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This afternoon our area in southern Ontario got hit with 6-8” of snow. So i got to test out the AWD system for my hour long (in good weather) commute home. The storm was fairly sudden, with lots of drifts. Multiple stuck vehicles passed on the way home. Maverick was incredible. I just have middle of the road goodyear winters. Never was close to getting stuck. Drifted every open corner with confidence. If you get your settings right, the AWD system is predictable, reliable, maintains traction and steerability impressively. Thats the coles notes… here’s some more in depth notes for whoever cares:
1. Drive modes: If you’re comfortable driving in these conditions, Sport mode W/O traction control gives you the most control. It ensures quicker access to the power when you need it and the downshift braking assist with stopping in the snow too. Its not perfect. I wish it would let you cruise in 8th gear… so on long straights i’d swap back to normal or slippery mode. If you’re trying to dart around a snowy town though, sport mode will be great.
If you arent super comfortable in snow, slippery or normal mode is fine. It just cuts power and understeers more than id like. It reacts more similarly to a FWD vehicle with good traction. Or a front weighted AWD vehicle like most SUVs.
2. Transmission: These are the only times I wish there was a manual mode. I recognize the cost and design complications this provides for a dial shifter vehicle. But I would love some paddle shifters for the 0.01% of my drives that involve heavy snow lol cuz heres a couple things that happen. On one side of things sport mode keeps you out of cruising gears mostly… so theres a kinda incessant whine between 40-60mph and the truck often cant figure out which gear it wants to be in. On the other side of things, even in sport mode ocassionally when youre feathering out a drift itll shift unexpectedly… which can be kinda jarring. It shifts very quickly so its not like it throws you into a fishtail or anything… but its enough that you’ll notice it when it happens and its discomforting.
in the end what i’m saying is it handles the snow like a champ. This drive was pretty extreme and i was avoiding travelled routes so i wouldn’t have to worry about other drives and avoiding accidents etc, so my route was even more snowy than it would have been. I never feared getting stuck. The truck always felt in control. My only gripe is how and when it puts the power down because of the above issue i mentioned. Its a manual shift selection mode away from being on par with any subaru you can find out there. Though in the mav’s defence… most subarus are now gutless CVTs that probably have similar power transmission ratio Selection issues as the maverick. But when comparing to the subarus of our hearts and memories, the ones that give you feel, control, and the ability to shift with this fancy thing us old people call a stick shifter… the lack of gear selection is my only small gripe with my Maverick’s snow performance.
1. Drive modes: If you’re comfortable driving in these conditions, Sport mode W/O traction control gives you the most control. It ensures quicker access to the power when you need it and the downshift braking assist with stopping in the snow too. Its not perfect. I wish it would let you cruise in 8th gear… so on long straights i’d swap back to normal or slippery mode. If you’re trying to dart around a snowy town though, sport mode will be great.
If you arent super comfortable in snow, slippery or normal mode is fine. It just cuts power and understeers more than id like. It reacts more similarly to a FWD vehicle with good traction. Or a front weighted AWD vehicle like most SUVs.
2. Transmission: These are the only times I wish there was a manual mode. I recognize the cost and design complications this provides for a dial shifter vehicle. But I would love some paddle shifters for the 0.01% of my drives that involve heavy snow lol cuz heres a couple things that happen. On one side of things sport mode keeps you out of cruising gears mostly… so theres a kinda incessant whine between 40-60mph and the truck often cant figure out which gear it wants to be in. On the other side of things, even in sport mode ocassionally when youre feathering out a drift itll shift unexpectedly… which can be kinda jarring. It shifts very quickly so its not like it throws you into a fishtail or anything… but its enough that you’ll notice it when it happens and its discomforting.
in the end what i’m saying is it handles the snow like a champ. This drive was pretty extreme and i was avoiding travelled routes so i wouldn’t have to worry about other drives and avoiding accidents etc, so my route was even more snowy than it would have been. I never feared getting stuck. The truck always felt in control. My only gripe is how and when it puts the power down because of the above issue i mentioned. Its a manual shift selection mode away from being on par with any subaru you can find out there. Though in the mav’s defence… most subarus are now gutless CVTs that probably have similar power transmission ratio Selection issues as the maverick. But when comparing to the subarus of our hearts and memories, the ones that give you feel, control, and the ability to shift with this fancy thing us old people call a stick shifter… the lack of gear selection is my only small gripe with my Maverick’s snow performance.
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