@ kjx - I'll step back in just for you since you took such great time and care to break down my posts and assert your knowledge.
You made some great points. I understand AWD puts the power down better and it translates to better corner exit as a result. No one is arguing that. My comments were only about inherent tire grip when turning or stopping, neither of which are improved by AWD.
That 1/2 second didn't come from nowhere. It's about putting the power down. Nothing more, nothing less. Again, the numbers don't lie. No one is arguing the numbers.
But is the 1/2 second worth it to someone like me who values simplicity and purity over outright acceleration capabilities? I've made it abundantly clear that no, it is not. This is a conscious preference knowing all the real "facts." So why do we have to speak of irony here?
FWIW, since you find my lack of experience with the G80's M xDrive so amusing, I have thoroughly test driven a M5C and was blown away by the drama-free straight line acceleration of it…for all of 2 or 3 pulls before I became utterly bored of it and realized I was at triple-digits speeds in the blink of an eye, risking losing my driver's license for no real thrill or reason. Bragging rights? No, not something I'm interested in. I'd go buy a Tesla if that was something I wanted.
I don't want to open a whole new can of worms, but didn't the xDrive model get a modest power bump over the RWD model? Are we even comparing apples to apples here when discussing a 1/2 second in lap times and all of these other "factually based" performance claims? Yes, the AWD weighs more, so a bump in HP might be warranted to keep things more even, but shouldn't the inherent performance benefit of AWD alone make up for the weight gain? Why add HP if AWD is so much faster? Just thinking out loud here.
Finally, I find it pretty crazy that so many people are arguing that a 100-150 lbs weight penalty cannot be felt, all other things being perfectly equal (which admittedly isn't the exact case here given AWD vs RWD is the primary point of discussion). Maybe I have a super human sense of G-forces, but even my wife's X7 xDrive40i at 6000 lbs is noticeably slower to accelerate and stop when 200 lbs worth of wife and child are added to the equation. My M240i was far slower to accelerate when I took my 160 lbs younger brother for a ride. I was a bit embarrassed actually, because I talked up the acceleration to him only to be disappointed once he was along for the ride. But I do understand confirmation bias can lead to a lack of acknowledgement of such things - if you paid for the AWD car, of course you can't feel the weight penalty.
