Why get 4x4

Luxury brands such as Audi make several vehicles with standard all-wheel drive. Subaru has built an entire brand around offering only AWD cars and crossovers. Tires also should be a consideration.

In fact, a front-wheel drive vehicle with decent snow tires can better tolerate many scenarios compared with an AWD vehicle outfitted with all-season tires. A handful of crossovers and SUVs with all-wheel drive come standard with all-season tires that will not be as effective in extreme wintery conditions.

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With the majority of cars having their engines in the front, a front-wheel drive makes a lot of sense, as you don't lose power having to transfer it all the way to the back wheels as is the case with a rear-wheel drive. Front-wheel drives are also known to be lighter and easier to manufacture, which can make them more economic both in terms of price and fuel efficiency.

One of the main benefits of a 4X4 is the added traction gained by power being directed to all four wheels, as well as the visibility gained with an often more elevated driving position. Do you need a four-wheel drive? The key attraction for this type of vehicle is their off-road capability.

This is primarily due to the fact that if you should find yourself stuck on the road and you are unsure which wheels need purchase on the ground to get you moving again, a 4X4 can supply power to all four, a trait that also makes these vehicles excellent for towing. The 4X4 may be an absolute necessity for that person's recreational pursuits, whether it be towing a caravan, a horse float or a large boat.

To sum up, if you're planning on off-roading, and want the stability and ruggedness of a 4X4, go for it. Most modern crossovers are AWD and don't offer the option to disengage the system—they just work automatically, as needed, when they detect slip. But even if you have that sort of system, there's something you need to know. If you've got a vehicle that offers two-wheel drive or four-wheel-drive auto, then most of the time you may as well use the 4WD Auto setting.

It's fine for dry pavement, so the only advantage of running in 2WD would be some fractional fuel economy benefit—or saving wear on the front-drive system. Meanwhile, 4WD Auto is handy even if it starts raining—your extra traction will be there, on demand, automatically. That's because it just locks the front and rear end together, which might be useful in some narrow off-road context but isn't doing anything for you on that snowy road.

In fact, I'd rather have the system sending power forward or back as needed most of the time, even off-road. I had a friend who used to have a lates Jeep Cherokee that was all-wheel-drive so, 4WD Auto and the only time he needed to lock the four-wheel-drive system was when he tried to drive through a pond that made the Jeep look like a primordial creature crawling from the muck.

Without an Auto setting, 4WD High is what you'd use in any situation that's low-traction but relatively high-speed—a dirt road or snowy paved road. Low range used to be common, but these days it's relegated to pickup trucks and SUVs that have serious off-road pretensions. A Toyota 4Runner would have it, but a Highlander won't. OK, let's say you're venturing off-road—a little beach driving. This isn't an off-road instructional but we'll assume you let some air out of your tires. Now, what does that rocker switch on the dash do?

The one that shows four tires with a little "x" between the rear ones? That's your rear differential lock, and it can be handy. Just as 4WD High locks the front and rear axles together, the rear diff lock connects the rear end side-to-side.

That means that if one side loses traction, the opposite side keeps spinning, powering you forward. It's a great feature, provided you're driving straight. You don't really want to use your diff lock on a corner, because the whole point of a differential is to allow your car to make a smooth turn, with the outside tire turning faster than the inside.

Lock them together and your car won't want to turn. And when it does, it'll judder and skid in protest. There are also a few vehicles with a front differential lock, but I'm going to assume that if you bought one of those then you probably know how to use it.