I believe the new "intelligent 4-wheel-drive" is an all-wheel-drive system, much like Subaru uses.
It calculates how much traction each tire has and it distributes power according to which tires have the most traction.
I believe that it is better than control-trac, although I havent driven one yet.
Ive driven a few Explorers with Control-Trac and I didnt care for it. Lots of times the back end would slide out just as it would engage the front tires, causing the front to then slide. It makes it kind of difficult to predict what the vehicle will do, usually if I knew it would activate I would just turn the **** to "4x4". I also didnt like the "clunk" when it engaged.
Heres my question. Doesnt the manual state that you should not have the 4x4 system activated on dry roads? I wonder then, how the AWD systems are OK on dry roads, because they are always active.