RWD vs AWD - pros and cons?

[Jonnymack74]

I've insisted on AWD ever since i got my AWD Audi TT in 2008, Since then I've had an AWD A5 and now my Model S
AWD gives you more traction, better starts, and for me, feel more safe in harsh weather, especially snow and ice.

RWD can be a bit more fun if you are that type of driver, if you are you know what i mean. Overall it's AWD always for me.

 

[Stan930]

Even with snow tires and AWD, I’d still carry a set of these for severe icing.

AutoSock. The Original Winter Traction Device since 1998.

AutoSock is the highest certified snow sock and the legal alternative to tire chains. Our tire sock is the market leading textile traction device for vehicles.

autosock.com

 

[quickstrike12]

I have the RWD 75. Next car I would like to have the AWD I think. That being said...I have loved my RWD and have gotten 45K out of the first set of tires. I rotate them myself roughly every 5 to 7 thousand depending on the look of them or when I get time. Interestingly is the front tires in my experience is what decides when to rotate Not the back. The fronts will start to wear from cornering and begin to round the edges slightly. that’s a lot of weight on nose of car when your an aggressive driver like I am(I’m impatient LOL). i don’t so much launch from lite to lite aggressively usually so maybe that’s why my rear tires don’t wear as much.
Handling in rain and some light snow or ice hasn’t been bad at all. The weight helps tremendously. Not as good as AWD probably but sufficient for Texas ha ha

 

[ayavner]

I've insisted on AWD ever since i got my AWD Audi TT in 2008, Since then I've had an AWD A5 and now my Model S
AWD gives you more traction, better starts, and for me, feel more safe in harsh weather, especially snow and ice.

RWD can be a bit more fun if you are that type of driver, if you are you know what i mean. Overall it's AWD always for me.

I am that type of driver... or at least i used to be.

I have the RWD 75. Next car I would like to have the AWD I think. That being said...I have loved my RWD and have gotten 45K out of the first set of tires. I rotate them myself roughly every 5 to 7 thousand depending on the look of them or when I get time. Interestingly is the front tires in my experience is what decides when to rotate Not the back. The fronts will start to wear from cornering and begin to round the edges slightly. that’s a lot of weight on nose of car when your an aggressive driver like I am(I’m impatient LOL). i don’t so much launch from lite to lite aggressively usually so maybe that’s why my rear tires don’t wear as much.
Handling in rain and some light snow or ice hasn’t been bad at all. The weight helps tremendously. Not as good as AWD probably but sufficient for Texas ha ha

Good to know! I see you are in Ft Worth - did you attempt to drive it during that winter storm back in February? Did you have a few days of no power like we did up in Sherman? Guess that's something I hadn't considered, though its a rare corner case for sure... would be a bit ironic to have to run a honda generator out there for 2 days to charge my EV . Reach out if you pass through this way!

 

[quickstrike12]

@ayavner i did do some driving in the “the storm” wasn’t too bad generally I took things very very slowly. Would have preferred AWD for those days for sure. But my RWD was ok for my trips as long as I was careful. As you know it’s only a handful of days for us Texans usually.
I was a lucky on that didn’t lose power, but I could have driven slowly up to the movie theater or Walgreens or anything else near my house and plugged in for awhile if things got dicey. Or even the supercharger downtown if needed. I wasn’t really worried.
Actually had things gotten bad for heat in the house like so many others i would have loaded up the family and went somewhere to plug in and stayed in car and played games and watched Netflix.......not perfect solution but I know People that had no heat at all for days.....

 

[maximizese]

Even with snow tires and AWD, I’d still carry a set of these for severe icing.

AutoSock. The Original Winter Traction Device since 1998.

AutoSock is the highest certified snow sock and the legal alternative to tire chains. Our tire sock is the market leading textile traction device for vehicles.

autosock.com

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I'm sure you don't use those much in Tallahassee, but they're so lightweight that you can carry them in the trunk during Winter/Spring roadtrips. I had a set of Autosocks for my old VW TDI. They're easy to installed and do surprisingly well in the snow. I'm told that only that they get shredded up once you start driving back onto pavement, so take them off as soon as you can.