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View Poll Results: RWD or AWD in the winter?
RWD is fine as long as proper snow tires are used 33 57.89%
AWD for added safety and security 24 42.11%
Voters: 57. You may not vote on this poll

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      12-22-2020, 09:49 PM   #1
amzbimmer
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G80 daily driver in the winter: RWD or AWD?

I've had great success with my F80 in very snowy and slick conditions with more control than most AWD SUV's which are typically lumbering around on the crappy all season tires they come with. My experience tells me that a RWD car on snow tires is superior to an AWD vehicle on all season tires.

Therefore, I feel it’s wiser to spend funds on a nice pair of snow tires than on AWD. Of course, one can put snow tires on an AWD vehicle too, but that adds even more cost, and among the general population in my area, few folks seem to do it.

How do you feel about this? Is AWD necessary for a daily driver in the snowy north? Does it add that much to the day to day experience?
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      12-22-2020, 10:27 PM   #2
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Necessary? No.
Nice to have? Yes.

Especially when you can turn it off to make snow donuts with the radius of you cars length
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      12-23-2020, 03:02 AM   #3
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I would go AWD with winter tires as it adds security. I mean why go RWD in a snowy area with a 500hp car?

General remark:

I donīt know why all season tires would even be a consideration for an M car. I would not recommend nor think for one second about using all season tires on this car. If you can afford the car, you can afford the best solution for both performance and safety which is separate summer / winter setups. But that is just how I look at things.

Enjoy your future car!!
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      12-23-2020, 05:23 AM   #4
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AWD with winter tires is necessary if u want the most control in snow driving

but my reason for AWD is to put the power down from a stop
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      12-23-2020, 05:56 AM   #5
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AWD and snow tires. What I will miss is the Hill Descent Control.
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      12-23-2020, 06:41 AM   #6
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I've been winter driving in RWD ///M cars here in Canada for the last 20-years without issue. So RWD with good winter tires is very doable.

However, my wife has been driving Audis and there's no denying the superiority of AWD in the snow.

As others have said, even with AWD, winter tires are highly recommended.
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      12-23-2020, 12:44 PM   #7
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If winter temperature for you consistently drop below 7 C/44 F , swapping to winter tires is necessary regardless of what wheels your car powers.. AWD gets you going from a stop but does not help you in braking when the tire compound hardens. Think of it like a hockey puck

In flatter urban environments with good snowplowing or low snowfall (honestly Toronto has not seen much snow this year), RWD with winters is more than enough from friends who daily F8X and other RWD cars. When the snow piles on an AWD G8X will be superior but still lacks the ground clearance so you still need a shovel handy LOL... i shall see for myself soon
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      12-23-2020, 02:38 PM   #8
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If you need AWD where you live, you know it.
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      12-23-2020, 04:16 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dzo View Post
If you need AWD where you live, you know it.
This.
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      12-23-2020, 05:15 PM   #10
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I actually feel there is more to the story than just living in a snowy area or not. I used to live in the NYC metro area and moved to Denver metro. You would think that in CO they know a thing or two about snow, which they do, but because of the altitude and sun, side roads do NOT get plowed. Turns out it's worse than living in the north east. I struggled several times to get 4 blocks out of my neighborhood!

I had an F80 pre-COVID, with snow's and just couldn't keep doing it; sold it for the X5M (to hold me over) and I now wait for the AWD G80.

Someone above said it, "if you need AWD where you live, you know it", and it's spot on.
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      12-24-2020, 06:45 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M-Enthusiast View Post
I would go AWD with winter tires as it adds security. I mean why go RWD in a snowy area with a 500hp car?

General remark:

I donīt know why all season tires would even be a consideration for an M car. I would not recommend nor think for one second about using all season tires on this car. If you can afford the car, you can afford the best solution for both performance and safety which is separate summer / winter setups. But that is just how I look at things.

Enjoy your future car!!
Agreed, whichever car I get, I would use winter tires in the snow and performance summer tires in the summer. I was just trying to compare my experience of using my wife's AWD SUV with all season tires. I feel like I had better control of my RWD M3 that I did of her SUV. I do drive very slowly and cautiously, but I never found the RWD to be a hindrance in an M3 with the right snow tires.

