This is kind of a weird question. I’m looking at a used 2005 Honda CR-V with AWD where the slip of the front wheels causes the rear wheels to kick in (electronically). I’m not a fan of AWD. Is it possible to permanently disable the rear wheel drive on this car and make it FWD only ??? or will the car’s computer go ‘nuts’ on me ???
Why are you not a fan of AWD? if you disable the rear wheel drive (which I am sure is possible) you will still be dragging all the weight around so the fuel economy will stay pretty much the same.
I once hi-centered a 4wd vehicle in a snow bank in Colorado. Digging out two axles is no fun.
I did the same with a front wheel drive Dodge Caravan. The Caravan was a lot easier to dig out.
Likewise…don’t mess with the design intent. Look for a FWD version if you are adverse to AWD. THE CRV is one of the most simple and reliable mech. going. With constant power to the rear diff with a clutch pack that activates as needed, it’s bullet proof, though it has performance limitations in real slippery conditions compared to others.
Forget that it has AWD and drive as you always would with FWD. You won’t be fooling yourself by driving into 4x4 conditions that you wouldn’t drive into with a 2 wheel drive vehicle. My wife’s awd hybrid Escape has never let her down because she never pretends to be invinsible with awd. She say’s “I’m afraid to drive in that stuff” and I replied that it is a frame of mind that will keep her out of the trouble that us alfa males get ourselves into and she’ll have the awd to her advantage if needed.
Toyota and Subaru are currently developing a joint venture rear wheel drive sports coupe based on a Subaru platform. Insiders said that to test the drivetrain they removed the drive shafts going to the front wheels. I guess this concept could be done to the rear wheels of the CR-v? but I wouldn’t recommend it, like mconn said, some group of Japanese engineers spent a lot of time developing a wonderful suv (my mother has one, I think it is great in the snow) so why mess with something that works?
I am not sure what the 4x4 is that you got stuck in the snow but might weight have been an issue? I had the opportunity to dig the cr-v out of a 4ft snowbank at the end of a big hill and I didnt think it was any worse than any of the cars I have dug out.
I have to say this is about silliest reason I’ve heard to avoid an AWD setup. If you don’t want AWD, stop looking at vehicles with AWD, but just because you got stuck once and it was hard to dig out really has nothing to do with the AWD.
Your logic is not sound unless you got both vehicles stuck in the same conditions on the same day in exact same depth.
The truth is a CRV is simply a FWD vehicle that kicks the rear wheels when it senses the need for it.
Sell it and buy FWD.