Ford AWD garbage?

[HoosierJeeper]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
I prefer RWD in most anything save a Jeep or Land Rover. That said, if it's a "full-time" AWD system I won't consider anything with a default torque split of 50-50 front to rear- and I prefer at least 40-60 front to rear.

x2.

I was skeptical of my new Cherokee's 4WD at first, but two winters later, I think it works great. It will actually do a 50/50 split and definitely can send lots of torque to the back. Off road it's very quick to move power around to the wheels on the ground. With the limited flex it has, that's very important as it's very easy to "teeter totter" it off road. At the local ski hill, it walks right up the parking lot entrance hill when it's snowy and icy, which I've seen many vehicles fail at, like AWD Chevys and Fords.

Never have seen a Subaru fail in the snow! Hope they can figure out the tires though.

 

[klt1986]

We get very little snow here but when we do get snow, it usually takes a while for the plows to hit all the secondary roads. My wife's CR-V has never had any issues in the snow or ice for that matter.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: supton
This past storm, I thought it was nice fluffy stuff but I think it was just the right temp to turn into packing with any weight. Neighbor borrowed a family member's MB, some sort of RWD 4 door sedan, and got it stuck. I pulled it out of the ditch, but the thing was hopeless in the snow. Michelins, didn't catch what but they sure looked like the LTX's I used to have. Utterly useless in the snow, all it did was spin. It was new enough for TC but that car couldn't do anything, even after I pulled it up onto the road. I'm hoping she made it home ok...

It was about as bad as the MB G-something that was stuck in the same spot--only that was AWD, but on performance summers. I looked up the model and it had 505hp. I guess 505hp & AWD can't overcome a lack of traction.


C63-S E63-S? Either one would come factory with fairly wide summer performance tires. These cars have a 70:30 split being rear biased and a 4.0 V8 up front so they wont be spectacular in snow without proper tires.

The C300 and GLC3004 models do well in the snow with the pirelli all seasons.

 

[MaximaGuy]

Everything from Ford is garbage - they only survive because of the F lineup.
One day that lead will go away and they are toast.

Ford really really sucks.. Chrysler is not far behind as well.

They have downright stop competing in the SUV segment, there Explorers are far and few being sold.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Originally Posted By: MaximaGuy
Everything from Ford is garbage - they only survive because of the F lineup.
One day that lead will go away and they are toast.

Ford really really sucks.. Chrysler is not far behind as well.

They have downright stop competing in the SUV segment, there Explorers are far and few being sold.


I see more new Explorers here than I do any other midsize crossover/SUV, not even counting the cop ones. Close second is a Grand Cherokee. Not going to comment on Explorers since I've never owned one, but how many Chryslers have you had? Just curious.

 

[eyeofthetiger]

Originally Posted By: MaximaGuy
Everything from Ford is garbage - they only survive because of the F lineup.
One day that lead will go away and they are toast.

Ford really really sucks.. Chrysler is not far behind as well.

They have downright stop competing in the SUV segment, there Explorers are far and few being sold.


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[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: MaximaGuy
Everything from Ford is garbage - they only survive because of the F lineup.
One day that lead will go away and they are toast.

Ford really really sucks.. Chrysler is not far behind as well.

They have downright stop competing in the SUV segment, there Explorers are far and few being sold.


Not short on opinion there eh?

My last three Ford products were all excellent. A heck of a lot more than I can say for the used Subaru we picked up fo my wife that ended up having to be bought back and her put in a Charger.

My only "bad" Ford experience was with my '97 Explorer, which had the 4.0L OHV engine and the weak french transmission and not so strong transfer case. Both were rebuilt at around the 200K mark and then the transmission needed attention again a few years later. However, it did make it to 340,000Km (212,000 miles) and was sold running only a few years ago by my sister, who was the 4th owner at that point.

My '87 Mustang was awesome, as was my '89 Town Car, '88 F-250 and most recently our 2002 Expedition, which we still see around, and was fantastic other than its gas mileage. The body started to go on it so we sold it privately and bought the two vehicles in my sig.

We had two Ford trucks at work (down to one now) and both were decent. 2012-ish vintage F-150's with the 5.0L. The one (Platinum) was problem-free, the other (XLT) had the hanger bearing assembly pack it in at some point, and then more recently had an A/C compressor problem. Those are the only issues I'm aware of.

We also rent for work relatively regularly and my Ford experiences have been quite good there as well for the most part. I posted a review of an Expedition we rented a while back on here at one point, as well as the Tahoe, Sienna and others.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL

Something with a true AWD or 4x4 system operates quite a bit differently from the FWD-biased ad-hoc AWD setups fitted to traverse-mounted powertrain vehicles.

The thing is that for people that aren't seriously into off-roading or putting themselves into situations where that sort of system can prove superior, the FWD-based system are usually more than adequate.


I call it glorified FWD, not bad, not great. But it does get the job done.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL

Something with a true AWD or 4x4 system operates quite a bit differently from the FWD-biased ad-hoc AWD setups fitted to traverse-mounted powertrain vehicles.

The thing is that for people that aren't seriously into off-roading or putting themselves into situations where that sort of system can prove superior, the FWD-based system are usually more than adequate.


I call it glorified FWD, not bad, not great. But it does get the job done.


By and large, yeah. The only FWD based systems that seem to work as well as a traditional setup is the Jeep and Land Rover ones, which I think are actually pretty similar.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: MaximaGuy
Everything from Ford is garbage - they only survive because of the F lineup.
One day that lead will go away and they are toast.

Ford really really sucks.. Chrysler is not far behind as well.

They have downright stop competing in the SUV segment, there Explorers are far and few being sold.


Nonsense post of the day. (I'm not even a Ford owner).

