I have both kinds of cars and guess what? Most of the time I drive, it isn't snowing outside! My daily driver is a rwd ('96 Impala, with stock 255-50-17zr tires) and it drive in snow.Unlike the previous mentioned '85 Caprice, it came with a lsd. When my Jetta wagon got stuck in snow(it was too deep and the clearance got it stuck), it was my cable shod Impala that pulled it out. But, most of the time I drive, there isn't 5" of snow! Furthermore, it is a lot more fun to drive. As i said before, if you think FWD is the equal to rewd in handling, then go and set all those engineers and professional drivers straight.Also, don't forget to tell all those dumb europeans so they can start buying Accords instead of those inferior handling Mercedes Benz,BMW, Porsche, Lotus, etc. Come up with a list of the top ten handling cars on the list and you won't see a fwd near it. All cheap cars have fwd because it is cheap.I'll quote autonet.com here:
"The general engineering consensus is that front-wheel drive is great for cars with average performance, but the more performance a vehicle has, the less attractive the handling and driving characteristics become.
Skid-prone
Proponents of front-wheel drive claim their cars are less apt to skid, corner faster and can pull better. Under some circumstances that's true, but no matter what the design, when the limit of adhesion is reached between tires and the road surface, a skid will occur.
Front-wheel-drive vehicles understeer, and combined with a forward bias in weight, do characteristically provide better traction initially in the snow. Yet, in dry conditions, once underway, the front-wheel-drive vehicle's handling is far less predictable when a loss of control does occur. As well, most performance-oriented front-wheel-drive vehicles in dry conditions tend to suffer from torque steer when accelerating from a standstill.
Maintenance costs, particularly in full-size front-wheel-drive vehicles, are higher, due in part to front-end weight, which causes increased wear (front tires, brakes, steering, transaxles, etc.).
The rear-wheel-drive handling characteristics of any performance-oriented vehicle allow it to be driven at close to its limit speeds. (Police departments prefer -- or tend to insist on -- rear-wheel drive for pursuit vehicles.)
Today, rear-wheel drive makes even greater sense considering the huge improvement in tires, brakes, suspension design and the advancements in computerized traction and stability control systems.
Both the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum come standard with Electronic Stability Program (ESP) and All-Speed Traction Control.
Noted Eric Ridenour, executive vice-president, product development, Chrysler Group, "(Rear-wheel drive) separates the steering and acceleration duties. This eliminates compromises and enables enhanced performance and handling."
