AWD v. 4WD for ice and snow

General Discussion
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Everyone’s situation is unique, but in your case the issue seems to be the hill. I live in a snowy area surrounded by hills and my own road is pretty steep. 1st thing is the winter tires. Getting up the hill is part of the problem, but getting down can be very tricky too. Winter tires will greatly improve your traction when you need to brake and turn. 4WD and AWD systems are more about going up hill. To go downhill safely you need brakes with ABS and the best traction you can get - and that means winter tires. I especially like Michelin X-Ice tires. They are quiet on dry road seem to have low rolling resistance so your mpg will be unaffected or better than the OEM tires and if you drive about 10K miles a year you might just leave them on for the summer too. If you elect to change back to summer tires in warm weather spend more money and put the winter tires on a set of their wheels and the change back and forth to summer and winter tires isn’t that expensive.

AWD and 4WD systems are not all equal. There are many different mechanical setups that are used by different manufacturers. Most of these systems all work fine in snow. But the OEM tires that come on new vehicles with AWD and 4WD vary widely and many are actually poor performing tires in snow and ice. So, if you buy a new car with AWD for instance don’t assume the tires it came stock with will do the job on your hill. They might work fine and they might not. The 1st good winter storm will give you your answer.

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Jeeps automatically bring the thought of invincibility during winter travel. Except for the Wrangler, which is strictly off road, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is most expensive, the rest of the line offers nothing more then you can get elsewhere with better reliability.

I agree with @MarM that winter tires in the south is not the best choice when mild temps will make them unsuitable for the vast majority of the time. Stay with AT tires that are rated good in snow and throw a set of cables in the trunk for that very rare ice occurrence regardless of what kind of vehicle you get. The reason you may consider Awd first over 4wd if you decide to go that route, is 4 wd should be engaged regularly to maintain it and driven a substantial distance. In days of manual hubs, that was no problem. But if you travel tarred roads all of the time, it becomes problematic. Remember one thing; even though you don’t like Granola, a basic Subaru Impreza is the cheapest, most reliable and most economical Awd you can buy.

You do not live in an area as bad as mine. We do fine with Awd, 4wd, the right tires and access to SAND When needed which is very important ! No one uses a winch even though we have more trees then we need.