I'm late in joining this thread, but I would just add that a characteristic of AWD, as opposed to 4WD, is that it allows the front and back sets of wheels to spin at independent speeds -- something that is necessary when you make turns. Last summer I noticed that, when doing a trail with very tight switch backs, if I had the center diff locked, the truck resisted making the turns. The problem became very appearant to me when I tried the same thing in the street in front of my house, where traction is pretty absolute. Turning in AWD was no problem, but very much so in 4WD because nothing wanted to give (therefore I don't recommend doing this).

So on trails where traction is pretty good -- especially places like Moab -- AWD can be a great asset.

<small>[ April 11, 2003, 11:31 AM: Message edited by: Aurora Sandman ]</small>