Even considering the matter that one should never drive "like crazy" (I won''t really get into that here), I'll partly disagree. It is true that AWD is not magic, and will not make you stop any quicker in bad conditions (your ABS is already handling most of that). Nor is it necessarily any better on true black ice.....the most dangerous of all winter conditions. Nor, of course, will it necessarily keep somebody else from sliding into you, though it may give you more traction in steering away from somebody.....and an accident. But, in most snow/ice and wet/rain conditions, AWD is an enormous help in getting one going from a stop and, in conjunction with the VSC (stability control) in low speed handling. Obviously, snow/rain tires and a trunk full of weight helps on a RWD car, but a RWD car is at a serious disadvantage to start with....there really is no substitute, in bad weather, for AWD.

Now, in your case, lucas7, the question you have to answer is if you have to drive those mountain roads, enough times, in bad conditons, to justify the actual purchase of an AWD car. While we can give you advice, only you can really answer that. I, myself, am of the opinion that, for most areas, it is a wise investment.....you never really know when you are going to need it. I mean, you could hit a big patch of wet leaves, for instance, and start sliding....it doesn't have to be snow or ice.

Driving with common sense is a given, no matter what the drivetrain or road conditions.

 

Forget AWD or RWD, proper tires is what matters. In my experience living through Michigan winters all of my life, RWD with dedicated winter tires outperformed AWD with all-season tires most of the time. The advantages of AWD are the extra ground clearance and if you ever get stuck in deep snow, the extra two moving wheels will help pull you out.

I am able to pull away from a dead stop in snow much more easily with AWD, obviously, even with all-season tires. But once I'm moving the advantages of AWD aren't as obvious. RWD, winter tires, and a good stability/traction control system and I've been able to get through all but the very worst of Michigan winters.

Now I'm not saying AWD has no advantages at all. It certainly does have the advantages as stated before. In your situation it sounds like AWD is the most convenient and feasible option. (No need to deal with two sets of tires, etc.) But no matter what drivetrain you have, the trick is to never get stuck in the first place and to drive slow and careful enough not to get into a sticky situation.

 

I do believe it has to be mentioned that AWD is not fool-proof. The advantage of AWD is not an excuse to skip out on good tires or driving sensibly in serpentine roads. Even the best AWD systems in the world will not save you if you're an idiot... just some food for thought.

I've never thought AWD as a necessity and I live in rural Quebec where we get regular bouts of 2-3 ft. of snow in the winter months.

 

Well assuming that your RX330 is AWD, I see that you keep an AWD vehicle ready, just in case.

Not necesarily. Many cars with AWD (the IS250AWD and AWD Toyota Matrix ) is a good example) have very low ground clearance. So do some BMW 3-series AWD models.


True. I noted that previously, that the chief advantage to AWD is starting up from a dead stop. But there is also a handling advantage, as long as you keep your speed down and don't push it.

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Yep. Some people think that 4WD/AWD is magic, or that it makes them invincible on winter roads. You STILL have to use common sense. Every time we get a significant snowstorm here in the D.C. area (though we are generally not a big-snow region) you see some Explorers, Jeeps. Tahoes, etc.....down in the ditch because their cocky owners thought they could overcome the laws of physics.

 

I think the most common AWD misconception I hear from people is the idea that AWD will help you stop. It will not.

 

Unfortunately AWD cannot defy the laws of physics.

 

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I don't have the RX anymore (too lazy to change my s/n). It was indeed AWD, but I had summer and winter tires for it rather than just all-seasons. I live a (relatively) hilly area of Michigan that doesn't get plowed often. Any extra traction I can get I definitely appreciate, coupled with the excellent VSC system I got through just fine on most of the winters here. The AWD system itself in Lexus is pretty good, but it doesn't really compete too well with the more established systems out there.

As for the AWD examples you mentioned, you're right. They don't offer much ground clearance at all. They're pretty much snowplows with how close the bumper comes in contact with the snow piles. For those kinds of cars I'd rather buy the RWD version purely for the summer and get an AWD/4WD beater.

 

Not yet anyway....

 

tire tires tires. Got it? Get a good set of winter tyres first (or whatever will handle the pass and the valleys on either side). A FWD (or RWD for that matter) with the proper tires will get you through anything [B]if[B] you drive according to the conditions.

Will AWD help? Perhaps if there's a traffic jam and you need to accelerate up the hill but given that it's a freeway on a mountain, traffic is probably gonna be moving all the time.