# 4 Wheel Drive- how do you tell?



## davec (Jan 10, 2006)

Hello all,

Just got a used Xtrail and was wondering is there an easy test to check the drive system works correctly in Auto and Lock?

Any handy hints greatfully received.


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## Terranismo (Aug 31, 2004)

There are two lights on the dash. A green one shows the Auto Mode engaged, while an orange light show the LOCK position.


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## davec (Jan 10, 2006)

Yes I have those, but how do you tell if the wheels are doing what they should, there seems no noticeable difference in driving/handling in any of the modes, on grass, mud or on the road.....is this normal?


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## Luke667 (Feb 7, 2006)

no u should be able to feel the acceleration decrease, but also feel the power of the car being from both ends..pushin and pulling.


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## Rockford (Jan 28, 2005)

I don't know about that but I've never used LOCK mode but the only way I can tell AUTO's doing anything is by stomping on the gas from a stop in very slippery conditions, i.e. heavy snow. The vehicle takes off like a shot straight and true. There's no way that's FWD only. 
What if you don't have very slippery conditions you ask?
Well, I don't know how you'd tell, but if that's the case it could be argued that you don't really need AWD anyway, right? I mean, if you can't tell if it's working, it probably isn't. Not because it's broken necessarily, but perhaps because it's not slippery and it just doesn't need to kick in. In which case you probably don't need it to begin with. Not the answer you're looking for, I know.
Perhaps some of the off-road guys will know a way. Maybe contorting the vehicle in such a way as to have one of the rear wheels suspended in the air (in a rocky place, say), engaging LOCK, and then doing a bit of a brake stand to see if that rear wheel suspended in mid air moves at all. Or something like that at least. I don't know exactly how you'd do it.


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## davec (Jan 10, 2006)

Thanks for the advice, I am just a sceptic and while the car is still under its 30 day take it back to the dealer for another clause I wanted to test as much as possible, unfortunately here in the south of England the winter is very dry and mild - I need to know the AWD drive works as prior to this I had a Ford Mondeo to tow my wifes horses around, it would always get me into the fields ok but always gave problems getting out, hence the Xtrail. 

I suppose I could load it with a couple of horses up to its 2 tonne tow limit on grass and see what happens then....


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## ron519098 (May 4, 2005)

I think one of the problems you're faced with is that the 4x4 system is so damn clever. Even when its in 2WD if it detects slippage by the front wheels it will divert power to the rear axle, although this power transfer will not be as instantaneous as it is when you are in AUTO mode.

I tow a caravan pretty regularly with a kerbweight of over 1400kg. The X-Trail certainly handles towing very well and you never get the front wheel scrabble typically present when you're towing with a FWD car.


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## Terranismo (Aug 31, 2004)

Easy way to tell if it is working on a dry road is to over rev the engine and dump the clutch. If it goes straight away then it's in AUTO mode, if the front tires spin, it's in 2WD.


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## Avery Slickride (Jan 6, 2005)

Wait until it rains and the pavement is slick. Select AUTO and floor it from a standing start. If you don't get wheelspin, hop or torque steer from the front, then your AWD is working. Where I live, in the winter you can test your AWD any time you like on snow, ice, slush or muck. Lucky us, eh?
I have seldom had occasion to use LOCK. You'd have to venture into some steep, loose-surfaced or rough terrain to see if it's working, and it won't feel any different from AUTO. It just won't shift into FWD unless you speed up. The operation in AUTO is so slick and seamless you won't notice a marked difference.


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## Canada's Far East (Jun 15, 2005)

*Buddy System*

Here's another way to tell:

Have your buddy (mate) stand outside (and away from) the vehicle when you have it on some slick surface, like grass, mud, sand or snow(if applicable).

Ever notice how, when the wheels spin, they "split-up" the loose debris ?

If you're in AWD your buddy should be able to see the junk being thrown up from both the front and rear wheels........you could do the same thing in 4 lock.....

WRT 4 lock, it's been suggested that they're no noticeable difference between it and AWD - - a recent experience of mine suggests different.

Our first storm of the year dumped 50 cms. of snow on us and I had cause to drive thru an unplowed road - fairly heavy accumulation of snow. 

Needless to say, I was in AWD and the X-T performed flawlessly. 

Later that afternoon, on the same road, I got stuck at the far end. Forward and backward several times, but I could not get thru. Put it 4 lock and away she went, just like a warm knife cutting thru butter.

IMHO that's the purpose of the 4 lock, to get you out of an otherwise impossible situation - others may not agree - but it worked for me....


