Something we observed last weekend might be interesting in this discussion. We were camping at a pretty primative site, and there was a combination dirt/sand/mud access road to get there, coupled with a small stream that had created a challenge to navigation. A little tributary that had decided to take the path of least resistance across the access road, created even more mud, nothing significant from a water perspective, but, it did create what seemed like a blend of mud/quicksand. Nice.

Several vehicles crossed over that muck, my Envoy in 4WD Low, also an old Jeep, an Expedition, Yukon, and 2 full size 4x4 pickups (F150 and another I can't recall).

Ok, so what did the recovery strap on my car get used for...

I dragged a Subaru station wagon out of the muck.

My buddy dragged one of those AWD mini SUV's out with his Expedition, I think it was the Honda version stuck, but, I saw that at a distance, it never came out to the campsite, it turned back.

Now, my wife drives one of those mini-Suv's, and they are great when you're on the road, in rain, snow, etc. The thing we noticed is that both of the vehicles that got stuck in the mud had 2 problems, minimal ground clearance (built on car style body), and relatively narrow tires. The narrow tires probably help in rain/snow on pavement, but, they are the kiss of death offroad in mud. I know that my Envoy has 245/65R17 M&S tires. Even that is modest, but, got through ok. The Subaru I yanked out had basically car tires on it that just made some nice narrow tracks in the mud, until the undercarriage reached the mud.

Like I said, my wife drives one of these AWD crossover SUV's, but, she stays, (I hope) on the road. I like them for driving around most of the time. In that environment, they really are great. If you think you might bug out to places that aren't as well maintained, things like ground clearance, wider track tires, and real 4WD Low can matter.