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Yesterday, I watched a youtube video which shocked me! It was all about the difference between AWD and 4x4, and how mfrs can get away with calling a car AWD when perhaps only 5% of the torque will ever get to the back wheels! Unhelpful when you need to rely on traction. It was a comparison between a Subaru (Forester I think) and a Volvo XC70 going up a muddy incline. The Subaru with its 4wd system climbed up no probs and both front and rear axles worked together nicely. But the XC70 got stuck very quickly because the back wheels didn't really get involved in the effort to climb the hill whilst the front wheels were spinning like --- you know what! So here's my question. What's the difference between 4wheel drive and so called AWD as in many volvo's of recent years? Any drive-train experts out there who can guide me on what will give reliable traction for hill starts at the end of the day please?. The reason? I often have to tow up steep hills, especially with hill starts, and I can't always just 'gun it'! For my next car, I've been considering the likes of Volvo XC70, V70AWD, and other volvo's, as against Passat Alltrack, or perhaps a Vauxhall Insignia 4x4. I like estates, but if I can't rely on the traction, I might have to go for a less economincal traditional 4x4 like Kia Sorento/Hyundai SantaFe. The caravan is 1500kg MTPLM, but soon changing to something a bit lighter like upto 1400KG.
