How necessary is 4WD in Southern California? (2011, SUVs, AWD)
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As someone who lives in Maine, where we see plenty of inclement weather, 4x4 is a "nice to have," but I have never considered it a necessity. Now, if you're doing some serious mountain-climbing in snow, it might be more handy, and is certainly preferable in that situation to a rear wheel drive vehicle, but front wheel drive has served me fine in all the winters I've driven in.
I've never not made it up snow-covered hills here; I just get a run for it.
I think that for snow conditions, 4WD is mostly unnecessary. Heck, the cops in snow country all pretty much drive 2WD vehicles, and they HAVE to be able to get around.
However... The biggest reason to have 4WD in SoCal is the desert. We go to the desert quite a bit with our off road motorcycles.
Versus the mountains, the majority of desert aficionados go far off road, and it would be foolish to travel into most areas we go, without 4WD. Our choice of vehicle for desert use (and hauling furniture around town, etc...) is a Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4X4 turbodiesel, crew cab. An extremely versatile truck.
4WD is not necessary in Buffalo where we get 100 inches of snow a year. It certainly is not necessary in Southern California just for an occasional ski trip.
Now I will say, I like AWD for bad weather. (Well, some AWD, depending on the design). Compared to FWD or RWD in slick conditions, the AWD is a little easier to get the car around at times and since we have about 4 months of winter conditions, I do like to have it.
Yet, it is nothing more than a convenience. It is not necessary. I certainly would not pay the cost to buy, maintain, or repair AWD (not to mention fuel mileage penalty) for it in Southern Cal for a ski trip.
If money isn't an issue, get a 4wd. All the extra maintenance blah blah blah talk is overhyped. I've got a 4wd tacoma with 230k and haven't spent a dime extra on 4wd maintenance. No sense in worrying about certain driving conditions when you could have gotten a 4wd to begin with.
With that being said, I've been in So Cal now for 6 months without my 4wd. (2wd v8 4runner). I've been on one ski trip deep in the Sierra with decent snow cover on the road. It really ticked me off when I had to pull over for chains and the 4wds raced ahead to the slopes. But the 2wd w/ chains did eventually get me there.
Don't hardly need it all, but when we are up in Tahoe in the winter, camping on some rough dirt roads by Yosemite or even crossing the Tejon pass sometimes it sure comes in handy. Says the guy who owns two Subarus in San Diego.
I take occasional winter trip to snowboard in the mountains (maybe 3-4 times a winter) and in some years may make a trip from LA to Mammoth, Tahoe or Utah. Do you think the added acquisition and maintenance cost of 4WD is worth it? Is FWD good enough even for snowy conditions? I currently have a RWD pickup and it doesn't do well in low traction conditions for a couple of reasons - RWD + no weight on the rear wheels.
So many people think they need 4WD then they don't. For 3-4 uses/year 2WD will do you just fine.
I've driven FWD for years in Maine (where we actually get snow). Never had a problem with it. It's the most efficient and lightest driveline you can get (though I would prefer RWD for other reasons).
RWD pickups are the worst thing to base your opinion of 2WD on. They're terrible. I've driven them in snow and it's technically doable but I would never do it if I didn't have to. Doesn't help that a lot of 2WD pickups have an open diff and you really only get 1WD out of it. If you're buying another truck get 4WD but for a car you could go either way.
This is just my thought on them and I know a lot of people don't share it. If you don't get an SUV (small, medium, large - whatever) with AWD/4WD it just seems like a waste of the design. If you're sticking to 2WD you might as well get a regular car.
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