4x4 vs. AWD

[Clonefan94]

My experience says you should use 4 low only for things like pulling something really heavy at low speeds, if you get stuk,or rock crawling. By having both high/lo you actually have two sets of gears. The low ones will make you rev higher

there is a good chance you'll never want or have to use low.


btw-great choice on the 4 runner. I've never owned one but their reliability and toughness is legendary.

Exactly. Only use low when trying to get up and down hills off road. Don't ever use low while driving on the road. Low is just that, it keeps the gearing low, for power, not speed.

As for the OP, if you are only worried about getting around in the snow, AWD is what you are looking for and it will work great. 4WD is more of a truck thing, meant for you to get out of it and save some gas during normal driving conditions.

[HOTDON]

All vehicles sold north of I 70 should be FWD, AWD, or 4x4. Any RWD vehicle is junk on ice or snow. Any vehicle sold with RWD, like a camaro or mustang or corvette or 4x2 pickup, should only be sold with the proof you own another vehicle that that is not RWD. I went through a winter with a Mustang GT conv. as my only car. I might as well have had a bicycle.

My G8 with OEM summer tires was exactly as you described. With the right UHP all season's is gets around as well or better than the FWD cars I've owned. Good traction and stability control helps, but tires are EVERYTHING. Anyone who doesn't realize that hasn't had the right tire for their application. My current tires have a lot less grip in the summer, but control in the winter is a fair trade for my needs.

[digZ]

AWD means that all 4 wheels can have power driven to them independently(the two axles and then a differential in between each wheel on each axle).

True 4x4 means that each wheel is driven with an equal amount of power. Most AWD/4WD cars drive in 2WD(or almost 2WD) mode until the computer senses that certain tires need more/less power. Subaru has a great marketing department in this aspect. In reality their automatic AWD cars drive most of the time at around 80/20 (front axle vs real axle) power distribution. Their manual version drive more evenly, sometimes with more power going to the rear axle depending on the model and year of car. When the car detects that certain wheels are slipping it redistributes power appropriately.

I have a newer 4x4 jeep, and it runs in 4WD mode normally with a ~90/10 power distribution, and changes distrubution depending on the conditions. It also has a 4x4 lock mode, which you shouldn't run unless you're getting one to two tires sucking up all of the torque all the time due to having no traction.

[cdnlngld]

I have an evo 8 with full time AWD, with a nearly 50/50 power distribution. For taking off, getting through the heavy snow, and cornering, it is fantastic. Driving on a slick highway..... above 35 MPH not so much. I would rather have FWD for that. Having the bit of power to the rear and a fairly short wheel base, the car can feel a bit squirly at times. I think this is a big problem with trucks and suvs and that's why you see so many in the ditches. Plowing through snow, and icy slick conditions are not the same. Fwd pulls the car so the rear doesn't want to go off on it's own so much. But AWD and 4 x 4 are so much better at taking off and cornering.

If you want something that goes off road well and do a lot of stop and go driving in the snow go with 4 x 4.... if you want something that is good all around daily driving in the crap that is safe.. go with AWD but go with an AWD with a good traction control system.

And for god's sake, people, stop using cruise control on icy roads.

[BigLame]

this year we bought a mazda cx5 for my wife. thing gets ridiculous gas mileage and gets around in the snow every bit as good as my Silverado.

Bought a CX9 for the little lady a month ago. Love it. Never had a Mazda before. Noticed the CX5 on the lot & in the show room and the mileage on the sticker. For what you get, can't believe you don't see more around. Think Mazda will sell a lot of vehicles in the near future.

[BigLame]

Honda Ridgelines & Pilots (I believe the latter) can be in true 4-wheel drive up to 20 to 22 miles per hour, then it automatically goes to AWD - fwiw, & both get around awfully well in the wintry weather

[Sparkplug]

We have a Mercury Mountaineer AWD and Ford F-150 4WD. The Mountaineer kicks in when slipping, etc. We have a long steep farm driveway that the Mountaineer has no problem getting up so we tend to drive it unless wanting to crash through big drifts. I always thought that you shouldn't drive in FWD on dry pavement. That's another reason we like the Mountaineer is because if you have dry pavement/snow patches the vehicle takes care of it for you.

