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1st Snow
Drove last evening in 1st snow with this car, it was a sudden snow squall burst on the interstate causing severe slowing and even thoughts of pulling over considering the snow amount being dumped in a very short period of time. Car ran flawless and my thoughts went to am I in 2 or all time 4-wheel drive, scrolling through the different screens an illustration came up showing only 2-wheels active. So... the drive system is monitored and activated deactivated by the auto, not me? Anyone know the answer before I pull out that "thing" called an owners manual?
Replies
I didn't get AWD because I live in the desert and the gas mileage is better on the FWD. I drove on some wintry conditions on trips, and I have been quite pleased with the handling. The only time I had to slow down for conditions was in a long slow incline in a big monsoon, I was hauling a trailer and it started feeling mushy and I thought I was hydroplaning a bit.
The drive system is normally activated by the auto, as you say. In winter conditions, you may want to switch to "Snow" mode instead of Eco, Sport, etc.
as an alternative, on mine, I think a button on the console where you change modes has an inner button to push to lock in AWD.
But, I would point out that I have driven for 60 years in snow country and have never felt the need for AWD. I have had plenty of front wheel drive cars since 1980 and have found that they do a good job on snowy roads. The only reason I bought the AWD model is that I would have had to drive from West Virginia to Georgia or Florida to find a FWD model.
Wayne
as an alternative, on mine, I think a button on the console where you change modes has an inner button to push to lock in AWD.
But, I would point out that I have driven for 60 years in snow country and have never felt the need for AWD. I have had plenty of front wheel drive cars since 1980 and have found that they do a good job on snowy roads. The only reason I bought the AWD model is that I would have had to drive from West Virginia to Georgia or Florida to find a FWD model.
Wayne
On the dash of my 2023 HEV there is a display, which I can choose, that shows relative power going to the wheels. I occasionally use it, out of curiosity to see how the car is applying power to the wheels. As near as I can tell, the “mode” selected does not affect 4wd, except Snow mode results in full-time 4wd. With other modes, the car selects whether to send power to the rear wheels and how much power is sent. I have done little driving on slick roads (I am retired and can largely choose when to go out, or not) but the car seems to detect any slight slippage and react appropriately. Driven moderately on dry roads, it seems to send power almost exclusively to the front wheels.