True 4wd? Or awd?

[Rubberhead]

Same here JerryC; we had a good ice storm last evening/night. I drove my son to work in conditions that were much worse than I would have ever liked to have been in, but the Snow Mode was perfect for the conditions. I only activated the ABS a time or two - both times on purpose to make sure everything was working. Starting on an icy roads was very controlled and stable.

 

[NJExplorerFan]

Comparing 4WD/AWD vs. 2003 Explorer 4WD/AWD

Can someone help me understand the 4WD/AWD system on the current Explorer. I have a 2015 Limited on order and I'm curious how the system works. Is it AWD or is it 4WD? What's the difference?

I'm currently driving a 2003 V8 with 4WD and it feels like the back is the main power push in the vehicle and then the front wheels come in to help when needed automatically. Is it the opposite on the new Explorer where its mainly a front wheel drive power push and then power is transferred to the rear wheels as needed for help?

With all the different mode settings, I'm curious how it works.

 

[amd2800barton]

In your left gauge one of the display options is the power split. The system is usually FWD, but you can watch how it splits power between front and rear.

 

[peterk9]

I think the use of 4WD on the 5th gen Explorer is more of a marketing gimmick. My MKT has the same system and yet is marketed as AWD. Many manufacturers are now coming out with similar systems in cars and SUV/crossovers and they are calling them AWD. It really doesn't matter what the system is called, it is how it works that is important. As stated, the 5th generation is FWD biased with power being distributed to the rear wheels as required. That distribution can also be controlled to some degree by the use of the terrain management system.
Although you don't have your Explorer, you can always read or download the Owner's Guide to check out various items before hand.
https://owner.ford.com/tools/accoun...s-search-results.html#/ymm/2015/Ford/Explorer

Peter

 

[thebrakeman]

Don't worry too much about the terminology. Consider:
The system in my '06 V8 Mountaineer is labeled "AWD" on the hatch.
The system in an '06 V8 Explorer is labeled "4WD".
But the system is identical in both vehicles. It's 100% RWD under normal conditions. When rear wheel slip is detected, it automatically sends torque to the front wheels. When slip stops, it goes back to RWD automatically. In both systems, you can lock the center diff for 50/50 front/rear torque. Yet 1 is called AWD and the other is 4WD. The only difference is that the Explorer has a low-range while the Mercury does not. But I do not think that is enough reason.

In my mind, AWD means that the vehicle has the ability to power all 4 wheels at any time with no driver intervention. This could be a full-time system with power always to 4 wheels (and some sort of slip allowance for turning), or a 2WD system with auto-engaging center diff.

4WD is a system that will remain in 2WD mode, no matter that the circumstances, until the driver press a button, pulls a lever, and/or goes outside and lock some hubs.

 

[Halwg]

Having owned numerous ('04, '06, 08, and '10) previous generation Explorers that were rear wheel biased systems, I can tell you this generation handles way better in snow and ice. What it lacks is the low range locking differential that would let you traverse actual off road conditions. But so far, I have not met a condition on well access roads that I could not traverse. For what most people do with an SUV, this system is much better.

 

[thebrakeman]

That brings up a good question. I can lock my 4th gen Mountaineer's center diff for 50/50 split. I know that the 5th gen Explorer has the dial (like many crossovers today) where you simply select the type of surface. I had assumed that for snow (and maybe other conditions) it was locking the front and rear together.
No?

 

[Rubberhead]

Whatever it is, it is very surefooted on snow and ice. I've gone from not liking my new Ex to being very pleased with it after driving it in bad weather.

 

[182RG]

I had assumed that for snow (and maybe other conditions) it was locking the front and rear together.
No?

No, it is not. It is based on transferring power to the rear wheels (part time clutch based AWD), and in some settings, application of the ABS system to control wheel spin.

There is a PTU (power transfer unit), not a transfer case (center diff). There is no notion of selectable locking.

Good article. Read starting with the section titled Transverse based engine systems.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/06/alphabet-soup-4x4-vs-4wd-vs-awd-wheres-the-differential/

Then we have systems like the Ford Explorer which usually sends some power to the rear, locks the coupling during hard acceleration and varies it depending on vehicle dynamics.

 

[tmg19103]

The AWD is just fine for snow and even beach driving. Where a problem would occur is deep stuff. We just had 10 inches. It was powdery snow and easy to drive through and the Ex had sure footing. If it were wet and real heavy, not sure as I had snow clogging up my fog lights and all in the air dam. My neighbor has a JGC Altitude. Even though it is true 4x4, I doubt he did any better traction-wise, but he has much more ground clearance from my comparison.

