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True for low performance cars. High performance cars benefit from AWD on dry pavement.
I stand by my statement. For the normal vehicle user who does normal daily driving with their vehicle, there is only a marginal benefit at best to AWD in ideal weather conditions.
It certainly is not enough of a benefit that should compel someone to invest in AWD "just in case." You have to get to some performance cars with pretty high limits, and drive them at those limites to start to see an advantage to AWD in those conditions.
In terms of getting AWD to help with weather, and as someone who lives in the snowy northeast, and has driven FWD, RWD and AWD vehicles, and sees 100+ inches of snow and ice for the better part of 5 months per year, the advantage of AWD is mostly marginal 99% of the time anyway outside of the worst conditions.
I'm in California where we get virtually no rain nor snow. The only other push for AWD (all wheel drive) would be if you drive up mountains and/or unpaved roads, which I've never done, nor plan to do. As such, I'm told that many in CA can get away with just FWD (front wheel drive) to save some money.
However, I'm also told AWD still helps with general control and handling. I'm willing to take a slight hit to my fuel economy, and there's always a chance I'll move back to a region where I will need to deal with rain and snow again.
Your thoughts?
For the last 11+ years, I've only owned AWD vehicles and this is the main reason.
There is no such thing as too much control and handling.
We have two Subarus in San Diego, and there are two 2017 Outbacks across the street with another four AWD vehicles on the block.
Of course you don’t need it but sometime you just like a brand or vehicle and the way it handles. We do regularly go to Tahoe and other mountains here though. It snows tons in parts of California.
I stand by my statement. For the normal vehicle user who does normal daily driving with their vehicle, there is only a marginal benefit at best to AWD in ideal weather conditions.
It certainly is not enough of a benefit that should compel someone to invest in AWD "just in case." You have to get to some performance cars with pretty high limits, and drive them at those limites to start to see an advantage to AWD in those conditions.
In terms of getting AWD to help with weather, and as someone who lives in the snowy northeast, and has driven FWD, RWD and AWD vehicles, and sees 100+ inches of snow and ice for the better part of 5 months per year, the advantage of AWD is mostly marginal 99% of the time anyway outside of the worst conditions.
You don't have to drive a high performance car at its limits to benefit from AWD. My previous car, with 556hp and RWD, had to be driven with respect. Even with wide, sticky tires, a little too much throttle resulted in wheel spin. My current car, with 600hp and AWD, is much less nerve racking to drive. Even my pickup, with only 355hp, is much more stable on dry pavement in AWD instead of 2WD.
I agree that most cars and most drivers will not benefit much from AWD in ideal weather conditions. I'm a huge advocate of AWD, but if I drove an econobox in a dry climate, I'd be OK with FWD.
AWD is nice if you are driving in the mountains in the winter, or through muddy pastures after a heavy rain. It's also good for pulling a heavy boat up a steep boat ramp. Mostly it's a waste of money.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmd69
I had a Audi Quattro in San Diego.
A lot of vehicles come with AWD standard...not everyone needs it or even can tell if it's helping them.
Most BMW X models come with their intelligent AWD, called X-drive. I'm sure there are plenty of them driving around California, but are really not needed.
AWD is nice if you are driving in the mountains in the winter, or through muddy pastures after a heavy rain. It's also good for pulling a heavy boat up a steep boat ramp. Mostly it's a waste of money.
But I live at elevation and own a boat.
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Last edited by volosong; 08-31-2018 at 09:55 AM..
Reason: off topic
I stand by Checkered24's statement. We argue about this all the time on another forum I hang out on.
You don't need AWD when it rains either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by YourWakeUpCall
You don't have to drive a high performance car at its limits to benefit from AWD. My previous car, with 556hp and RWD, had to be driven with respect. Even with wide, sticky tires, a little too much throttle resulted in wheel spin. My current car, with 600hp and AWD, is much less nerve racking to drive.
WTF are you driving?
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