How capable is our 4WD system? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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How capable is our 4WD system?

GEN6

Active Member
Joined
May 24, 2020
Messages
55
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City, State
Cleveland
Year, Model & Trim Level
2020 Explorer XLT
I purchased my 2020 XLT in February 2020. On day one I immediately put the 4WD to test in a fairly mild setting, my driveway.

I was disappointed.

My driveway is on a fairly mild incline. Backing up through snow/ice, my XLT was generally helpless. Driving forward was not much better.

I have been driving a 2005 GMC Yukon and a 2016 Chevy Equinox up that driveway for years. They are TANKS and can crawl up the driveway at any point in any condition, stopping anywhere and continuing from a dead stop. They both have Michelin tires.

This is going to be long. Please don't get frustrated and take it out on me. I'm looking for information to help me and maybe others when winter returns.

Thoughts and questions for your consideration:

1. Are my factory 18" Hankook tires junk for snow/ice traction? It took me many years to learn there's a huge difference in traction between many other tires and Michelin tires. If I put Michelins on the Explorer, will it turn into a tank and climb the driveway with ease too?

2. I looked all over the internet, twice, and I cannot find one useful off road test of our Intelligent 4WD system. Not one real video on it either. How can that be? Is the Explorer so far outside of the off-road world that nobody will test, compare, show us how it performs when even slightly off the highway at low speed? I don't want to see or read a test on the F150 or some other Ford to evaluate our "similar" Explorer Intelligent 4WD either. I want to see our Explorer being described and tested. I have a theory that none of the YouTube videos show a slow off-road capability test because all of the cars being tested are borrowed from dealers! (seriously). I saw one or two 2020s being driven through mud puddles and that was it. I'm looking for something a little more instructive.

3. I cannot find one useful article, no not in the manual either, that really describes how our 4WD system works. I would have thought some magazine or website would have written an in depth article to describe how it works and how it compares to other 4WD systems. Motor Trend? Popular Mechanics? It is always possible I just could not find it with google search and it's really there somewhere. Again, the blurbs in the manual do not scratch the surface of explaining why our 4WD might be awesome OR watered down incapable? or how it compares to others in the real world of how it transfers power (hopefully from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip?). I see tons of google search hits on the subject of our intelligent 4WD and they are all slight variables of the information in the owners manual with zero depth in explanation.

4. I read something about switching the driving mode to dirt/snow/whatever to make the 4WD more aggressive. On my first trip home from the dealer, I switched through all of the modes and it just would not climb the driveway with any level of confidence. Slides sideways, finally gives up, lights on the dash flash, parking brake activates by itself because it just couldn't process the fact that it was helpless. Now keep in mind, a 2WD car would not climb my mild inclined driveway very well when there's snow and ice on it either. But my Explorer is a world away from my Equinox and Yukon in terms of performing this mildest of off-road challenges.

5. From what I can find in the sparse information I've found, there is no posi / locking rear / limited slip differential option (whatever you want to call it) for our 2020 Explorers.

6. The lack of information available on the above topic is amazing, considering I am passing a 2020 Explorer on the roads at least every 5-minutes and that is no exaggeration.

Any helpful feedback is appreciated. I just want to learn what I can expect to achieve with this 4WD when setup properly and I have a feeling others on this board will benefit as well.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.
 



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Here's two photos. The photo of the tire does not do it justice. In person, the tread on this original Hankook 18" tire looks meaty for a street tire, nice deep lugs that might climb a mountain.

The other photo provides some limited perspective on my mildly inclined driveway. You can see the road in front of the car down yonder and my car is backed up to it's regular resting position. Not much of a hill at all.
 

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IMO, the Explorers have been mostly pavement queens since the 5th gen came out in 2011 which is why you see very few off road reviews for them. Many SUVs have gone this route. The 4th gens are the last to share frame and drive train components with the F150. Also, the tread on your tires don't look that aggressive in snow/off road conditions to me. They look more like a performance tire instead of all season ones where the tread pattern has bigger lateral gaps to give more bite.
 






There really isn't anything meaty about the tires. They are 3 season tires, not off road like truck tires. Id get a set of dedicated winter tires designed for winter with an extra set of rims. Winter tires will do wonders for a 4wd vehicle.

As stated above, these are highway queens with tires designed to be quiet and give a comfortable ride.

As far as the 4wd system. I believe there is a disconnect between rear/front that engages seamlessly. As far as left to right, I believe it uses a combination of brakes/clutches to slow or send torque to the needed wheels. Someone may correct me on this.
 






