I don't think there's any question, Rob, that there's much advantage to AWD in situations other than dry pavement, especially in snowy climates like you have and we have at times.
Rear drive with snows has its limitations, whereas AWD has far higher limits.
Look what Subaru has done with all its rides. They believe that it is superior in every situation.
C.

 

I can't speak to a RWD G with snows and whether or not it'll be able to satisfy your goals there.

I will say that all cars and tires are not created equal.
I had a front wheel drive car with summer tires and it was useless in the snow. When I added snow tires to the equation, it rocked and could be "made" to charge through hard pack.

All things being equal though AWD without snows vs. RWD without snows, AWD wins.

That being said, I have seen plenty of a Touareg with 19 inch summer tires that couldn't get out of a flat driveway. I've seen the same thing with Land Rovers running the stock Michelins-
I've also seen a X5 4.4 with 19 inch summer tires drive up the hill to Alpine Meadows in a blizzard with several inches of unplowed on the ground. Hmm.

In California, driving to the mountains isn't so easy. Even when I had snow tires on that FWD car described above, they made me put on chains. They'll let you go by the checkpoint if you have AWD with Snow Tires. Funny stuff on the Left Coast, I know. .People from the bay freak out when it starts to snow hence the chain requirements And we got more snow this year than they did in Alaska so maybe it was justified.

As for me, I'm going to run my 17 inchers with snow tires for about 3-months a year. This way when that storm comes, I"m ready to go at a moments notice.

 

Lip....there is no question, any car with new tech designed winter tires will outperform all seasons by 100% in inclement wintery conditions.
My wife and I loved the G35 but stayed away from it until they came out with the AWD. She needs all the help she can get in the winter (Please don't tell her I said that ). So until the X came out we were happy with our fwd SE Maxima that wore dedicated Nokia Hakkapeletta snow tires in the winter and she felt safe driving everywhere in our area of the horizontal snow.
Then the X came out and the only other car we would get besides the G35X is the M35X.
Wayne

 

1. I made it up my driveway with around 6" of snow in my M3 with Blizzaks. The problem you have with performance cars like the M3 which are low to the ground is that it doesn't take a lot of snow to get the plowing effect, which will adversely affect your handling. They do a great job of plowing the snow in my area, so for the vast majority of times I'm more concerned about how my car handles in two to three inches of snow.
2. Here's my scenario. I live in a very hilly country area. I would much rather have a RWD car with Blizzaks than an AWD car with all season radials when going down hills. And the advantage is much more pronounced if the Blizzaks have low miles and the all seasons have lots of miles on the tires. In the last five years I've helped several AWD cars that ran off the road when going down hills near where I live.

 

I see what you are saying but I guess since you didn't answer the two questions directly, it's probably not capable of getting out the driveway at a stand still or from a parallel parking spot on the street. The plowing effect is worst on rwd because in order to plow you need traction and with two rear wheels spinning for traction, forget about plowing.

 

I gave you a situation that actually happened. I'd be speculating about the questions you asked. The traction that you get in the snow comes from the tires and not AWD. So my point is that two great snow tires are better than four mediocre all season tires with lots of miles on them. Since I put my snow tires on late in December and take them off in mid March, they generally have low miles on them and provide super traction in the snow.

Now of course the best of all worlds is an AWD vehicle with high ground clearance and four Blizzaks. That combination should get you through most anything. But in my area it's overkill since I very rarely have to drive in more than a few inches of snow. If there's a freak storm that dumps a couple of feet of snow on the roads, I simple take the day off.

 

Yes, I totally understand what you are saying. Just to put it simple. Your rwd car is parked in a parallel spot on the street with a car in front and back. It snowed 7 inches or so. Let's not even consider it's a lowered G, let's just say it's a cheverolet caprice classic with high clearance but with the gadget's of a G like the VDC, traction control, etc. What I am trying to say is that the particular rwd car with the best of snow tires will unlikely if possible at all to get your car out of a parallel spot. An awd of any sort...a subura or whatever and a tire that has barely much thread left, I believed will be able to get you out of that spot even with limited thread all season. I mean to me getting out from the spot is the most important. Once on the road ok it might slide left and right but if you drive careful enough you'll be able to get to your destination.

I am just trying to say that people compliment alot of rwd + snow and how it gets you through the winter but if it can't even get you out from a parallel spot then you can't get on the road to go anywhere. Am I not making sense? Your rwd can't be rolling constantly. It comes to a stop after you are done driving. Can you start rolling it again after a snow storm?

As for the 2 feet of snow. We've had just about that in my area I would say about 7 or 8 years ago (losing memory now) and I was driving an Eagle Talon Tsi awd manual at that time. Cars were buried in 2 feet of snow etc and of course the truck plowed some snows away but on the local streets were definitely 12 inches + snow and my Talon Tsi was all buried. Obviously I had to dig out some snow to even see my car. But guess what? The Talon was quite low on the ground too but I pulled out of the spot and wiggle it a few blocks out to the highway. It was plowing and riding on snow, yet it took me out of the neighborhood. If I had a rwd car with the best of snows in that instance I wouldn't even bother because it'll be sitting under the snow for days to come.

Don't get me wrong I have nothing against rwd and I love it but do you get my point? Rwd+snow cannot replace an awd car (maybe in a state that doesn't snow more than 3 inches).