Outlander without 4WD is not a real Outlander? Is 4WD worth $3500?

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Apr 28, 2015 | 08:24 AM

#11

ccernst

Senior Member

Joined: Feb 2009

Posts: 1,649

From: St Louis, MO

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancerguy2013

The gas consumption is really a non- issue for me.. I really only use full time 4WD on the worst days. That said, It's great to have it when you need it. With good winter tires the Outlander handles extremely well in nasty conditions. I like the 4WD eco mode too it really saves gas on long highway trips.

I'll agree. not a lot of difference on fuel consumption. As far as maintenance goes, there really isn't much more. The only thing extra is the tcase, rear driveshaft, and rear diff/clutch pack. Since I've owned mine ('09/30k mi), I've only had to replace a rear output shaft seal in the diff and change the tcase/diff fluid at 60k mile. I keep mine in 4wd auto mode as I get a lot of rearward momentum shift when I hit the gas in 2wd mode....very annoying. 4WD auto also keeps all the wheels worn a bit more even. When I'm traveling on the interstates, then I'll put it in 2wd mode.

Apr 28, 2015 | 10:17 AM

#12

gggplaya

Senior Member

Joined: Mar 2015

Posts: 383

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Alford

Yes good tires help ALOT ! and unless you really need AWD it sucks ALOT more gas and there is more maint to keeping it up. If money is no problem , AWD is great !

I wouldn't say there is more maintenance, maybe more points of failure maybe, but maintance is just a few more fluids you have to change at the given intervals. It's really negligible. As for fuel, FWD doesn't get much better fuel mileage, maybe 1-2mpg on the highway.

As for snow driving, FWD will get you by depending on when you have to leave for work, whether or not you can call off, how many plow trucks your municipality has etc.... When i lived in the suburbs FWD was no problem, i could get by just fine because there were less steep hills and tons of plow trucks constantly keeping snow levels low. When i bought a house in the country, no way FWD will do without dedicated snow tires. Too many hills, and only 2 plow trucks for the municipality. Snow usually piles up to 3-6 inches before they hit it again with the plow. I've passed by plenty of FWD cars trying to get up hills. But usually the next day after a snow storm the roads are always clear enough to drive with FWD and even RWD. So think about what it's worth to you.

For me, i drive an hour to work which is an hour away from my daycare back home. So when it snows, i don't need to mess around with hills trying to find a route around and other people struggling on hills. I just blow right by them with 4wd and always make it to pick up my son on time.

For offroad, forget about it, you need 4wd for some trails. Depends on what your hobbies are i guess.