How does saturn vue awd work

But then again my wife drives like Dale freakin Junior so we shall see how long these last. GearGuy's Photos. Previous 3. So, yes, they're all really 2WD vehicles, like a regular car is really a 1WD except those with limited slip differentials.

Even so, open diffs do drive both wheels to some extent, except when the driven wheel slips. The difference is, an AWD or 4WD can drive both axles at once, even if only one wheel on each axle is powered. It can be either wheel on the axle, so you could have the RF and LR wheels driving, for example. This may not sound like much, but it's a world of difference in slippery conditions. Advanced AWD systems like the full Versatrak found on some other GM models can throw power to all or any of the wheels depending on traction requirements.

Even the simplified VUE version will get you up a steep snow-covered driveway or move you off from a stop on a slippery road, and I've enjoyed having mine. Before, it 'came in' with little front wheel slippage. Now, it waits for some serious spinning, then slams in with a 'clunk' and jerk forward. If you modulate the gas pedal to slow down the front end when it slips, the engagement is much gentler, although a certain wheel RPM is needed to make the rear module function.

If I ever have to get into mine, I just might get the early spring and put it back like it's supposed to be. The reason they changed was failures from abuse, like spinning the wheels on dry pavement. In normal use, the average VUE won't even use the RDM except once in a great while, and it would last the life of the vehicle. Mine and many others had to be changed out because improper storage before vehicle assembly allowed moisture into the unit, which eventually ruined some bearings.

I never had any trouble with the drive function. It started 'rubbing' on tight turns as the differential worked. I got a ticket from spinning one of my front wheels while making a right turn and it wasn't intentional. My front wheel just spun while the darn rears and other front wheel just sat there. I gave it more gas thinking it would hook up and it made it even worse from the police officer's perspective. Hated it so bad I hunted down an early RDM and put it in. I have a real AWD to compare it to.

No comparision. Thanks for all the great comments. The first was a full size Cherokee. It had part time 4X4 with locking hubs. When in 4X4 it would skip going around corners on dry pavement.

The second was a full size Grand Wagoneer. It had 2 wheel drive, 4 high ad 4 low. In 4 high, the center differential was viscous coupled. In 4 low it was locked. I know because it was viscous coupled because I broke it and had to replace it. I took the old one apart to see how it worked.

Wagoneer worked very well in the snow. The third SUV is our current Escape. It has some type of fulltime rotary blade transfer case that you can lock. It also works very well in the snow. These other cars have been seamless because they were applying power all the time.

The Cherokee applied equal to front and back, the Wagoneer biased to the read and the Escape biased to the front. In 4High mode, it has a torque-sensing limited slip-center differential and it can be locked in 4High-Lock. It has a 4Low Lock mode also. When I had the Jeeps I use to put them in 4 low when the conditions got really bad. This was mostly so I would not over drive the conditions and do something stupid. They would only go about 30 mph in 4 low and when you took your foot off the gas they almost came to a stop with no brakes.

Yoshino, arms folded, eyes impassive, remained mute for a moment, then said, "Yes, and we are talking to Ford, too. Express ticket to page one, please.

Who knows what became of the Ford talks? Hold it! Well, more of a growling value. The Vue is no Honda, although it now sounds and accelerates like one. Compared with the weak jabs of last year's British-built hp, 3. The new Vue's 7. Flat-foot the pedal, and the Vue squats on its buns and lunges like a stink bug in heat. On the freeway it zooms by tractor-trailers as if they were rolling on square wheels.

The old cockpit resembled the inside of a brown paper bag. Now chrome accents ring the white-face gauges, and titanium-colored plastic blankets the center console and new three-spoke, two-tone steering wheel. The purposeful inch spoked alloy wheels, standard on V-6 AWD models, resemble Audi parts-bin rims. In sand both wheels will lock up in that situation but when turning the wheel spinning the fastest will spin free.

It works exactly opposite the way a normal differential works except it does have the ability to lock both wheels up in certain situations. The only drawback I noticed was that when you were making sharp slow turns the engine had to work harder. I live in the desert and the shoulder of the road in some places have deep sand. I wonder how the AWD Vue would handle that with all four wheels in the sand with its system.

Not very well in the sand I bet. I'm trying to confirm it but it suppose to have to back. No locker on back like there was in my Outback. Not finding much on the details of the AWD. I'm guessing just different housing mount but that usually means more and different parts inside the AWD system. Butkus, May 2,