4WD or AWD: which would you rather have in a foot of snow?

[curt1007]

I would say go with the best deal, and the one in the best shape. I don't drive in snow, but my awd is great on the sand. I have a 96 v-6 4x4 here too, my son beats up,lol. It has close to 200,000 miles with no proplems with the transmission. I did have to fix that plastic piece in the electric switch for the transfer case

 

[FIND]

In real world or not, the fuel economy is very different from both models. Even in my own "real world" experience (which many will share), the 5.0AWD as stated even in this thread is not likely to get over 15mpg, mud, snow, rain, ice, clear streets, improved, unimproved roads and so on, while the 4WD models do get better mileage, and more so involving the V6.

As I had shared, my old 5.0AWD was lucky to get 15mpg at best, while my 4.04WD gets 22mpg.... Any way you slice it, that is more then "negligible'!

My AWD 5.0 can get 22 mpg too. Look around the forum, most people report nearly equal mileage between the 5.0 and 4.0.

 

[Lanky]

My 2000 V8 AWD has always been awesome in the snow, never worried about getting where I need to be. Mileage wise, I can get right at 18 mpg staying at 75mph. In town if I baby it, I can maintain 14 - 16 mpg. That's with 141,000 on the meter.

 

[bluestream1]

My Daughter has driven a 4 cyl 2WD Ford Escape for the past 7 winters and has never been stuck once. She gets about 35MPG (imperial) on the Hwy