It's not traction you need to be worrying about when you are fording a deep puddle, it's sucking water into your motor you need to avoid! Going fast through deep water pushes a large swell of water up into the front of your vehicle, and if it's deep enough, or you are going fast enough the water could get into your air intake. Once this happens you are almost certain to destroy your engine as water CANNOT be compressed and once in there will damage your pistons, connecting rods, valves, etc.
Seriously, you could total your motor this way, so please take it slow through the puddles tyo avoid sucking it in. It would be a good idea to go out and see where your intake is so you know how far you can go...
Just my 2 cents, trying to save you some pain!
Trentski
98 Subaru Forester