Good day

I have a Compass 2017 Limited North (Not sure if its a 1st Gen or 2nd Gen Jeep) which I bought last October.

I wanted to ask how other Compass drivers make use of the 4WD Lock Button/Wheel and when they make use of it?

I live in British Columbia, Canada and we get a lot of snow up here. Road conditions during the winter are very very icey and I live out on a farm where the roads are permanently snow and ice throughout the winter. Since buying the vehicle I would obviously turn the wheel to Snow mode which automatically locks the 4x4 (please correct me if I'm wrong anywhere).

I've since read that my Jeep comes equipped with Active Drive technology and that when a tyre slips or loses traction - the computer automatically detects this and shifts more or less power to accommodate for this and provide better traction.

So with this in mind, does this mean its unnessecary for me to constantly drive my car with the lock engaged? For example - In many places in town, the roads are have melted down to tar again and 4x4 would not be needed so driving in 4X4 lock mode is actually unnecessary and probably utilizing more fuel if anything.

Am I right in saying the Auto mode can be used in such conditions? Obviously when I drive out to my farm on icier roads, I'd probably play safe and stick her back in Snow mode...

You have it right.

Yeah, there is very little to be concerned about because the term "Lock" is a marketing misnomer in this vehicle. Its not like this vehicle has any locking differentials or transfer case or anything like that. The only thing you are "locking" is forcing it to stay in all-wheel-drive mode, meaning it won't switch into front-wheel-only at any point to save fuel. You can drive around in "4x4 Lock" all day on dry pavement in the summer and you will never bother anything.

From what I can tell, if you are under about 40 MPH its going to go into all-wheel-drive no matter what. Its basically always in all-wheel-drive unless you are cruising on the highway. That makes sense because that is the only real opportunity to save any meaningful amount of fuel. The difference in fuel consumption at low speeds between FWD and AWD is nearly immeasurable.

Snow mode is obviously tuned for winter conditions and works very well. Auto will kick in and do its best to help after it detects a traction issue, being in snow mode from the start can help avoid getting to the point where Auto mode would have to intervene. You can switch back and forth any time but no need to worry about things like "OH crap I have it in snow mode and now I'm on bare tar!" you aren't hurting anything at all. But if you are going to be driving on bare tar at speed for a while switching to Auto may save you 0.09 MPG

Hi Deben, From the studying up I have done on these 4wd systems yes auto mode will work. But what that is doing is going through all the modes second by second to determine where it is getting the best grip. This is great however this may take a bit for the computer to figure out which means a better chance of losing momentum.

In snow mode a lot of things get somewhat hard set for those conditions. The power transfer gets locked into a 60/40 split which is what the Jeep engineers figured out was the best split of power front to rear for these vehicles in snow and ice. The transmission will lock into second gear take off and adjust shift points to help maintain traction. lastly the traction control we get a bit more aggressive with the brakes to apply brakes to slipping wheels. All this means in snow mode the computer has to do less hunting for the correct mode so you will stand the best chance of maintaining momentum and control.

I don't know if I can post Youtube videos yet but will post a link that explains the settings.