed their work and were as eager as we were to get out to the training areas.
The weather was perfect; we had rain, sleet, snow, and icy rain as we drove on ice, snow, slush, mud, and gravel.
In each section, two students rode with one instructor. The second student sat in the right rear seat to observe the student who was driving and further burn in the necessary skills.
The skid pad
Everything we learned about driving in winter conditions involved only three elements: acceleration, braking, and steering. We practiced those basics as we focused on using the brake and accelerator to circle the skid pad, holding the steering wheel steady in the 10 o’clock position while always looking in the direction where we wanted to go.
We soon learned that, on a slippery surface, the brake pedal would turn the car, and the accelerator would straighten it – applied in the correct proportions. Too much of either generally lead to spontaneous hilarity. And then we’d try it again, fully conscious that we were in a safe environment.
The slalom course
Ranger Raptor coming off the north end of the Slalom course.The slalom course used different color pylons to indicate turning points. Again, the trick was to focus on the next turning point, or apex, while using the brakes to make the turn and the gas/electric pedal to go in a straight line.
We didn’t have to go very fast, mostly less than 40 mph, to have tons of fun as we focused on our skills. We weren’t competing, which was fine, because while we were practicing, we were having a lot of fun, especially when we made it through the course smoothly.
Accident avoidance
The accident avoidance training focused primarily on stopping before or driving around an unexpected in the road. Because we were in New England, we held an image of a moose in our minds in the classroom, and series of green pylons during training. We first experienced the full braking power of the cars’ ABS systems and then practiced braking hard and driving around the pylons.
The way this worked was we would drive directly at the obstacle (pylons) at 30 to 35 mph and at much too late a time the instructor would yell, “Stop!” If we were fast enough, there was usually enough time, although occasionally the instructor would wait just a bit longer so we could experience the reality of crashing despite trying to stop.
As the training continued, the instructor add a second element. After the much-delayed “Stop!” command, the instructor would then wait another second and then yell “Left” or “Right” and our challenge was to use the steering wheel, accelerator, and brakes to swerve around the obstacle on the correct side. Here, we also practiced steering and counter-steering to correct from oversteering.
In addition to gaining beneficial winter driving training and practice, the entire experience was a lot of fun.
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