dumb question - is my 2013 GTS in AWD all the time, like an Audi?

 

Its Not, its mainly RWD until the ECU detects slippage. Of course you manually change it.

 

AWD all-the-time = 4WD

 

I live in Colorado so in heavy snow what is the best setting to keep it in?

 

The couple of times that I have engaged the 4WD settings it seems to bog the whole vehicle down as if it does not want to allow it to go over a certain speed limit. Not anything like the AWD on my Audi which is awesome. Does anybody use AWD or 4WD regularly, like during rain storms, etc?

 

I usually just use AWD and let the car take care of itself. Of course if I am stuck in the snow then I will use 4WD.

 

Your car is all time all wheel drive. It primary operates as a rear wheel drive like the sports cars, in the instance you need it It will automatically engage up to 50/50 front and rear... On its own.

 

since we are talking AWD, anyone know why the Hybrid and Diesel are "Permanent AWD with 60% rear 40% front" vs the base V6, S, GTS and Turbo are "Active AWD" ?

Is active AWD better?

 

Does sport mode activate AWD?

 

No. It affects the torque split, but the vehicle also takes other factors into account. From a book we have, "The distribution of drive torque across the front and rear axles depends on a number of factors such as speed, acceleration, the selection of Normal or Sport as well as the selected PSM mode, etc. In order to achieve good traction when driving off or accelerating, the front axle torques tend to be higher in these situations than when the vehicle travels constantly in a straight line."

 

Thanks, that clears it up in my mind

 

If it was 4WD (not AWD), when you made a sharp turn, the outer front wheel goes further than the inner wheel and they would skip and the car would not be smooth in a sharp turn. This obviously doesn't happen in AWD but in 4WD I experienced that in my GMC Yukon and it was extremely noticeable.