Snow, ice..finally a chance to try out the 4 x 4 on my '08. As advertised it just "does it's thing", no lights come on, no clunk going from 2 wheel drive to 4, no wheel spin...just funny as I pulled away from stop lights or up hills this morning and watched others spinning all over and I just pulled way. This is too easy!

 

You can't complain about a 4WD Escape since it's the best of both worlds.

 

yeah they do work nice in the white stuff. I wonder if all of the electronic upgrades on the 08 really make a difference over the older model ?. My 06 4wd system is pretty seamless, I imagine the 08 is probably even better.

I've got an 06 Fusion fwd with traction control, and I gotta say the traction control system is totally useless in the slippery stuff, I much prefer driving my escape in wintery conditions.

I've yet to hit a solid patch of ice with my escape yet, so I'm curious to know how it behaves on large patches of ice when hit at speed.

One downfall of our 4wd system is when you get the vehicle perched on ice or snow and one wheel on each of the axles spins - it will be the wheel with the least amount of traction that spins and that can get you stranded. It happened to me in front of my house last year and was a tad embarrasing. That really took the wind out of my sails as I was having a blast driving through the snow all season before that happened, thinking that the truck was invincible, he, he, he, boy was I wrong. While the truck runs great in normal driving conditions, I wouldn't push it in deep snow off the "beaten path" too much, you can get stuck.

Joey

 

yeah they do work nice in the white stuff. I wonder if all of the electronic upgrades on the 08 really make a difference over the older model ?. My 06 4wd system is pretty seamless, I imagine the 08 is probably even better.

I've got an 06 Fusion fwd with traction control, and I gotta say the traction control system is totally useless in the slippery stuff, I much prefer driving my escape in wintery conditions.

I've yet to hit a solid patch of ice with my escape yet, so I'm curious to know how it behaves on large patches of ice when hit at speed.

One downfall of our 4wd system is when you get the vehicle perched on ice or snow and one wheel on each of the axles spins - it will be the wheel with the least amount of traction that spins and that can get you stranded. It happened to me in front of my house last year and was a tad embarrasing. That really took the wind out of my sails as I was having a blast driving through the snow all season before that happened, thinking that the truck was invincible, he, he, he, boy was I wrong. While the truck runs great in normal driving conditions, I wouldn't push it in deep snow off the "beaten path" too much, you can get stuck.

Joey

 

Practically all 4x4's are open diffs, and the same thing will happen to them as well.
Don't feel bad. A little brake sometimes causes the opposite wheel to get power.

 

Came back to the cold stuff after spending some time in Vegas. Jumped into my 08 Escape and hit the freeway, forgetting about the hazards of winter driving. Cruised along the freeway at 85 mph and never thought about the roads, especially after 9 hours of waiting in the airport and flying,,,, that is until I passed a snowplow that waws spreading sand and salt on a steep hill. I checked the road by stepping on the brakes and couldnt beleive how slippery it was. The Escape had functioned so well, that the black ice I had been driving on was invisible until I tried the brakes. Shows how good the system is, but also how dangerous it is to fall into a false comfort zone driving one of these on ice and not paying close enough attention, the traction and stability control made it easy to forget the road condition.

 

Yeah that is what I was getting at, they work so well in most conditions that you do get lulled into a false sense of security and you can get caught in some tricky situations at times. Last year we had one of those 30 year snow storms and I had to drive on the highway. During my 2 hour drive there were at least 12 vehicles in the center median ditch that day, I would say at least 10 of them were 4x4 vehicles, only two were smaller compact type cars. Our escape is a great winter vehicle, just don't push your luck too much. I find myself driving pretty fast in slippery conditions and deep snow conditions trying to push it to its limits, its addictive at times, he, he, he.