> Do you dispute that doubling the number of tires moving the vehicle forward will drastically reduce the ease with which the vehicle breaks traction crossing o

> Do you dispute that doubling the number of tires moving the vehicle forward will drastically reduce the ease with which the vehicle breaks traction crossing over the slush? Grip and traction are two words for the same thing, the only thing that determines grip are the tires plus the weight (and distribution thereof) they are carrying. So, yes, having AWD does nothing to help grip - that's a mechanical force between your tires and the road. AWD helps utilize grip, by distributing torque to all four wheels. It helps acceleration by avoiding wheelspin where two driven wheels don't have the grip, but nothing else. Edit: Clearance is more important when trying to cross over piles of shit on the road anyway. It doesn’t matter how many wheels are driven on your car if you bottom out.