You may want to look at some of the quality/reliability reports when it comes to Mercedes btw.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL

Something with a true AWD or 4x4 system operates quite a bit differently from the FWD-biased ad-hoc AWD setups fitted to traverse-mounted powertrain vehicles.

The thing is that for people that aren't seriously into off-roading or putting themselves into situations where that sort of system can prove superior, the FWD-based system are usually more than adequate.


I call it glorified FWD, not bad, not great. But it does get the job done.


By and large, yeah. The only FWD based systems that seem to work as well as a traditional setup is the Jeep and Land Rover ones, which I think are actually pretty similar.


Jeep's Quadra-Drive II is probably one of the best systems out there for driving in snow.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL

Something with a true AWD or 4x4 system operates quite a bit differently from the FWD-biased ad-hoc AWD setups fitted to traverse-mounted powertrain vehicles.

The thing is that for people that aren't seriously into off-roading or putting themselves into situations where that sort of system can prove superior, the FWD-based system are usually more than adequate.


I call it glorified FWD, not bad, not great. But it does get the job done.


By and large, yeah. The only FWD based systems that seem to work as well as a traditional setup is the Jeep and Land Rover ones, which I think are actually pretty similar.


Jeep's Quadra-Drive II is probably one of the best systems out there for driving in snow.


I've gotta agree with how well the Jeep system works, I have been thoroughly impressed having only to paddle shift it to bog it down some due to the throttle response when getting in a bind. I imagine that would be even worse in the trackhawk. Generally, they just hook-up though, finding traction wherever it can be found.

 

[edyvw]

Some cars have really bad AWD. I know that CVT is major issue among new AWD cars as when system gets overwhelmed it just does not want to go forward. Subaru, regardless that has superior AWD among regular cars, has same issues because of CVT.
First of all, to talk about capability of AWD in snow, one has to have snow tires. AWD is capable as tires are. Something needs to transfer momentum to the surface.
However, some AWD in transverse engine cars is OK. I for example never had issues with VW Tiguan and we drove that car thru some of the worst blizzards over the Rockies, granted with always really good snow tires.
However, while for example Tiguan goes thru snow better then my BMW due to narrow tires (I put in winter narrowest possible on Tiguan) and the fact that has very short wheel base as well an engine hangin over front axle, one it is stuck, that is it. BMW on other hand has really good AWD, much better then I expected. Besides issues with width of tires and the fact that BMW pushed engine and transmission as far to the back as possible because of well, weight balance and how fast goes thru curves (and it goes really fast for SUV) once AWD experience tricky surface, it finds traction very fast shifting momentum. I buried both cars in deep snow, and BMW always found way out regardless that all differentials are open. Tiguan on other hand is dead, but works in reverse (again, compliment of really good tires).
However, on slick surface in Tiguan one can feel that rear axle is engaging only when trouble hits. And it works very well, not as BMW, but works good.
As for Subarus. It is number one car in the ditch during snow storms in CO. All this allure around Subaru' AWD makes people who buy them really, really stupid. At work we have bunch of Subarus parked, and so far I only saw one with snow tires on. Other are on all seasons, and not just any all seasons, but tires that really push boundary of stupidity. I mentioned this here. I actually pulled out of ditch two Subaru's at ski resorts with my previous car, VW CC (FWD). Compliment of snow tires.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL



I've gotta agree with how well the Jeep system works, I have been thoroughly impressed having only to paddle shift it to bog it down some due to the throttle response when getting in a bind. I imagine that would be even worse in the trackhawk. Generally, they just hook-up though, finding traction wherever it can be found.


3 wheels on greased ice, one wheel on pavement, and it's going to drive forward. LOL.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL



I've gotta agree with how well the Jeep system works, I have been thoroughly impressed having only to paddle shift it to bog it down some due to the throttle response when getting in a bind. I imagine that would be even worse in the trackhawk. Generally, they just hook-up though, finding traction wherever it can be found.


3 wheels on greased ice, one wheel on pavement, and it's going to drive forward. LOL.


Yes, it finds a way to move forward, or backward if you so desire.

 

[OVERKILL]

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL



I've gotta agree with how well the Jeep system works, I have been thoroughly impressed having only to paddle shift it to bog it down some due to the throttle response when getting in a bind. I imagine that would be even worse in the trackhawk. Generally, they just hook-up though, finding traction wherever it can be found.


3 wheels on greased ice, one wheel on pavement, and it's going to drive forward. LOL.

Yeah, not sure why it would not?

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL



I've gotta agree with how well the Jeep system works, I have been thoroughly impressed having only to paddle shift it to bog it down some due to the throttle response when getting in a bind. I imagine that would be even worse in the trackhawk. Generally, they just hook-up though, finding traction wherever it can be found.


3 wheels on greased ice, one wheel on pavement, and it's going to drive forward. LOL.

Yeah, not sure why it would not?


Snow tires were irrelevant to problem since two tires on dry pavement were barely engaging turning trying to pull front end dropped 8” down off pavement into packed snow turned to ice.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL



I've gotta agree with how well the Jeep system works, I have been thoroughly impressed having only to paddle shift it to bog it down some due to the throttle response when getting in a bind. I imagine that would be even worse in the trackhawk. Generally, they just hook-up though, finding traction wherever it can be found.


3 wheels on greased ice, one wheel on pavement, and it's going to drive forward. LOL.

Yeah, not sure why it would not?


You see this video?


This comprehensive Jeep one has that same test at the end:

 

[Andrew1972]

That video clearly depicts exactly what we encountered with Ford garbage Awd. Pretty sad they pass that off as decent across many cuvs. My suspicion our Subaru Legacy with pure mechanical bliss Awd lsd rear would have driven out drama free. It took 2 good people who stopped and myself to do what AWD could not and push.