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Tonight it snowed a good 2-5 cm in Toronto, slushy slippery type.

From a standing start, I floored my FWD Acura EL in the snow. I go spinning, not moving that fast, and swerve off to the side.

I then did the same with my AWD Subaru and I just accelerate straight through everything with absolutely no wheel spin, no swerving to the side, and I accelerate hard (similar to dry pavement). This is on all-season tires also. The transfer of torque between wheels is just so seamless. I had a similar experience test driving the Audi A4 1.8T Quattro, except in the summer on dirt roads. Did back-to-back comparisons with the FWD Acura EL and the AWD Audi A4 Quattro. On the dirt, the FWD kicked up all sorts of stones and I didn't get a good hold to launch. On the AWD, there is absolutely no spinning, can't hear a single stone being kicked up, and you just launch off the dirt!

I know this message has little relevance for Civic/EL cars... but to make it relevant, I wish we had an AWD Civic with a torquer engine here! I think they have an AWD Civic in JDM?

 
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AWD OWNZ us...[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG]

 
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I had posted a link some time ago, but Honda has an AWD Civic available in Japan only [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG]

 
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I used to live in Iowa and owned a rwd thunderbird. It was fun going up hills, because my car would still go up it but at a 45 degree angle.

 
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ya man...i live in kingston and we got MADD snow last night too...i definatly need snow tires..I didn't even floor and my wheels spun so much...are you running the all season firestones?

 
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The only problem with four wheel drive is the loss of power. But still, definately a big difference in winter.

 
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I think AWD can be a boost for some cars, for example Subaru WRX, Audi S4, Porsche 911-4 can all get significantly improved 0-60 times over RWD because they have torque hitting the road at four points instead of two. FWD is by far the worse.

The only problem on the track is the significant understeer of AWD.

 
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Yeah, my FWD Acura EL has the all-season stock Firestone FR690. Spun like crazy.

The Subaru has some Yokohama all-seasons, I didn't expect them to be much better than the all-season Firestones, but the AWD really kicks *** in bad weather. No slip.

 
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Try starting in second (or 3rd) gear instead of first, it'll help prevent slippage. Of course, this doesn't help you accelerate quickly. AWD does have its advantages, but if you drive within the limits of your car, you won't have any problems.