I own a 2007 Outlander V6 AWD and I can tell you that the power is not an issue on this vehicle if you judge by how the car behaves on the road (and I like power). Sure, the RAV4 V6 has more power and it's faster to 60 mph if this is what you are after, but in normal driving conditions, the V6 220hp engine is absolutely adequate for the car. It never left me wishing for more. I can’t speak about the I4 models and I would want a V6 for this type of vehicle myself (it was one of the “must have” for me when I was shopping for a compact SUV).
As far as the basic AWD system goes, it works very well too. I cannot compare it with other systems as I did not conduct any type of side-by-side testing in challenging conditions, but in my own experience, no winter driving conditions we've had in the GTA and surrounding areas (country side, ski resorts) for the past 4 years came even close to challenge the Outlander and I tried to make it struggle (I deliberately drove through a severe snow storm on hilly side roads north of Toronto one winter to try it out).The car pulled effortlessly from the deepest show I could find, packed snow and icy roads, etc. I run on Nokian WR G2 all-weather tires now and for the first two winters I had the OEM tires on.