My wife n i have an understanding. When her car is paid off, its my turn to pick a vehicle, when thats paid off, her turn, ect. Well its almost my turn n im narrowing it down to a few possibilties. CR-V, Civic Si sedan, subaru impreza/WRX, and the new Accord sedan. id like to get the crv cause we like to go 4wheelin n pull a trailer.

my question about the crv is:
is the awd equal ratio? we have a 5speed, 2.0 liter 4wd escape that i love, but in 4wd the rear wheels drive slower than the front making it a bad idea for dry pavement.

i want to do they vtec conversion, is the awd mech or comp. controlled?
can i run a vtec ecu and still have awd, or is there a seprate comp. for the awd system?

what i want is a manually shifted, B20 Vtec, awd. is this possible?

on a side not, does any one offer a lift kit for the CR-V, and what years would be the best to look into?

To answer your first question, For the most part, yes. they are equal ratio. There are differentials. One for each axle. providing same power to each base. Many vehicles have different awd systems, some allow greater output to the rear when traction is needed or extreme conditions, so in this case it is not equal ratio. But for the most part yes.

its funny you say that, our escape puts less power to the rear. its kinda cool in the snow cause if i slam the gas into the high rpms in 4 wheel, i can slide around like crazy. the rear wheels drive slower than the front kinda like easing the hand brake slightly. its a blast.

but to verify, is it possible to drive a crv in 4wd all the time without binding through the drive train?

I don't think it's a good idea to drive in 4wd ALL the time. You should vary depending on the conditions.

your escape (just like the Cr-v) is FWD first transverse mounter engine so the rears are going to drive last

Cr-v s are awd all the time 4WD system on the CRV utilizes a Dual hydraulic Pump Rear Differential and 4WD Transfer case. The Dual Pump Rear Differental operates the front wheels during normal conditions then automatically transfers power to the rear wheels when needed, without the driver engaging the system. To allow the ABS braking system to work when the CRV is engaged in four-wheel drive operation the 4WD will turn off if the brakes are applied.

you can get a 5 spd crv im not sure if you can get a 5 spd 4wd though

good luck!

That does sounds like it would be fun. Im sure if your determined enough you can make it happen.