flunder

I was reading the owner's manuals of both vehicles. Under the SH/AWD sections, I have noticed some differences:

For TL, it says that the differential may require cool down, you can idle somewhere safe and start driving again once the high temperature indication goes away. This suggested that there is a passive mechanical limit monitoring with clear indication...

For TLX, the manual is very vague by saying to not continue driving in slippery condition if the SH/AWD dash indicator blinks, other wise the torque dist unit will be damaged...

Am I falsely trying to draw a non-favorable conclusion for a new and superior system?

echodigital

I have driven from Toronto to North Carolina and I had no issues with SH-AWD system overheating. Maybe on a track but not when long distance cruising.

flunder

Yeah, I guess the point I was trying to highlight is that people buy the SH/AWD for the undesirable driving situations. The old system allows operation in undesirable situations until the mechanical limit is meet. This is not ideal, but agreeable. Yet, the new system seems to suggest to avoid operation in the undesirable situation.
I hope that I am over analyzing instead of the manufacture attempts cost reduction...