Is AWD worth it for a daily appliance?

I've driven about everything in the snow and ice, not just here in Kansas but In Colorado.
It's the previous generation, but my '08 escape 4x4 (really awd <30mph) with nice Michelin's is like driving with a cheat code in adverse conditions.
3" of snow this morning, aside from increasing following distance it might have well as been dry. It's seen 1/2" of ice and over 18" of snow (not counting the drifts), and it just works. Even high water after severe storms.

I plan to buy a second set of wheels w/ winter tires to throw on my scat pack charger at some point when it eventually becomes a daily driver. I can count on one hand how many times AWD would of been useful here over the last two years here. 99% of the time it isn't needed.

Corbic said:

Spoken like someone who lives in Houston.

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Midwest with real snow.

_Snake_ said:

AWD is more maintenance how?

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Fluid and in the long term there are way more parts to potentially fail/replace.

Tires are the most important factor of snow, dry, rain whatever.

SID297 said:

I always looked at 4x4/AWD like the condom rule. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

In that area I'd go for AWD. In SoFL, not so much.

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Pretty much this, especially if it's your only vehicle. If you have alternatives that already have AWD/4WD, that's a different story.

Corbic said:

You can put snow tires on an AWD car. You can't put AWD on a 2wd car with snow tires.

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Doesn't necessarily mean you need to take the hit on initial price, and the fuel economy when you can get around 99% of what will be on the roads with FWD and a set of Blizzaks. It works out really well if you can buy a discounted FWD car during winter and unload it during summer.

My wife drives a Fiesta ST on a set of Blizzaks, our last heavy snow storm was probably 8" of snow on the ground and the Fiesta did significantly better than my 4x4 F250 did with a fairly fresh set of Goodyear trail runners.

Unless the snow is physically too tall that the car can't push the nose through it, it will make it to where you need to be. Doesn't matter if it's stopped on a hill or driving through traffic in the mountains, the traction is outrageous.

MachME said:

Fluid and in the long term there are way more parts to potentially fail/replace.

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I don’t consider potential parts failure as maintenance, but that’s just me.

I also feel the additional cost of a differential / transfer case fluid change every 100k - 150k miles is negligible.

AustinJ427 said:

Doesn't necessarily mean you need to take the hit on initial price, and the fuel economy when you can get around 99% of what will be on the roads with FWD and a set of Blizzaks. It works out really well if you can buy a discounted FWD car during winter and unload it during summer.

My wife drives a Fiesta ST on a set of Blizzaks, our last heavy snow storm was probably 8" of snow on the ground and the Fiesta did significantly better than my 4x4 F250 did with a fairly fresh set of Goodyear trail runners.

Unless the snow is physically too tall that the car can't push the nose through it, it will make it to where you need to be. Doesn't matter if it's stopped on a hill or driving through traffic in the mountains, the traction is outrageous.

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What?

How about comparing that FiST with a WRX on snow tires.

When it comes to trucks, that initial "savings" for 2WD never pays off when it comes time to sell it down the road.

As for maintenance, never experienced an AWD related maintenance issue.

Winter tires (or all weather tires) are a must. AWD helps to have more fun.

But don't buy another god damned lifted station wagon bubble POS. Buy a car. With a manual.

It's smiles per gallon.

Squeezed out with help from the svtperformance.com mobile app

Lol

I’ve never owned an AWD vehicle before, and now that I do, it’s a ton of fun. The confidence in inclement weather is nice too.

SHOdown220 said:

Does the escape run the same garbage PTU as the edge and others? Its been awhile since I worked for Ford and I remember doing several ptu repairs/replacements on the edge but don't remember doing one on an escape or if they run the same unit.

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Different PTO assembly.

MachME said:

Midwest with real snow.

Fluid and in the long term there are way more parts to potentially fail/replace.

Tires are the most important factor of snow, dry, rain whatever.

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I sort of disagree. How much weight is over the drive wheels plays an important role. Case in point. My wife used to own a FWD Mazda 626. I put snow tires on all 4 wheels before the first snow for optimal traction. The first snow storm came and we got stuck going up a hill with a modest grade. That winter, driving in snow with her car was, let's just say, an adventure, even with snow tires. There just was enough weight over the drive wheels. The following year she bought a heavier FWD sedan which handled snow (with snow tires) much better in large part because there was more weight over the drive wheels. So tires are not always the most important factor. They help a lot, though. Especially when braking.

Corbic said:

What?

How about comparing that FiST with a WRX on snow tires.

When it comes to trucks, that initial "savings" for 2WD never pays off when it comes time to sell it down the road.

As for maintenance, never experienced an AWD related maintenance issue.

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I could compare it to my RS, which also had snow tires. The Fiesta has been in far deeper snow than the RS ever did, and neither car ever struggled slightly, which is sort of the point I'm getting at.

Unless you are in an area that gets outrageous amounts of snow, very frequently, and has poor snow removal from the city/town/state, I don't see the reason for AWD over a FWD with a set of snows. Looking back at the original post, he says he will keep the car 7-10 years, at that point either option won't be worth shit anyway if he decides to sell.

I don't consider the maintenance to be much worse on AWD over FWD, the biggest difference would be if you lost a tire and had to buy a new set of 4 of them. Diff fluids are like $50 and need to be changed seldom.