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Originally Posted by foff667
i think your very much wrong in that aspect...rwd is very hard to master especially in the northeast during winter, ask anyone...4wd is great for trucks...
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rwd with traction control and decent tires is fine in the winter. I've driven a bunch of winters with both rwd and fwd, and i managed just fine. The only advantage fwd has is the weight over the drive tires, and this is a broad generalization, but most fwd cars have less performance oriented tires than a rwd car which is a bonus for them.
I also had a gtp for the last 4 winters, so I can tell you don't be surprised to find that it's really no better than a rwd car, just different. In fact it's probably easier to go into a sideways slide from a dead stop with fwd, it's kind of like an amplified torque steering effect. And it's very easy to underturn, since the same tires steer and turn. But my gtp had a ground clearance advantage over any of my camaros, which helped in winter, and it had narrower tires than my iroc, which helps in winter.
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Originally Posted by foff667
awd is great but its a lesser fwd in reality
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I don't know where that idea is coming from. A grand prix GTP new costs high 20's and has ~250hp give or take. So do the mitsu lancer evo, vw gti r32, and subaru legacy gt. Go drive them and tell me what is lesser than fwd about either vehicle (i'm talking drivetrain, I know they aren't the same size, class, blah blah blah) because I'm not seeing it. Also in the same price and horsepower class and on the market within weeks if not already will be the mid range V6 chrysler 300 and dodge magnum with an AWD option.
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Originally Posted by foff667
for the old ladies of the world i think fwd is great and made even easier with traction control...
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I agree with this 100%, and maybe I should clarify my earlier remark about anything worth driving will be rwd/awd. Any bottom to mid-range car, that's not about fun at all, but it's about practicality is fine FWD. For an enthusiast's car though, it's really not particularly useful anymore. The winter driving had a much bigger argument going for it before the days of traction control and awd in tons of different vehicles. If the winter consideration is really going to cater your choice of car, why not do it right and go awd? or if you want a daily driver that's fun, yet semi-capable in the winter on occasion as needed, you can make due just as well with a rwd car with traction control as you can with a fwd car. Worst case, throw snow tires on the rwd car, and put some weight over the rear wheels.
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Originally Posted by foff667
my wwd gtp is ok...runs high 14's, has traction control but should be decent in the winter...dont get me wrong ive driven every last one of my rwd vehicles in winter but ive also ran over some curbs in the meantime trying to steer them when weather is really bad. AWD would be great but at this time the only company to really step up with it is suburu and for a while i believe they will be the only one to put that in all of their cars...far more then 10 years.
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subaru is definitely leading the way on awd, but as also mentioned there are offerings from most every company.
There will still be FWD cars no doubt, but I think almost everything will have an AWD option in the top end vehicle. I can already name a ton of models where this is already happening. FWD will be restricted to bottom end cars. Basically, the need for a fwd car with a lot of horsepower just isn't there anymore.