Minus the aspect of if you are turning, you are giving grip for that turn. If you are doing it well, the front tires are likely using all of their grip for turning.
Now, you can just floor it everywhere, always, and yes it will be a bit easier to drive, but you certainly aren't getting that much traction out of it then if all 4 tires are spinning. Are you?
As for spinning, RWD will spin if you floor it like a tool, where as AWD will try to understeer, then maybe oversteer, and then maybe do some other things. I know this from driving more than a few AWD cars in the snow. They are not as predictable as a 2WD car. That is just a fact from the fact the front or rear wheels can start to slide under throttle.
Ok, what are we talking about here ? If we are talking about dry race track conditions, then I won't start arguing that AWD is faster/better whatever.
But on wet surface and especially snow or gravel a proper, let's call it rally-inspired - AWD has a lot of advantages and will - given the same circumstances ( smiliar power/weight/driving skills ) - have more traction, will be easier to control and therefor be faster.
There is a reason that they started using AWD in rallye racing.
Coming back to daily driving... Your car is limited in snow. Not because it's bad or you suck as a driver but because I have up to 4 points where I can grip and you have two. I can stop at a snowy hill street with 70 % ascent and just drive up the hill again at any speed I want. In a car review of the 2002 WRX the magazine drove the car on a ski slope - uphill.
I don't have to think about " is that pile of snow too high to get out of it again ? " when searching for a parking space or "can I drive on this snowy road before the snow plow truck did ? "
I mean all that limits me is ground clearance - well that is ground clearance + a few inches as seen on my picture
Everything else can be done with that STi and I've experienced it.
You know, when it starts to snow real bad, I grab my STi and take her out for a spin, late at night on country roads. And no matter how bad the conditions, traction has never been an issue. Sometimes even too much traction : If I exit a drift my car gains so much speed that it limits the fun experience sometimes, because - as we agreed on earlier - AWD doesn't help at braking.
A BMW is fun to drive in snow - as long as there is not too much snow and no steep hills. And just for the record I'll repeat it again - I live in BMW country - in my neighborhood 20% of the people work for BMW - 3 series BMW's are the most common car here next to VW Golfs. There is no day I don't meet at least 2 or 3 M3s. So I've seen more than enough 3 series BMW's strugling in snow. I don't know where you live, but we have a lot of winding roads and little hills here and there.
So the 2WD is more predictable you say. It is for those not used to driving AWD. My car never surpised me. You are right, First understeer, then oversteer, tracion all the way. Know it, adapt your driving and you are fast and have fun. You know, my car can recover from almost any drift angle on snow. That is the great thing about it, tons of fun, believe me. It is easier to drift in a 2WD car, but if you are over the edge, it is gone and you spin out.
Cool, I have General Atimax Artics. They tend to be rated higher. I also have an LSD, and some of the best known handling in the world.
Honestly, the whole bit would come down to drivers. And most WRX drivers are honestly clueless, because they AWD bro. They also have zero clue what throttle finesse is.
And have you driven an M car in the snow? It feels good man. Better than a WRX, or any AWD car I've driven in the snow.
I don't know that tire brand to be honest, I guess it's not sold in Germany. All I can say is, that my tire also has to work at 220 km/h on the Autobahn, even in winter and that my tires won most reviews in German car magazines including Sportauto, which is the most respected sports car magazine here : they are here for over 25 years and test their cars on the Nordschleife. Well, and they review tires on sports cars in the dimension I use. Also there is not only snow, but dry, wet and ice condistion . A tire can't be best in all disciplines...anyway if I'm not mistaken the latest version of my tire, Dunlop SP Wintersport 4D won the contest, and the test car was a 3series BMW. So you might consider that tire in future.
Sorry, I'm just adding to the pissing contest Max_DC started, though I refrained from posting pictures of, gasp, my car pushing snow around.
Because all you could show was a picture of your BMW stuck in snow right next to the road
.
I didn't start a pissing contest. All I said is that
I wouldn't consider buying the new Subaru coupe with 200 hp. I never said that it had to have AWD or that 200 hp are not enough in general. Just not for me. Have a look at the last few pages. I may have ( unintended ) triggered this heated discussion, but you jumped on it as a mad dog. Obviously you know a lot of WRX drivers that are either tools or whatever made you have these hard feelings.
And you kind of started to argue that 2WD is better in snow, and sorry man, that's a discussion you already lost before it started so I wonder who's fault that is.
I like many cars, and I really like the inline 6 M3s. So cool down. But saying that people who drive an WRX can't drive, that is, you know, kinda childish and not the level of discussion I prefer. How many WRX drivers do you know ? 20 ? 50 ? All from your region and most of them one social group.
Subaru is the world's largest seller of AWD cars, so I suggest that you stick to rational arguments in future instead of generalizing the driving skills of a handfull of people you know.
at the above about BMW owners and Subaru owners. Especially after this.
