My XJ is set up about as poorly as one could expect for snow. Spool in the rear, AW4, autolocker in the front and 31x10.50 unsiped big lug tires.
It snowed and iced here yesterday. I drove 30 miles on the beltway (6-8 lane loop around DC) and then 20 miles down I-95. Scary as heck in 2wd. Rear spun easily, wanted find the low side of the road. Touch the brakes and one front would lock up then (BANG) the auto locker would kick in and lock up the front solid while the rear (with engine pushing) didnt come close to locking. Now the nose wanted to slide off the road (low side) while the rear pushed it off the road. It took so much brake to overcome driveline push against the rear that the front locked up before ther rears even began to add any braking force. As soon as one front lost traction the autolocker would kick in and make sure the other tire started to slide as well. I was the of the slowest cars on the road. The only good part about being super slow was that several folks that passed me (all 4wd SUV's) flipped or crashed miles ahead.
Changed to 4WD. WOW. With even driveline forces on the front and rear the front stopped locking up early and the XJ steered, braked and turned beautifully.
Hmm, time to experiment...
Kick it into nuetral while in 4wd and the braking got even better. Now I could feel the grip on the ice and sense the limit of traction under braking really well without having to fight the engine.
Back to 2WD...Kick it into nuetral while braking and everything works really well. Even braking forces, good pedal feel for the limit of traction and no more banging and sliding of the front end (unless I got on the brakes stupid heavy). The rear still wanted to find the low side of the road when you spun it and (no big surprise here) steering sucked compared to 4wd but it wasnt frightening to drive in 2wd on ice anymore.
Wife wanted to go for a "joy ride" last night when I got home. We cruised all around going in and out of 4wd, drive (go & turn) and neutral (brake) as needed having a ball looking at Lexus (Lexii?), Porsche Cayanne and Honda AWD SUV's in ditches and on their sides. I didnt see a single crashed Subaru so either they are great vehicles or have smarter drivers.
Bottom line. Spool, Auto locker, unsiped tires will go, turn and stop just fine if you are careful. Yes, it could be better but it sure works well. I was going to take out he spool for winter but now I will be leaving it in.
John