Terrain said:
I am still struggling with my decision to go with FWD this time although I am loving the 'lightness' of the FWD. It's markedly quicker than the AWD for some reason... hard to believe losing 200 pounds would make that much of a difference. Ask me again in January.
Up here on the prairies we get some nasty weather in the winter for up to 7 months. Everything from 1ft-2ft of snow at a time to freezing rain to windchills to -48° with blizzard conditions. I've been driving in it for almost 35 years and have had everything from older rear drive cars to 2WD rear drive SUV's and trucks to front wheel drive cars and vans.
While I will agree that AWD is a benefit, me and my wife have never been stuck or had a crash for all the years driving and we each go 15 miles in opposite directions on the hwy. 6 days a week.
We can't justify the extra cost, fuel consumption and possibly maintenance/repair costs of AWD so we once again bought the 2WD version. Driving habits and skill, driving for the conditions and tires are the most important factors IMO.
I will admit that traction improves with AWD and we don't have hilly/mountainous terrain here but AWD doesn't really help you stop better which is most important. Besides, it's not a true 4WD which we have on our ATV's where all four wheels can be locked up and used for power. But then again you shouldn't take your Nox where we take our ATV's.
JMO but consider those factors when you are trying to decide on a AWD vs FWD Nox.