XC90 got stuck on the grass.

There have been a few threads on this issue of the rear wheels not driving. I have taken my xc90 2009 geartronic for a test and play of road mainly wet grass but some bog and I was well happy with it - no problems at all. Not sure what year the car that got stuck was but the 2009 has a W button my the gear lever which allows you to pull away in a low gear automatically think it said 3rd (designed fo snow and ice). I have also in my travels seen many vehicles skidding about in the lightest of snow or wet terrain - where the car is thrashed in 1st gear rather then pulling away in 2nd/3rd. Was any of this driver error?

Interesting hypothesis, that the AWD might not engage in reverse. Can anyone confirm or disconfirm?

I have two thoughts on this: Firstly, ANY vehicle can get stuck on soft ground. I own a small piece of land that once claimed a tractor and needed another tractor to pull it out. Granted that particular piece of ground was very soft. You can't always tell if the ground is good enough to park on until its too late. I once got my bog standard front wheel drive Cavalier out of a muddy field while all around me people were getting stuck, including at least one 4x4. Many people react to loss of traction by flooring it in first or reverse, which just digs you deeper in. The trick is to put it in second, no throttle, let clutch up slowly, and if it starts to slip, clutch back down so it rolls back then clutch back up as it rolls forward again into its depression that the tyres made. The result being to rock the car free under its own momentum. It doesn't always work though, as I found when I had to phone my dad to bring a winch when that same Cavalier got stuck solid on my top field. Off road vehicles are only off roaders if they have the right tyres on. Road tyres are designed for the road, and just aren't knobbly enough for mud. 4x4s aren't as invincible as their drivers seem to think they are. Secondly, in the specific case of the XC90, I've seen lots of posts about the rear wheel drive failing, leaving only front wheel drive.

4 wheel drive not working