Yeah, but if you're in the snow and your front wheels have no traction, you're hosed
I only bring it up because a lot of people don't research into how those systems work.
I Will be completely honest, I didn’t even know that the CRV four-wheel-drive is 85% front and 15% rear power. For me, I would want something that would be more equally balanced in the distribution, given the winter periods. So I learned something new.
The problem with the Honda system is that torque won’t be transferred to the rear axle if the front wheels have zero friction and the rear wheels have full friction. I can’t thibk of a ton of situations where a car like a CRV has that problem. I say it’s probably “good enough” for most people because no one is extreme off-roading in a CRV and it’s quite rare that you would have zero traction on both the front wheels but full tradition on both the rear wheels- or if you did it would be something that momentum would quickly resolve of or that probably could be easily corrected with a second attempt.
The fact of the matter is very few AWD systems perform as you’d expect or how they’re marketed. There’s a video on YouTube with a slew of cars being tested on various roller setups and most of them fail. Basically all the AWD systems in compact SUVs (CRV, RAV4, etc) are designed for mpg, not particuarly robust, not made for extremes, and not as effective as a true 4wd system or some of the more expensive AWD systems.
I once owned a 2003 Grand Cherokee with Quadrive (center locking riff, variable locking front and rear). Theoretically you’re supposed to be able to have 3 wheels with no traction and get the torque locked to the wheel with traction. Did that really ever happen when it should have- no, not really... especially since the system was entirely mechanical (clutches, pumps, etc, no electronics). It was still one of the best 4WD systems I’ve used... if you really want true 4WD/AWD you have to get yourself a G-Wagon as it comes stock with front/center/rear full locking diffs. My dad has a 2012 Range Rover Sport with the center and rear locking diffs, plus traction control, so that’s probably the best setup you can get stock without spending $130k. My partners S60 has a haldex AWD (FWD biased) that’s supposed to transfer torque within a split second of slippage- does that happen in the real world, often it does not.
In reality I know a bunch of people with Honda CRVs (and the Gen2 Acura RDX which uses the same system). Despite all the fanfare a few years back about this, none of these people have said they’ve had issues. I’ve ridden through the snow in these more than a few times and they seemed to handle New England just fine. In terms of small SUV’s last I checked (to be fair this was ~4 years ago when my sister was buying her RAV4), the Subaru Forester is the only thing in its class that offered a quality AWD system. Their mechanics can handle somewhere close to a 50/50 distribution (60/40 if I remember). Jeep probablt some decent offerings in their mess of small SUVs, but I wouldn’t reccomend buy one (that is the regular Cherokee or Renegade).
If you want a robust awd system most of the small, family SUV’s are not the place to look. And the transfer case isn’t everything, tires, weight distribution, ground clearance, suspension, etc all make a significant impact in less than ideal conditions. God knows how many times my mother has stuck her Audi Allroad trying to get through the snow bank at the end of the driveway cause by the plow.
