N. Virginia Owners - Does a D matter or is RWD ok?

[Altes]

Came out of an BMW M3 for the same reasons...i went with RWD as the car is PLENTY fast enough (Even my 60S!!) maybe if i were in snow but just didnt see the benefit

 

[jrreno]

But you are in Florida and OP is concerned about the weather in the mid atlantic. If I was in FL I wouldn't bother with the D, other than the increased performance

You are correct. I have driven my car in Upsate New York in very nasty ice and snow road conditions and would totally agree that awd would be a huge advantage. I just had to state that I love my frunk

 

[JPP]

See my sig below--I drive the 2013 S85 and my wife uses the 2015 S70D. I live in the SF Bay Area, so snow/ice not a real issue. I would personally give up a lot to have Dual Drive. I take her car when it's available. I really love the planted feel and better handling, plus better performance, more balanced tire wear, and slightly better 'mileage'.

 

[Brittt1]

I have a 2013 P85+ and live in NOVA (Tysons area), I have 19" gray turbine look a likes (tire rack) for winter with Michelin x-ice and sthe S cuts through snow like butter. In early spring I switch to my 21" staggered setup gray turbines with summer tires. I haven't had any issues and love driving in all weather. Spend some of the money and get a loaded RWD imho(like a P85+) and a spare set of wheels/tires you can't go wrong.. the + has great handling and is allot of fun.

 

[tstorm]

I'm in Nova and the only times I wished I had D is when there is sand down on the road. A couple of times when I come out of work I've had traction control kick in while trying to get into traffic and the unexpected lack of acceleration was a little unnerving! I imagine the same would happen in snow. I haven't driven in it yet - had the car for over a year.
Someone tapped my rear bumper so I'm considering a trade in where AWD is a high priority.

 

[Nick B]

I think that all the posts have very good arguments. Did you potentially think about the option of going CPO? My 2014 P85+ cost me 40% less than the original price, it was fully equipped other than AWD and autopilot. Those options are very nice to have but did not justify a 40% higher price IMO. The car had 38 000 km's when I bought it. Just food for thought...

 

[Lee_B]

I think that all the posts have very good arguments. Did you potentially think about the option of going CPO? My 2014 P85+ cost me 40% less than the original price, it was fully equipped other than AWD and autopilot. Those options are very nice to have but did not justify a 40% higher price IMO. The car had 38 000 km's when I bought it. Just food for thought...

I have ordered my last three cars and prefer having them customized to my liking. If there is a compromise I'd like to decide what's best. Appreciate all the feedback. It's been hard sticking to a price point when 85k would put me into any car I wanted and now I am hunting for options. . I'll take a look at CPO but at this point ap2 is a must have and that limits the car. I am going to probably stick with the AWD just because there were enough to consensus here. I think I'd be fine either way but coming from Audi I'd rather keep that feature