 

[dentalpain]

I just put my Ex sport through her first beach test. It did great and felt very sure footed. Even through some of the soft "rutty" patches. Sand mode really changes the throttle mapping so the accelerator pedal is more responsive.

 

[NJExplorerFan]

So if I understand correctly, the system in my 2003 Explorer works essentially the same as the 2015 EXCEPT the 2015 is a front wheel drive that transfers power to the rear when needed, and my 2003 is a rear-wheel drive that transfers power to the front wheels as needed. That's how I originally understood it. Is that correct no matter how they label it (4WD, AWD etc.)?

And what do the 4x4 Low and 4x4 High buttons do on my 2003?

 

[182RG]

So if I understand correctly, the system in my 2003 Explorer works essentially the same as the 2015 EXCEPT the 2015 is a front wheel drive that transfers power to the rear when needed, and my 2003 is a rear-wheel drive that transfers power to the front wheels as needed. That's how I originally understood it. Is that correct no matter how they label it (4WD, AWD etc.)?

And what do the 4x4 Low and 4x4 High buttons do on my 2003?

No, it is different. If your '03 is 4WD, it is a longitudinal engined, RWD based system. It has a transfer case with selectable 2 Normal, 4 Hi and 4 Low settings. In the '4' modes, it is transferring power all the time to the front diff. In '2' mode, it is disconnected. Somewhere in there, there was a 4 Auto as well which measured traction and engaged '4' when required.

If your '03 is AWD (which I believe Ford had somewhere in there), it too has a transfer case with a mechanical viscous coupling. There are no controls, and the AWD is on all the time, with the viscous coupling slipping as necessary when front / rear wheels are turning at different rates (turning, etc.).

The 5th gen is a transverse engined, FWD based system. There is no transfer case, only a PTU. There is an electrically controlled 'clutch' that applies power to the rear wheels based on what the ECU (computer) is calling for. The advantage of this is it is FWD only most of the time yielding better fuel economy and better tire wear.

 

[Rubberhead]

...better fuel economy and better tire wear.

I can buy the fuel economy. But, I've never had a FWD vehicle that could touch a similar RWD for tire wear. I regularly got 100,000+ miles on a set of tires in my RWD Explorers.

 

[tmg19103]

I can buy the fuel economy. But, I've never had a FWD vehicle that could touch a similar RWD for tire wear. I regularly got 100,000+ miles on a set of tires in my RWD Explorers.

Yeah, noticed that too. On front wheel the front tires wear pretty fast. Think it is the weight of the engine on the tires having the power provided to those front wheels.

 

[Halwg]

I can buy the fuel economy. But, I've never had a FWD vehicle that could touch a similar RWD for tire wear. I regularly got 100,000+ miles on a set of tires in my RWD Explorers.

That's pretty amazing, because I had an '04, '06, '08, and '10 Explorer, and the MOST I ever got out of a set of tires was 30,000. Most were in the 25,000 range. It appears this car will give similar tire mileage.

 

[tmg19103]

It appears this car will give similar tire mileage.

Front tires tend to wear faster than rear tires on front wheel drive vehicles due to added pressure/resistance from steering.

http://www.goodyearautoservice.com/content/content.jsp?pageName=TireCarMaint

 

[Rubberhead]

That's pretty amazing, because I had an '04, '06, '08, and '10 Explorer, and the MOST I ever got out of a set of tires was 30,000. Most were in the 25,000 range. It appears this car will give similar tire mileage.

Michelin XLTs

 

[182RG]

TIt appears this car will give similar tire mileage.

So much of this is driving habit based. Anecdotally, the '11 is on original tires and brakes at 60K, with tread and pads to spare. (Michelin Lattitude HPs - 18"). The car based suspension is pretty easy on tires.

 

[Vytas]

I just had a little actual test with current explorers 4WD. I have 4 plastic ramps to put under the wheels to drive on to raise the whole vehicle to get under the car to do something like oil change. So I put those ramps against all wheels and drive on, guess what, front ramps were dragged under the wheels and rears just slid on the ground with the vehicle like the park brake would be on. Then I thought, I'm in the front wheel mode (normal mode), that's why it doesn't drive on and drags rear wheels. I put it in the sand mode, read somewhere that it's the very aggressive AWD, and guess what again, same thing as in the normal mode, front claimed up and rears just dragged on the floor pushing the ramps away, just with more aggressive throttle. And I tried several times, tried even with backing up and getting a little bit of speed before the ramps - couldn't get up there. Now I thought, forget about any rougher offroad with this "4WD", can't even come up the ramps in my garage... Until I tried the mud mode, vehicle claimed up with all 4 wheels in first try with out any problems! Tried again later just to see of it was only one off, went up with all 4 no problem. So here is my experience with explorers 4WD