Quote:
Originally Posted by spuntyb
Let's make this simpler:
RWD with summer rubber = undriveable in snow
AWD with summer rubber = barely drivable/undriveable in snow
RWD with winter rubber = driveable in snow
AWD with winter rubber = driveable in snow
The difference is staggering.
Does AWD help? Sure, but not *nearly* as much as the proper rubber and sizing of wheels and tires. And comparing different AWD systems is like comparing apples to oranges. There are so many variables that contribute to each, saying one is better in snow than the other is silly. If you like one over another, great, but that's personal preference based on how *you* drive.
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Yes, that was simpler. I've explained it in the past as:
RWD in the snow with A/S tires, at best 2 out of 10
AWD in the show with A/S tires, at best 2.5 out of 10
When cornering or braking, the advantage of AWD with A/S tires over RWD is nearly negligible in the snow. Not 100% discount-able, but nearly.
(The two winter tires I've had experience with were the Continental Xtreme Winter Contact and the Michelin X-Ice)
RWD in the snow with winter tires, 7 to 8 out of 10
(7 - Yugo, 8-BMW with (approaching) 50/50 weight distribution)
AWD in the snow with winter tires, 8 to 9 out of 10
A friend had a Mercedes C-Class, manual transmission; with the Continental Tires if she wasn't pushing snow with her spoiler she could go.
I have an older 525i, also RWD, and with the Michelin X-ice tires I could run circles around any AWD SUV (or anything else) with A/S tires.
Here's my question though (slightly off topic, but within the AWD topic); given that 98% of my driving is done at temperatures above freezing, mostly in the dry, obviously it rains on occasion. Snow that stays on the road for more than 10 minutes: maybe snow lasts for two days, every other year.
For non-snow, non-freezing conditions, 99% of the time for me, am I wrong to refuse to buy a FWD car, or any AWD car that doesn't put at least 50% of torque to the rear wheels, 99% of the time? Isn't driving a car that pushes (you in the right direction) rather than pulls, always more pleasant to drive, by a large margin?
Subaru Outback excepted, at least they have a sensible split - and for under $40K brand new it seems a better than OK car, for cheap.
Would any engineer, given a blank sheet of paper and no government (CAFE) regulations, ever design a FWD car?
I'm looking for a RWD (more or less) SUV for my wife that might sniff 30 mpg on the hwy, not too small, maybe $50K max. All the choices in the world (well, the US) seem to be as follows: BMW X3, Mercedes GLC300.
Aside: Maybe I should start a thread listing stupid reasons I've read for FWD, or FWD biased AWD. My favorite:
If you go off the road in a RWD car you are likely to slide off sideways, and hitting a tree with your passenger side door is worse than if (torque steer helps) you go straight off the road - and hit the tree head on!