so it just wont work on a steep incline?

That is correct! A slight incline of loose sand is Ok too, just don't try going through loose deep sand up a steep hill; it is not true 4WD.

Yes and no


Lets be honest(dont wanna ruffle any feathers here),the mariner/escape was not designed as an off-road vehicle. The 4-wheel drive system is designed more for the trip to the grocery store in a snow storm.Here again,i'm not knocking it,this is just basically its design intention,which I might add,does well in what it was designed for.

that is a fine point lenny.

I did find out that the Mariner will blast through all kinds of snow on and off road. I could not get it to spin out no matter how hard I tried and I went through snow so deep I was pushing it with my front bumper. So all in all I am pretty satisfied with the vehicles performance, comfort and design. Handling on icy surfaces is excellent also; all four wheels kick in to do what they were designed to do.

I tried the sandy incline again last week and with a little running start was able to climb the hill along with the jeeps and other vehicles that were doing it. As long as wheel slippage is detected in the front the rear wheel drive does kick in well. I am now very satisfied with my 05 Mariner - only wish it was a Hybrid; what with gas prices the way they are.