My daughter needs a new vehicle primarily for city driving. Is All Wheel Drive necessary or just front wheel drive ok. They get some snow and ice but not much. Mid South location.

Save your money. FWD is fine for most things. I have AWD but it’s because I drive in the snow in hilly country. Snow on the flats is ok with FWD, if it’s got hills AWD is nice. My two cents. I live in MD.

i agree fwd is an outstanding choice and will provide very good traction even in adverse conditions with a bit of common sense.

AWD needs all tires to be similar in diameter, so if you have worn tires and need ONE new tire, on an AWD you will need to replace all four.

FWD is far more cost-effective, and absent weather issues (or high-performance or off-road), a better bet than AWD.

I’m in the South also. We gets lots of rain, and many times that is flood like conditions or deemed flood, straight up. AWD (with proper tires) is priceless in these situations.

This really depends on what segment you are buying. Hatchback, SUV, CUV, sedan, etc. Big fan of the Impreza for cost and AWD. It’s a solid car if you don’t need performance IE big HP.

FWD is sufficient with proper tires so it all depends on what type of car you are buying. If I can get AWD for similar price or just a little bit more I’ll take it every single time.

My new Charger is AWD and I love it. But, given your location, FWD should be fine.

I agree, FWD is plenty, unless in a more snowy area. We have an AWD CR-V, been fine. I do think their ‘AWD’ system is heavily biased to the front only.

Here in WI most on the lot were AWD, it may of been $1k more than 2WD. Yes any resale would be higher too.

With AWD usually comes a little more maintenance. There may be less freedom with tires should you be mismatched with a bad tire midstream.

If needed, most FWD negatives could be eliminated with tire choices, dedicated winter if need be. That doesn’t sound like an issue where you live.

quote:

Originally posted by Snapping Twig:
AWD needs all tires to be similar in diameter, so if you have worn tires and need ONE new tire, on an AWD you will need to replace all four.

This is why it is imperative that you religiously rotate the tires every 5,000 miles with AWD. That and an alignment every couple of years.

Jim

I grew up in the Upper Midwest, lived in AK 5 years, have driven ice roads in the arctic circle, and lived in Can-eh-duh for 2 years. In that time I have owned front wheel drive cars, rear wheel drive trucks, and four-wheel-drive trucks. I used to travel quite a bit on business so I have rented all of the above plus all wheel drive cars & SUVs in the winter.

The above is a preface to my assertion that not all AWD systems are equal. For example, the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander AWD system is poor. When I first moved to Calgary, I had a rental car for about 6 weeks and it was winter. On a day that was -20, I had to go to customs to sign for my furniture that had finally arrived from AK. The roads were icy and the Mitsubishi was steering like a front wheel drive vehicle. While going around the corner I begin to slide so I corrected for a front wheel drive vehicle and then the all wheel drive system decided to shift nearly all of the power to the rear wheels which completely fucked my steering correction. The ass end of the vehicle slid out and the aluminum wheel banged off the curb. When I stopped to inspect it I noticed that the wheel had cracked. Fortunately I was in visible sight of the Calgary airport so I returned it for a new rental car (definitely not a Mitsubishi Outlander) but I had to pay $800 for the damaged wheel. In all of my years of driving in the winter this is the only time I have ever damaged a vehicle and IMO the blame falls on the poorly engineered AWD system. If an AWD is going to shift power from front to rear when it detects a slide then it also needs to detect steering input so it doesn't make steering correction worse.

In order of preference for real winter (not the faux one we have in Texas):

4wd

well executed AWD (eg Subaru)

Front wheel drive

Rear wheel drive

Poorly executed AWD (eg 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander).

My Dad still lives in the Upper midwest and hasn't had a 4wd for 10 years and has been front wheel drive since then. He's never had AWD.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tatortodd,

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

We are located in the mountains of N.C. Have not spent a winter without a Subaru in the driveway since the 80’s.

Truly liked our Subarus over the years. As mentioned above, rotating the tires is a must for their system. One off tire replacement or new pair of tires is a no go.

A fwd vehicle should be fine for your daughter.

For occasional light and loose snow and in city driving, FWD is OK. The extra cost and maintenance issues of AWD have already been covered. Black ice or hard-packed snow suck no matter what the drive system unless - and sometimes not even then - you have dedicated snow tires..

FWD is fine. Most these days are equipped with Electronic traction control which will improve stability and control in truly marginal traction situations.

I commuted from Hartland to Whitewater for 2 years with a front wheel drive car and then Hartland to Milwaukee for another 2 years in the same car. Unless the snow was deep enough for the air dam to start plowing, I had no issues with front wheel drive on snow or ice.

I grew up driving rwd and fwd thru every snow storm we had. I have owned a 4x4 for the last 25yrs and used it maybe 3x. I think a smaller fwd suv type vehicle would be fine.

I've seen fwd cars get through some some pretty bad snow and ice and out of mud that some 4x4s struggled with. It should be enough for anyone in the city.

FWD with good tires should be fine. Nokian and Michelin make all weather tires. If you encounter more crappy weather, get a second set of wheels with snow tires.

I’m a proponent of AWD, but if only for city with no to slight snowfall, FWD is is all she would need.

I’m on my first Subaru, and it may not be my last. We will see if a single bad tire causes me to have to replace them all or not. Also, it was a pro in the snowy/icy Colorado mountains a few weeks ago, but I’m sure a FWD with good tires could have kept up with me, but in the really tough stuff.

CRVs, HRVs, RAV4s, Highlanders, etc are all great cars, and their AWD systems are different than the Subaru’s. I won’t get into that, but there is less worry about tires with the non-Subarus..

I lean towards AWD in your stated situation. Even if your daughter is skilled enough to keep it moving with FWD on slick roads in the Mis South she will be in the minority. Bad driving by others can put her into situations she might not get out of with FWD. For example, others stopped at the bottom of a hill.