My subi has more power and AWD, And it can roast all four tires in the first 2 gear if I'm not careful, same could be said about the G in a corner. but you can't drive them the same way. yes, the AWD will be faster, depending on the system, Because you can get on the gas sooner through a corner and can hook up off the line better, but a good, RWD and driver should be able to beat a novice AWD at the track, it's not always the car, mostly the driver. That being said, I would like to see the results with different tires, I think that the stockers break away a little too easy, but it's fun for drifting!

 

I couldnt agree more, but thats not what I was comparing. In professional autoracing, most drivers are pretty much on par with each other and it does come down to the car. Again, I was comparing the fact that I can handle better in my A4(with quattro) than I can in my M3(which has a lot more power) and its the same driver in both cars.

 

Why would the 07 be any different? Engine and chassis upgrades have been applied to both models for 07. If anything AWD will help you harness the increase in horsepower even better

 

I find it interesting that when someone askes about AWD vs. RWD, it always turns into a comparison of tires. Are you implying that a RWD w/ snows is better than an AWD w/ snows? Or are you saying that snows are better than all season?

All things being equal (including tires), do you have an opinion as to which provides better traction - AWD or RWD? What about speed (lap time)?

 

I'm not implying RWD w/snows is better than AWD w/snows. In an apples to apples comparison, AWD tends to have more traction. I am saying that snows are better than all seasons (on snow and ice and in cold weather).

However, reality doesn't consist of apples to apples. Most people with AWD don't bother with separate summers and separate winters. Those that do will absolutely get better winter traction. But for the vast majority of AWD owners, they stick with all seasons. In that case RWD w/snows is at least as good traction wise.

Tirerack recently did an apples to apples comparison of rwd and awd and yes awd managed to beat out rwd in acceleration tests. Well, at least it was apples and apples in terms of tires . They used a 4wd porsche cayenne vs a rwd BMW 325i.

 

That's exactly what the point of the quoted mag article was. Same driver, same day, same track...AWD was faster.


As far as traction goes in the snow, AWD is better than RWD with the same tires.

Snow tires make a HUGE difference in BRAKING, a fairly large component of driving.

 

Lap times aren't all about who wins the drag race down the straight. Just because I can roast a Lotus by buslengths in a straight line doesn't mean I'm faster around a track.....

The ability to put down power so much earlier than most RWD cars out of a corner gives an AWD car a tremendous advantage point-to-point.

 

I am still perplexed about the claim that a RWD car with snows has a traction advantage over an AWD with all seasons. This has not been my experience. I had snow tires on my old mustang lx 5.0 and the minute you would get in the throttle any more than maybe a quarter it would step out sideways. And boy did you ever have to feather it starting from a stop and going up a hill. I pound the heck out of our X and it always feels in control (with all seasons) mash the throttle to the floor from a stop with VDC off and it will spin but will stay pretty straight and accelerate WAY faster than any RWD with snows I've ridden in. My father in law's S420 merc never makes it up our driveway (hill) with his snow tires....I have no problem at all. Maybe if the RWD car was woefully underpowered and heavy it might have decent grip, otherwise I just don't see it.

 

Only an advantage while braking, IMO.

I'm running great snows on a high-hp RWD car right now, and the "X" car could have walked it handily with the OEM Turanzas in a 0-50 race.

 

ChicagoX was raping Vettes and Lotuses on the track with his stock G35x, Trust me that X is the race version of the G.

 

RWD with snow has significant traction advantage over AWD with all seasons in terms of pure rubber traction. i.e. when you brake, rubber traction is the primary difference, and RWD with snow tires will brake far better.

Each individual snow tire has better traction than each individual all season tire.
However, since 100% of the power is going to two sets of tires vs up to 50/50 in slippery conditions, even though the RWD snow tires have better traction, you're going to be providing more power to them.

AWD tends to be more predictable all the way around. If you are familiar with your vehicle, RWD with snow tires is just as predictable, but just in a different way. If you aren't familiar with either vehicle, yes, AWD will be more intuitive from a start.

But you're right. it's easier to break out the rear end of a RWD even with snow tires assuming the same amount of power is being pushed into 1/2 the number of wheels. A good driver who takes the time to understand how to drive their car on ice/snow RWD with a good set of snows can be better than AWD with all seasons, especially when you factor in stopping traction.

 

We just got a lot of snow here in Chicago. And by my GF's place the street and alleys had not been plowed after 2 days. My 05x with 18" high performance all-seasons made it through and parked ok twice. It was really bad. None of my past cars would have made one of the turns up an incline I had to go through (over 8" of heavy mush). I put on the snow switch and away I went. I would not have recommended it to any RWD car. But most of the year its a waste of the AWD.

 

I've been driving RWD cars for a while now in minnesota. The only time I had any problems was when the snow was higher than my car's ground clearance.
AWD or the best snow tires in the world ain't gonna help if you're bottoming out on snow .

I've never taken a day off from work because of snow. I just take it easy on the roads.

 

AWD is also useful in wet (e.g. rainy) conditions, not just in snow. And, apparently it's better in other ways in dry conditions (according to the article mentioned above, though I haven't personally tested it vs. RWD in a test track).

With regards to the pros/cons of "RWD with snow tires" versus "AWD with all season", I supposse it also depends on the kind of snow tires used and the kind of all seasons used (not all snows are created equal, same with all seasons). But personally, I prefer AWD with all season than RWD with snow. But, my #1 preference - AWD with snow. With this combination, I am unstoppable!

 

Man thats just BS. Theres no way a rwd car with a set of snows, no matter who the driver is, is going to make it up a serious incline in a good couple inches of snow or ice (unless its the freshly fallen "good snowball" snow and even then it probably wont happen). Its just not going to happen. Once you apply the power to get up the incline the back end is going to loose traction. PERIOD!!! I have a Cherokee with decently aggressive tires on it and i was playing in RWD in the last snowstorm we just had in the northeast. But if I wanted to get up any hills I had to go to 4wd. Now stopping yourself on the way back down the hill if you had a winch to pull you up it in the first place is a differant story all together.

Edit for add:

In the town i live in its a pretty damn hilly area and when the cops in their cars with their snow tires want to get up a hill in a hurry they do it in reverse. $hit ive seen trucks with chains get caught on our hills. We used to take bets on which cars were going to make it.