[Spydeputy]

Originally Posted by Gladius

AWD being required in the winter is a myth.
That myth sells a lot of AWD cars, though.

I have an 335xi and a RWD car. Both have All Season Tires.
My AWD far out performs the RWD hands down in bad weather conditions.
However, this only apply's to going forward, and steering,
but they all brake alike.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by Spydeputy

I have an 335xi and a RWD car. Both have All Season Tires.
My AWD far out performs the RWD hands down in bad weather conditions.
However, this only apply's to going forward, and steering,
but they all brake alike.

With same tires AWD will always be better, he was simply saying that RWD on winter tires is better then AWD on all-season. Now thats a fact.

[kdog26372]

We've had this debate in multiple threads for multiple years. People that have RWD regardless of climate think it's the best, people with Xdrive will feel they have the better choice for what they are looking for.

Test drive both, see if you notice a different feel for how you would drive most of the time. For me with all the days in Chicago with some form of rain/snow/sleet, xdrive was the better option as I've had RWD in our area and while it's adequate with snow tires, it's not great and in the rain or damp pavement acceleration is no bueno. Colorado is pretty sunny most of the year unless you live in the mountains, so perhaps RWD would be just find 90% of the time. Here it's about 33% rain/snow. Denver looks like about 20% rain/snow and rest sunny.

Lastly if you plan to tune your car the xdrive will do a much better job of putting the power to use from a stop.

[casualDIYer]

Keep in mind your car performs as well as the car directly in front of you, which usually means fwd. Not bashing fwd, which to be fair gives you more cabin space and decent acceleration on low traction surfaces when equipped with appropriate tires, just saying it's enough for most cars on the road. AWD just seems like total overkill for paved and plowed roadways. And if the car in front of you crashes and blocks the road, where are you going? I'd say go RWD and use the saved cash for other toys or a nice winter tire and rim package.

[Cavpilot2k]

If you go RWD, just have a spare tire/wheel set with winter tires and swap out. This allows you to have true performance tires in the good weather rather than all-seasons.
I've been driving a RWD 135 in the winters of New England for 5 years now with winter tires in the snow and I get around just as well as my GF in her AWD Subaru with all-seasons.

RWD + Winter tires > AWD + all-season

AWD + Winter tires is best, but most ppl with AWD don't bother, thinking all-season is good enough.