You can, but on dry pavement if there is a difference in wheel speed, it can be very hard on the transfer case. This is "exaggerated" in turns and the tighter you turn, the more differentiation there can be front to rear. It's discussed less often, but it also allows differentiation when braking with uneven traction. 4WD "locked" can cause some funky handling when braking, especially in mixed conditions. I have had both and the most noticeable thing for me is the overall handling in snow and transition between snow and wet/dry like my drive yesterday from my cabin back home. It was literally different very few miles. Dry, wet, snow on and off the whole drive. I just kept switching, but would have preferred to be driving our Explorer with AWD. The advanced transfer case also has a better crawl ratio. That's another bonus and makes the value even a bit better.
There are lots of resources online that discuss driveline windup and the issues it can cause. On wet pavement it is not going to break things but the forces are still there. http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/axle-wind-up.html
In my research and talking to those who had the system in the Explorer it functions well in rain, snow or any reduced traction conditions. From what I can tell It is not as good as an all wheel drive system with a torsen center diff but comes quite close without the cost and weight of that system. I have lots of seat time in vehicles with torsen diffs so I am eager to compare it to that.
That's the way I explain it in a very dumbed down way that makes sense to me lolI’m no expert and I can’t say it is apples to apples but I would say the 4x4 high meant for off road and advanced 4x4 is similar to all wheel drive and designed for on road use.
No expert though
That, and the availability of the high package for the 12" screen and 360 camera, is what pushed me from the Big Bend to the Outer Banks.
