I have found that most beaches along the North Carolina coast that permit beach driving require that the vehicle be four wheel drive. Warning signs are posted at entrances and permits won't be issued to drivers unless they have four wheel drive. AWD is not acceptable. I believe the FD2 would pass the test since it is "Trail Rated", but what about the FD1? Anyone have experience with the authorities allowing or not allowing FD1 or 2's on the beach?
Four wheel drive vehicles only
poppi
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I have found that most beaches along the North Carolina coast that permit beach driving require that the vehicle be four wheel drive. Warning signs are posted at entrances and permits won't be issued to drivers unless they have four wheel drive. AWD is not acceptable. I believe the FD2 would pass the test since it is "Trail Rated", but what about the FD1? Anyone have experience with the authorities allowing or not allowing FD1 or 2's on the beach?
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First I have zero experience with beaches, I live in ND, but I am full of opinions. The FD1has a badge that sasy 4X4 and Jeep stands behind that, also it has 4WD lock and ESP Full Off. That being said, refer to my earlier response, buy an FD2, because 99.9% of the time the authorities will not question you, and the .01% they do, it will be worth every nickel for the FD2. Also your resale will be better with and FD2, should you ever decide to get rid of it.
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should be fine,
FDI is a basic 4x4
by AWD's they are referring to sedans, matrix, CRV's RAV4's, saturns , etc.
FDI is a basic 4x4
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I lived at Carolina Beach for almost 40 years, and out here in WA they let you drive on most beaches, but I despise the practice. Anyway, I've seen a Patriot or two driving on the beach here and Oregon, as well as northern California, and none of them 'looked' as if they had FDII.
4x4 and 4WD and AWD are different things:
4x4 : drive train can be locked and all 4 wheels provide equal power. only for low speeds in this mode though
4WD: vehicle is 2WD normally (and usually FWD), then 4WD kicks (in the rear) in when slipping occurs. vehicles that have this would be Rav4, Honda CR-V , Ford Escape
AWD: all wheels provide power all of the time continuously, but not necessarily equally. in the case of Subaru's AWD, the auto-transmission models provide power on a 80/20 basis. the front has 80%, and the rear has 20%. on manual-transmission subarus the power is divided 50/50 for the front and rear. with regards to other "AWD" versions of vehicles such as the Ford Edge, Ford Fusion, Pontiac Vibe...i am not sure how they distribute power
4x4 : drive train can be locked and all 4 wheels provide equal power. only for low speeds in this mode though
4WD: vehicle is 2WD normally (and usually FWD), then 4WD kicks (in the rear) in when slipping occurs. vehicles that have this would be Rav4, Honda CR-V , Ford Escape
AWD: all wheels provide power all of the time continuously, but not necessarily equally. in the case of Subaru's AWD, the auto-transmission models provide power on a 80/20 basis. the front has 80%, and the rear has 20%. on manual-transmission subarus the power is divided 50/50 for the front and rear. with regards to other "AWD" versions of vehicles such as the Ford Edge, Ford Fusion, Pontiac Vibe...i am not sure how they distribute power
most beaches don't require you to have 4x4 mode, just 4WD. when they refer to "four wheel drive" are they referring to the ability to engage a mode manually where all wheels are providing power (4x4), or just the ability for 4 wheels to become active when needed (4WD) ?
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I'm wondering where you got this information. From what I've read and heard, Subaru's AWD works almost exactly the same way Jeep's FD I works, with the exception of not having the 4WD Lock mode.
i am afraid that whoever told you the systems are the same, is misinformed on AWD technology.
the difference is this:
Patriot FDI/FDII regular mode: front wheel drive with NO power to the back. rear power is engaged when slipping occurs OR when 4x4 lock mode is manually activated.
Subaru AWD regular mode: auto-trans has a continuously active AWD system in which the front wheels provide 80% power and the rear wheels provide 20% power. as you can see, this is different than the Patriot in that all wheels are spinning all of the time...it's just a matter of which ones provide more power at any given time. the manual-transmission has a continuously active AWD system which has a 50/50 split power between the front and rear wheels. when slip is detected, the vehicle directs power as needed. it does NOT have the ability to do a 4x4 lock mode, which is not necessary for the manual-trans 50/50 version , and not entirely needed with the auto-trans version either since you already have 20% power in the back all of the time and it will be adjusted as needed
both models have the ESC control, etc.
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Thanks for clarifying, jjg204. I was going by what I read here: "f memory serves me right, torque actually varies on the vehicle model and transmission type in it. I think there are actually 5 different ways the Subaru AWD system works, depending on the model. For example, on all 5 speed models, torque is distributed equally 50-50 between front and rear wheels at all times (with some also having an anti-slip rear differential). The automatic transmissions used in most Outback’s, under normal road conditions, distributes torque 90-10 (here in favor of the front). But then, with the slightest slip or slowing of any wheel from all others, the torque will instantly (and I do mean instantly) change in value up to a 50-50 split. All Outbacks, like that in the movie, have anti-slip in the rear differential, so the back wheel with the most grip gets the most torque applied to it. Be mindfull too, the anti-slip will instantly change from side to side as grip conditions change. Another example, in recent Legacy GT models, the automatic works a bit different from the Outback. The automatic in GT’s normally provide a 45-55 torque split, herein favoring the rear wheels"
from here:http://www.leftlanenews.com/video-volvo-vs-subaru-awd.html
And from watching an Outback at a red light on ice, only the front wheels turned at first.
from here:http://www.leftlanenews.com/video-volvo-vs-subaru-awd.html
And from watching an Outback at a red light on ice, only the front wheels turned at first.
good research, so now we're on the same page with AWD vs 4WD right?
you cannot drive the 4x4 lock-mode at any speed. it is meant for low speeds. very different than the AWD system on Subarus
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Not really. In my book, 4WD and 4X4 are the same, and both mean you can lock all the wheels together and you have a low range. Everything else is a form a AWD. But it doesn't really matter, we can call things what we want, I suppose.
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You certainly can drive that way, at least with the 4WD light lit after pulling the T-handle, at any speed, according to the manual. Whether or not it's "actually" locked may be another story.
4WD and 4x4 are not the same. 4WD is not a version of AWD since they are different technologies. 4WD is only AWD at the very instant when power is distributed to the wheels slipping. then it goes back to 2WD. this defies the very logic of what AWD stands for...it's an ALL wheel drive ALL of the time.
4WD is a more intense version of ESC/Traction control b/c it uses a differential to transfer power to an axle that normally wouldn't have power in a solely 2WD vehicle. it's a technology that is relatively new thanks in part due to "control system" programming (within the past 15 years or so for consumer vehicles). 4x4 has been around for many decades. when there was no ability to detect "slip" due to the technology not having been developed, 4x4 vehicles were 2WD in normal operation (typically RWD in pickup trucks), but you could manually engage the 4x4 mode when stuck in mud or driving through bad snow.
AWD is a technology that gives power to ALL WHEELS, ALL OF THE TIME. even though the power distribution is not equal, ALL wheels are spinning ALL of the time. on a 4WD vehicle, only the main wheels are spinning and the other set of wheels is activated ONLY when slip is detected.
does that help?
in the Jeep Patriot, you are not supposed to activate 4x4 lock mode when driving 80 mph on the highway...
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