Is the 2020 considered a 4WD vehicle? I believe the 5th gen had a similar system and although it was referred to as 4WD it actually was an AWD.
This article seems to suggest it is AWD. Intelligent 4WD vs Intelligent AWD - Team Ford

Peter
 






What happens with all season tires in winter is that the rubber compound gets harder when the temp drops and has a harder time gripping the road. It doesn't matter how good the AWD system is if the tires can't grip the road. AWD does improve the chance of getting a patch of land that has some grip, but doesn't guarantee it. Winter tires are really the only way. We had an 02 Grand Cherokee with all seasons which was 4X4 and still performed worse on snow than my 2014 Focus with winter tires
 






And as an aside, if you have a vehicle with "Summer Only" tires, take their word for it and don't use them in the Winter. They will harden to the point of being dangerous.
 






Is the 2020 considered a 4WD vehicle? I believe the 5th gen had a similar system and although it was referred to as 4WD it actually was an AWD.
This article seems to suggest it is AWD. Intelligent 4WD vs Intelligent AWD - Team Ford

Peter

Hi Peter,

The badge on the lift gate reads 4WD.

The link you posted above is a good example of the very high level descriptions I found all over the internet, usually repeated with some small differences and found on dealer websites, that do not go into detail about how it all works.

I am still surprised that I cannot find a detailed description of how the 2020 Explorer 4WD system works from Motor Trend or someone else that really invested the time to write a report on it, and test it for us.
 






IMO, the Explorers have been mostly pavement queens since the 5th gen came out in 2011 which is why you see very few off road reviews for them. Many SUVs have gone this route. The 4th gens are the last to share frame and drive train components with the F150. Also, the tread on your tires don't look that aggressive in snow/off road conditions to me. They look more like a performance tire instead of all season ones where the tread pattern has bigger lateral gaps to give more bite.

Thanks for the tip!
 






Hi Peter,

The badge on the liftgate reads 4WD............................................................
It has said 4WD since the 2011 model came out. Doesn't mean it is though. I think it's a 'selling point' thing. There are several threads/posts going back to the early times of the 5th gen that also say it is actually AWD. Now, since the 2020 has gone RWD, I don't know if the following still apply.
and there are still more. :)

Peter
 






It has said 4WD since the 2011 model came out. Doesn't mean it is though. I think it's a 'selling point' thing. There are several threads/posts going back to the early times of the 5th gen that also say it is actually AWD. Now, since the 2020 has gone RWD, I don't know if the following still apply.
and there are still more. :)

Peter


Thanks for putting those threads together Peter! I just read them all and I would recommend them to anyone that wants to learn about this stuff.

Assuming it is likely the 4WD/AWD system operates the same/similar in the 2020 models as with the past models.
 






I would be interested in hearing feedback from owners that have driven their 2020 model Explorer up and down snow/ice covered inclines and declines using the factory Hankook Kinergy GT tires like I have versus other tires available from the factory like Michelin.
 






Thanks for all of your responses on here gang!

I read them all and clicked on the links and read all of those threads too and they are very helpful.

I had to relearn something I already knew; tires make a huge difference. I think I was distracted by the NEW vehicle, expecting it to be a tank in the snow with factory Hankook tires and somehow forgot everything I already learned about tires long ago.
 






After reading all of the responses, I toggled through all of the drive modes in this order:

1. Deep Snow/Sand: This is probably the most aggressive traction mode for our 4WD/AWD system that you might go for in deep snow or sand. Also disables traction control and you will see that yellow icon on your instrument cluster as well. I'll see how this works when I replace my factory Hankook Kinergy GT tires that are no good for snow/ice on incline or decline. With useless tires, nothing is going to help me!

2. Trail: This is probably the second most aggressive mode for challenging surfaces. Also disables traction control and you will see that yellow icon on your instrument cluster as well.

3. Slippery: I'm assuming this is the third most aggressive engagement of the 4WD/AWD system. Probably a little more aggressive than Normal drive mode.

4. Normal
5. ECO
6. Sport
7. Tow/Haul
 






In North Idaho we get 100+ inches of snow and have plenty of black ice in the winter. Just about everyone run winter tires from Oct 1 to end of March. Our 2020 EXP came with Michelins but we still run winter tires in the winter. As others have noted the other tires are just too hard to really grip well and hold the road on ice. As far as Hankook tires, they are junk and will last about 30,000 miles at best. We have no issues with snow to 12-14 inches, but after that ground clearance becomes an issue. Our 2020 handles the snow as well as our 2017 did.
 






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