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## Avery Slickride (Jan 6, 2005)

That surprises me a bit, because the AUTO mode always pulls away from a standing start in AWD, and doesn't engage FWD until you're rolling and any slippage has stopped.


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## davec (Jan 10, 2006)

Many thanks to all of you for your suggestions - looks like I'm off to a few fields to have some fun this weekend!


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## X-Trail_NL (Nov 16, 2005)

I had fun driving around in the same storm. The X-Trail was great on unplowed roads. At the end of the night I came home to a 4 foot snowbank at the end of my driveway, and couldn't resist. I plowed in over it, but most of it plowed in front of, and then under, the car so I bottomed out. Wheels were spinning in the snow, but I couldn't get it to move. LOCK was no use either. I think there wasn't enough weight on the wheels to give grip, as the snow underneath was bearing a lot of the weight at that point. At least I know the limit now. I wonder if it had a 4-Low setting would it have helped, but I can't see how. I think no matter what you are driving, once the car gets hung up on the snow, you are not going anywhere. The snow we get here is always wet and heavy too, much different than the dry powder that some people are familar with.



Canada's Far East said:


> Here's another way to tell:
> 
> Have your buddy (mate) stand outside (and away from) the vehicle when you have it on some slick surface, like grass, mud, sand or snow(if applicable).
> 
> ...


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## shabalia (Dec 27, 2005)

Did you have to wait til the snow melted? I am picturing this vehicle teetering on top of a pile of snow!


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## X-Trail_NL (Nov 16, 2005)

Wasn't quite teetering, but enough snow underneath to take enought weight off the wheels that there wasn't enough traction, I guess. I dug out the wheels, then dug out underneath. About 30 minutes.



shabalia said:


> Did you have to wait til the snow melted? I am picturing this vehicle teetering on top of a pile of snow!


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## davec (Jan 10, 2006)

*Well now I know*

On Sunday had my wifes first horse trial event and took her horse and another plus horsebox, saddles and passengers out for the day.

The Xty towed well on the motorway making it into 6th at one point on a slight decline. On arrival at the site had to go down a field that had already been churned by other vehicles but the Xty handled that well (including the part when the horsebox decided to push me out of the way (horsebox gross weight was 1900Kg).

During the event I watched other boxes leaving via a different gate that had a slight upward climb, and when I say leaving mots were being pulled out by a tractor. 

I witnessed just about every type of UK 4x4 trying, some made it on there own and some didn't. Some of the ones getting stuck included Landrover 90s, Discoverys, Shoguns and Landcrusiers plus every CRV and Rav4. 

It was with some apprehension (and expecting a tractor tow that I set off to leave), once I got rolling in 4WD lock there was no stopping the Xty - it was absolutely amazing and it impressed me and others around me no end. 

What a car!! :jump:


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## ron519098 (May 4, 2005)

Well done mate. Glad to hear that you showed some "pukka" 4x4s a few things.


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## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

Excellent Dave :thumbup: 

Always nice to hear happy endings like this one


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## X-Trail_NL (Nov 16, 2005)

Living in Canada, in the winter, in a hilly city, you get plenty of chances to test this car's AWD. In our most recent storm, I went up several steep ice-covered hills where other cars were bailing out, turning around, and coming back down. I couldn't figure out what their problem was until I realized they were slipping too much to get up the hill. You might think "duh", but the X-Trail (with Pirelli Scorpions) was going up the hill like any other day so I didn't realize. This car is great on ice. On several other steep hills with snow, again I had to wait for cars to bail out and turn around down the hill, then I would go through. I actually find AWD better than Lock in the snow, like the car can figure it out better instead of forcing all the wheels to turn. When I have gotten stuck in deep drifts in AWD the Lock never gets me out either - the ground clearance is good, but not great, when the snow gets deep you are not going anywhere in this thing like a true 4WD with low, the wheel spin always gets you. Or maybe it is the tires, who knows.


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## evjm (Jan 11, 2006)

I find the same thing here in Cape Breton. I prefer the AWD to 4 Lock when stuck in snow. I almost ended up in the ditch with the Lock the first time I used it because the X started to slide sideways, I switched to AWD and got out straight no trouble!


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## X-Trail_NL (Nov 16, 2005)

I was on a country road this past weekend, deep snow with mud. I tried the Lock, you could feel the extra power, the car was going forward no problem but the no matter how I turned the wheel the car went where it wanted, which was towards the shoulder. Switched back to AWD and could steer much better. I would only use Lock for a one-time shot out of deep mud or snow. Which of course is exactly what it is for, it was fun to actually get to try it out instead of just reading about it.


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