[VeloClone]

We have a Mercury Mountaineer AWD and Ford F-150 FWD. The Mountaineer kicks in when slipping, etc. We have a long steep farm driveway that the Mountaineer has no problem getting up so we tend to drive it unless wanting to crash through big drifts. I always thought that you shouldn't drive in FWD on dry pavement. That's another reason we like the Mountaineer is because if you have dry pavement/snow patches the vehicle takes care of it for you.

FWD = Front wheel drive

I think you mean 4WD = Four wheel drive. At least I hope you do.

[dmclone]

Bought a CX9 for the little lady a month ago. Love it. Never had a Mazda before. Noticed the CX5 on the lot & in the show room and the mileage on the sticker. For what you get, can't believe you don't see more around. Think Mazda will sell a lot of vehicles in the near future.

The CX-5 is nice and gets great mpg for an SUV. The only thing I've never liked about Mazda(even the one I had) has been their interiors, very low rent versus the competition.

[kingcy]

My wife has a FWD Escape and she had no issues going through some good sided drifts in the Dec storm. If it snows so much you need 4x4 maybe you should just stay home.

[JWIL4CY]

Tires make so much of a difference when it comes to traction on snow/ice. I have a 4x4 truck but my tires are bald. I basically just ice skate across the roads.

[CloneAggie]

Bought a CX9 for the little lady a month ago. Love it. Never had a Mazda before. Noticed the CX5 on the lot & in the show room and the mileage on the sticker. For what you get, can't believe you don't see more around. Think Mazda will sell a lot of vehicles in the near future.

Love my CX9. It is AWD but it isn't that good in the snow. The factory tires are just not very good for that type of driving. Haven't sprung for winter tires, which overall has been fine because this and last winter have been so mild.

[Tri4Cy]

I have a Jeep that has 4wd with two settings to choose whether you want the diff locked or not. It is nice to be able to drive around without worrying about turning in 4wd while still providing power to all. Then if you get stuck or an especially bad stretch you can still lock the diff.

that is an '03 so I don't know if the new ones are still mechanical or done automatically.

I have an 11' Grand Cherokee. I went with the full time 4WD option as I didn't think I would really ever need the locking diff (an upgrade). Getting from point A to point B in a straight line is amazing. I am a bit of a control freak and don't like all of the computer stuff getting in my way. If I had kids in the back I wouldn't want anything else but it's kind of hard to drift with traction control :) Plus when I do take it off road it just doesn't handle like my 02' did (with the locking diff).

[BigLame]

Love my CX9. It is AWD but it isn't that good in the snow. The factory tires are just not very good for that type of driving. Haven't sprung for winter tires, which overall has been fine because this and last winter have been so mild.

Yeah, I noticed the brand on it was not one I would look to buy if adding replacement tires, but since the vehicle was new (2012 with the 2013's coming onto the lot), I figure it's good to go for the first 30K to 40K miles.

Got the Gran Touring, so it has the best interior you can get. Think they put a little more into the interior than past models, but did see while researching that interior in Mazda's typically do not hold up well. Kids aren't all over the place now that they are older, so don't think wear & tear on interior will be too much of an issue. Thing definitely has the 'zoom zoom' out on the roadways.

Still couldn't get over the 32 or 33 mpg on the sticker of the CX5's. Look pretty sporty, so I just think more 'younger' couples (pre-kids or with their first) will definitely give them a hard look. They had prototype 2014 Mazda 6 car in the showroom that looked awesome (no one had driven it yet - were not allowing people at the dealership to drive until spring or something like that). Thinkin that could be my mid-life crisis car in a year or two.