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I live in pittsburgh and drive a 244. We have about as steep of hills as anywhere and about as icy of conditions as anywhere. I don't have issues. The mantra that FWD is better in snow is so worn out that it is amazing that it is replayed. The idea came from the days when cars still had up to 70% of their total weight over the front wheels...like my 68 firebird 6.6 liter. today many cars have perfect 50/50 distributions front to rear negating this argument. the second flaw is that automobiles are not static systems...unless you live in WV and keep them on blocks as "lawn ornaments". Any drag racer will tell you that weight transfer is an important part of making a car work right. when one hits the gas the front suspension extends, the rear compresses thereby shifting weight to the rear of the car...where if you are lucky the power is going. what does this spell??? harder and more smooth launches with rwd. not to mention that fwd parts wear out....who hasn't had to replace a cv joint or an axle on a fwd car? rwd parts tend to last much much longer...the mantra is 3x what the average engine will. lastly we come to the handeling aspect. fwd is a curse on turning ability. if you put a big enough tire under the front to launch hard, the wheels will be limited in how far they can turn. next if one finds themself entering a turn too quickly and an a rwd car, one can induce oversteer and drift through the turn...a-la the old scandenavian-flick that rally drivers do. in a similar situation in a fwd car one will be looking directly at the apex of the turn which could be a guard rail or on-coming traffic. this is all without talking about torque steer...you know that feeling in the stearing wheel that feels like the car is possesed and trying to oust the driver from control... I personally have sworn never to own a fwder as they disgust me....as a kid i grew up thinking i hated japanese cars...when really what it was was that i hated fwders....my stepdad has a 350z that is a joy to drive...whereas out passat turbo is nothing but garbage when tossed into a turn. for a wife or daughter i say fwd...it is mindless and safe so long as u don't come anywhere near the car's maximum limits. for me and anyone eles who loves to drive and drive hard....rwd or if if you must awd is the way to go. good tires are a must on any car....do that and your brick will rock in the snow...if one must have a fwder...an 850r is prolly the best bang around...
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