Quote:
Originally Posted by menncars
I've never been convinced that AWD was a feature any city car would ever need. The car companies made RWD forever then it was FWD, the technology meant to supplant everything else but was really designed to save on cost. Then we got SUV mania followed by the AWD craze. So, I get this BS 'dog and pony' show about how advanced AWD is at the showroom while BMW's most advanced electrics are all .... RWD. So what's the story? The auto industry is trying to get you to part with your hard earned money by feeding you all kinds of outlandish nonsense. But why wouldn't they? It's the 20-teens -- era of the luxury pickup truck.
In my opinion the diff based AWD systems are superior in terms of their reliability and ability to slam a majority of power into a single wheel. Electronic systems meant as a cheap way to avoid putting in expensive diffs, seem great on fuel economy but are much more prone to problems, or so it seeems. XDrive seems better at its axle based approach than some competitors but it's still no replacement for a diff.
As for the Germans on AWD, which Germans? The Cayanne would likely kick the ass of most AWD competitors. Then again, most anything going up against Porche often gets an ass kicking.
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City car?
This is my ski car, road trip car, and canyon cruising car. I regualary take it 700 miles round trip to Utah. I just got back from Aspen. I'm heading to Banff with it in Sept for a camping trip. It is incredible at all of these tasks as long as the damn thing can stay reliable.