SUV Crossover & AWD

There is a difference between AWD and 4WD and some people including some salesmen do not know the difference. Basically AWD is primarily a front wheel drive vehicle with the ability to engage the rear wheels whereas a 4WD vehicle is basically a rear wheel drive vehicle with the ability to engage the front wheels. 4WD vehicles are often heavier duty and may have a hi-lo range transfer case. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is an example of the later. I would say that all the AWD vehicles now have similar features such as automatic engagement of AWD, electronic stability control (ESC) and anti-lock brakes on all 4 wheels. Except for companies like Honda and Subaru that have their own unique AWD systems I think that many of the AWD vehicles may share the same drive train made by companies such as Borg-Warner and they all work the same. I also believe that many of these automatic features were developed because so many people got into accidents with these vehicles because they thought they were invincible because of the superior traction but didn't realise that they could stop or steer any better than a conventional vehicle. Some of the lighter AWD vehicles do not have much trailer towing capacity if that is important so you might want to check around. We have always had a 4WD vehicle in one form or the other since the mid 70's so we have had a lot of experience in handling them in a variety of conditions. We have a 2008 Kia Sportage AWD as well as my old Jeep Commanche 4WD pickup. My wife is happy to let the Sportage do all the thinking for her and feels very secure when driving in the snow. I find that when the going gets tough the Sportage works better when I take over manual control much the same as I do with the Jeep and the system allows me to do that. I can push a button on the dash to lock in AWD, push another button to disable ESC and I can manually select the transmission gear that I want. I think that all these vehicles are comparable and it comes down to personal preference. For us price, ride and handling were important and my wife absolutely loved the colour that was available. I am over 6' tall so leg room and head room was important as well as being able to see overhead traffic signals without have to scrunch down in my seat. Go out and have fun test driving them all.