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The 4A Advantage

broughtie

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I plan on driving down Baja to Cabo on the 24th. Doing the BajaXL.org rally. Looking forward to putting the Wildtrak into Baja mode
Can't wait to see a post on that! Good luck!!!
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JerryG

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I've only had the Bronco for 2 months now but this entire winter I have daily driven in 2H Eco except for one time. Where we went out to a National Park for a bonfire and the parking lot was literally a skating rink of ice and the parking spot was on a decline. I used 4A to creep out of that. I find the Bronco is really well behaved in 2H. If the roads are that slippery and conditions are poor should you be going that fast? I guess I drive like an old man.
Take it out of Eco mode and you'll feel 10 years younger :)
 

Callelk

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Though you can't really tell from this photo, it was pretty slick yesterday especially where the road was in the shade all day. Went out in 4A and back in Mud/Ruts. Could not tell the difference.

Ford Bronco The 4A Advantage 1736954772383-sc
 

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Jsullivan

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I prefer the simplicity of the standard transfer case. It is simple enough to engage 4H on the fly when conditions are bad enough. Having AWD or 4A does not allow you to safely drive faster in marginal conditions, and is probably why the majority of vehicles in the ditch are AWD and 4WD. If you hit a patch of ice AWD/4A isn't going to help much you can slide off the road or rear end a vehicle just the same.
Absolutely.
My Bronco doesn't have 4A but my wifes Explorer does.
We have a 35 mile drive to work and work in the same town.
So I was driving and when I left the house the roads were clear. It was 5AM or so.
When I got on the hwy the roads were still good.
I'm cruising 60 and come across a truck pulling a trailer ahead of me, he was doing all of 30.
I go to slow down and it's black ice. I had no recourse but to pass him. Thank God no one was coming. He stayed in his lane and I swerved a bit but got around him doing 45 or so.
Moral of the story. 4A even more so than 4x4 handles the roads great but it doesn't help you stop lol.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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My favorite part of 4A is that it eliminates the CAD in the front axle.

I dont like how it does all the behind the scenes stuff and masks road conditions. Just because you can go doesn't mean you can stop or turn.

My trucks have never had it and aside from deleting the CAD nonsense I won't go out of my way to get it.
 

Callelk

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Absolutely.
My Bronco doesn't have 4A but my wifes Explorer does.
We have a 35 mile drive to work and work in the same town.
So I was driving and when I left the house the roads were clear. It was 5AM or so.
When I got on the hwy the roads were still good.
I'm cruising 60 and come across a truck pulling a trailer ahead of me, he was doing all of 30.
I go to slow down and it's black ice. I had no recourse but to pass him. Thank God no one was coming. He stayed in his lane and I swerved a bit but got around him doing 45 or so.
Moral of the story. 4A even more so than 4x4 handles the roads great but it doesn't help you stop lol.
I love how when people move from the warmer to the colder/snowy climates the first thing they do is trade their car for a big 4X4. Invincible at 65 mph during a snowstorm.......until they try to stop.

You can always tell how many new arrivals are in the area by the number of slide offs reported in the nightly news.
 

Nc211

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Not knocking it, it has its place and folks definitely seem to like it. But I personally didn’t want it on mine. I didn’t want the added complexity of it, and when I’m that high up (center of gravity), I want to have 100% total control, feel and expectations on what the car will do in an emergency situation. When in RWD, I know and will react to a fishtail or spin out. I don’t want to fight the car to get the front/back moving in the direction of momentum. If I’m going to spinout, then I want to allow the car to put the rear in front and go backwards to a stop. That’s the one thing I don’t like about AWD. It wants to correct itself and that usually means you’re sideways longer than you would like. With a high center of gravity, that’s not a good thing.
 

Amochosto

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My favorite part of 4A is that it eliminates the CAD in the front axle.

I dont like how it does all the behind the scenes stuff and masks road conditions. Just because you can go doesn't mean you can stop or turn.

My trucks have never had it and aside from deleting the CAD nonsense I won't go out of my way to get it.
Pardon my ignorance, but what is CAD? I’m assuming it’s not Canadian dollars, I can see why an American wouldn’t want those.
 

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indio22

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As far as on road performance my Bronco is way more fun to drive than my Focus RS was. On paper they are pretty equal.
Both AWD, manual, turbo. Bronco is a little down on power, but the RS had to be doing illegal speeds to feel fun. It was just too planted.
I haven't driven a Focus RS, but my BRZ runs rings around my Bronco on pavement, which handles like a boat in comparison.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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Pardon my ignorance, but what is CAD? I’m assuming it’s not Canadian dollars, I can see why an American wouldn’t want those.
Central axle disconnect. Basically "breaks" one axleshaft so the entire front driveline doesn't turn with the wheels in 2wd. Historically a weak point in every 4wd system it graces.
 

CarlSpackler

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I love how when people move from the warmer to the colder/snowy climates the first thing they do is trade their car for a big 4X4. Invincible at 65 mph during a snowstorm.......until they try to stop.

You can always tell how many new arrivals are in the area by the number of slide offs reported in the nightly news.
Yeah, exactly. Not only that but the people who "prefer" the simplicty of what they bought versus something they've never even driven berfore. Especially when they go on to mention a situation that 4A actually has helped on lol.

Delusional insanity is real.
 

Amochosto

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Well just for fun, I tested 4A in an alley behind my house, that is unplowed, and after a few inches of snow a week or two ago followed by melting, and re-freezing it is totally ice coated.

With all the nanny’s on, I tested the acceleration and braking in those conditions. In agreement with many other comments about 4x4s in ditches in snowy conditions, I conclude that 4A is excellent, but can lead to over-confidence.. On sheer ice ‘safe’ but aggressive throttle application leads to a very stable acceleration, no swerving or any indication that traction is limited, only when braking do you feel the car telling you traction is bad, ABS comes on and slight uncommanded changes in direction are noticeable. It doesn’t make sense I guess, but it felt to me that the car accelerated at a higher rate than it decelerated on braking.

Whenever I drive in snow (or even massive rainstorms) when it’s safe and no one is behind me, I always test the braking action of the vehicle I’m driving to get a real sense of the most important aspect of safe driving, the ability to stop. I think this is more important than ever when using 4A in this car. It’s too good to really let you know what the traction situation really is.
 

Amochosto

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Central axle disconnect. Basically "breaks" one axleshaft so the entire front driveline doesn't turn with the wheels in 2wd. Historically a weak point in every 4wd system it graces.
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