I confess that all 5 of my previous Kodiaqs were AWD but I only realised recently that AWD is actually a bit of a misnomer. Drive to the rear axle is only engaged when the road surface requires it - mud, very wet road surface etc. The Haldex unit controls this engagement. In normal road conditions the car is driven by the front wheels only thus saving fuel.

I accept that I may be in the minority here so I'd love to hear from others who were similarly misguided.

Not misguided here... We've had an Octavia II 4x4 and now a Kodiaq 4x4 and always knew how it worked from day one... It's a great system.

However you are slightly incorrect as with the newer versions of Haldex in the Kodiaq and other vehicles there is always some engagement of power to the rear wheels, but at a low percentage. Also the drive to the rear on the newer versions is to some degree predictive and will engage based on a variety of factors such as throttle position and steering angle etc.

That's helpful - thank you.