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Some cars aren't even available without it, so if you want a certain make or model, that's what you get. Also there's a lot of snow within a short distance of very warm areas in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, etc. Anyone who lives in western mountain states know what it's like to drive in the rain which suddenly changes to snow.
Even here in sunny Arizona, a half an hour drive from one location like Sedona to Flagstaff, can be, and often is, treacherous. Plus on some roads you don't have to chain up, which is nice. Speaking from experience, roads in the mountains out here are *not* entirely clear, not even close. They may be well after it snows, but when it's snowing, roads can be awful. And it snows often.
Also it tends to be easier to sell a 4Runner than a 2Runner, and you get some of the price of the 4WD back on resale in addition to making the car easier to sell, especially if its a utility vehicle.
A buddy owned an Audi A4 AWD. He would change lanes on dry pavement at 35 MPH and say "Oh man, that AWD really makes that maneuver so much better". I would laugh, as is the correct response to that completely ridiculous statement and the mindset of "well, I want to learn to be comfortable with AWD for when I eventually move to the mouuntains (maybe in 30 years)" behind it.
I have to chuckle at those who make such a big issue of AWD helping them pull away from stop lights without flying off of the road. Try learning to drive, as billions of other people do, while pulling away from a stop in their RWD or FWD cars. We somehow manage not to do a burnout at every launch. Some people are so extreme about things.
Is it possible the car isn't available any other way? I don't know for sure but maybe that is why. I mean, cars have cigarette lighters in them - you can't buy it without a cigarette lighter.
It's one of those things that you might not need often, but when you need it, you really need it.
Here in WPa, we might get two snowfalls a year greater than 6". When I owned RWD cars I would regularly get them stuck in the driveway (400' with both down and up grades). Now that I have a 4x4 pickup, I don't even bother to plow the drive.
yeah because of their world class DIESEL ENGINE not drivetrain, durppppppp
Um actually I was comparing gas motors. The diesels are coming in force this year though.
I attended an Audi track day and the engineers are very "pro-AWD"
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