First trip to the local mountains and

[subiesailor]

JB -- he's in California where we wear Hawaiian shirts and our surf shorts on the drive to the ski resort on Friday evenings. Dedicated winter tires in California is akin to you owning an entire dresser full of t-shirts and board shorts for year around use. LOL

[jb_3.6r]

That's why I asked, and stated my situation.

[ucf3]

I took my OBXT off-road yesterday (no snow) and it performed the way I expected it would. To me it sounds like the AWD wasn't doing what it's supposed to based one wheel spinning. I wonder if the hydrolic lines were frozen. Do you mind if i ask how cold was it outside?

I also agree, tires make a huge difference and if the tread pattern on the AS were designed for rain or summer that's probably the reason why you were lacking traction.

[jp1203]

Your Outback should be lightyears ahead of the Highlander in terms of AWD (not sure about the Expedition). I have a coworker with one and he has better all seasons than I do and it still can't hold a candle to my Outback in any conditions. It's very noticeable when taking off from any intersection. The little bit that I've driven it, it will break traction under light throttle in places where my Outback would be glued to the road under significantly higher throttle.

[ssweet9c1]

You also have to factor in tire size and vehicle weight.

I used to drive a 95 chevy caprice year round, 350 V8, posi rear. but with 225 75 15 BF goodrich winter slaloms and a bag of sand in the trunk that thing was a BEAST. (4400# empty)
Fast forward to my wife's 06 H6 VDC with brand new smooth summer tires and that thing barely would get out of it's own way with 225 55 17's probably under 4000# (whats a subie weight?) The day I took it in to get the studded snows mounted and balanced there was about 2" of slush on the roads I was unimpressed.

Fast forward 1 hour, in the same slush that thing launched like it was on drive pavement.

We even took it up a seasonal use road, that goes up a steep hill near me in 12-24" drifted powder. some woods some fields, and that thing had NO problems. the only problem was we couldn't see where the road ended and the ditches began.. so we had to go REALLY slowly.

I would say throw a couple bags of sand behind the rear seat and get some better tires.. snow tires (in snow) are an order of magnitude better than all seasons. and all seasons are much better than summer tires.. Bit the huge difference is between all seasons and snows.
Jonathan

[indytruckboy]

The automatics are a joke, IMHO. 90/10 split. I am constantly plowing corners with the OBW, will my STI, and previous WRX were much better in the snow. I can live with the OBW. And you should have better results. Just because that light doesnt come when ignition is turned on either means you dont have that feature. It's a LED so it doesnt burn out. The light will come on if you have a problem.

(I run snow tires all year on our Outback. Cooper Weathermaster. They work great and can deal with summer conditions if you dont plan on taking it to a track. Work really good in snow and mud. We take out OBW offroad quite a bit so this works for us.)

[Tex07Limited]

I also have an 07 Limited, and I am pretty sure it does not have VDC, so I would be surprised if yours does.

Others can correct me if I am wrong, but the automatics are a 90/10 split at a minimum, and will go to 50/50 when the car feels it is necessary, so you aren't giving up a lot compared to a manual. Also, you can put it in Sport mode and downshift to 1st before starting to move, and the car will go straight to a 50/50 split.

[rasterman]

Nothing like charging forward on a dead and cold thread that the OP hasn't even checked in on...

but here goes!

The torque split depends on which automatic you have. The 4EAT is 90/10, but the 5EAT is more like 45/55. I don't know what the Lineartronic CVT offers.