Sorry if the question was vague. I agree, I would not put all season tires on an M3. Just debating whether the longer wait for the G80 AWD and the extra cost is worth it for me.
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      12-24-2020, 06:49 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CanAutM3 View Post
I've been winter driving in RWD ///M cars here in Canada for the last 20-years without issue. So RWD with good winter tires is very doable.

However, my wife has been driving Audis and there's no denying the superiority of AWD in the snow.

As others have said, even with AWD, winter tires are highly recommended.
Thanks - your feedback is similar to what I've heard in the past. I feel like the AWD helps more with the "go" and the snow tires help more with the "stop." And in really bad weather the stopping is more critical. I could see a situation where the car tries to slide into a tree or curb and you could use the AWD to "accelerate" away from a collision - although that seems unlikely if one is driving carefully. Or accelerate towards another out of control car that is sliding towards you- which I've actually had happen to me several times!

AWD makes it almost too easy.
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      12-24-2020, 06:53 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DecemberStorm View Post
If winter temperature for you consistently drop below 7 C/44 F , swapping to winter tires is necessary regardless of what wheels your car powers.. AWD gets you going from a stop but does not help you in braking when the tire compound hardens. Think of it like a hockey puck

In flatter urban environments with good snowplowing or low snowfall (honestly Toronto has not seen much snow this year), RWD with winters is more than enough from friends who daily F8X and other RWD cars. When the snow piles on an AWD G8X will be superior but still lacks the ground clearance so you still need a shovel handy LOL... i shall see for myself soon
100% agree on your comments regarding the compounds and snow tires being critical- that's not where I was going with my question.

I've never really hit any issues with ground clearance with my past M3's. But we don't get nearly as much snow as you do. Sounds like G80 M3 has 120mm ground clearance, so pretty comparable to the F80.
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      12-24-2020, 07:40 AM   #14
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I had an E90 with winter tires in Canada for a few years, generally I agree with you, you will be fine. But winter tires with an all wheel drive is certainly the next step above a RWD car. An AWD set up with winters will absolutely impress you, and make winter even more fun! I would definitely lean towards an all wheel drive M3 in living in the north despite the extra cost. There will be a situation, say every other winter, where you'll be able to say "there is no way I would have made it thru that in a RWD car." Maybe not every year, but it will happen.
I personally think that the AWD car on the highway in heavy rain may be a little safer too, just my opinion.
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      12-24-2020, 08:58 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amzbimmer View Post
Thanks - your feedback is similar to what I've heard in the past. I feel like the AWD helps more with the "go" and the snow tires help more with the "stop." And in really bad weather the stopping is more critical. I could see a situation where the car tries to slide into a tree or curb and you could use the AWD to "accelerate" away from a collision - although that seems unlikely if one is driving carefully. Or accelerate towards another out of control car that is sliding towards you- which I've actually had happen to me several times!

AWD makes it almost too easy.
Snow tires also help with the turning/steering while AWD doesn't.

The main drawback with AWD, is that once you "lose it", it is much more difficult to recover. But I have to admit, driving a high powered AWD car in the snow is tons of fun .
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      12-24-2020, 09:17 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buckman View Post
I had an E90 with winter tires in Canada for a few years, generally I agree with you, you will be fine. But winter tires with an all wheel drive is certainly the next step above a RWD car. An AWD set up with winters will absolutely impress you, and make winter even more fun! I would definitely lean towards an all wheel drive M3 in living in the north despite the extra cost. There will be a situation, say every other winter, where you'll be able to say "there is no way I would have made it thru that in a RWD car." Maybe not every year, but it will happen.
I personally think that the AWD car on the highway in heavy rain may be a little safer too, just my opinion.

That's another good point I hadn't thought of. Taking a turn aggressively in dry weather or slightly wet conditions would probably be a lot safer in AWD.

Another point is that we have a high clearance SUV for when the snow is really bad. I'm wondering if I would just take that out in the snow or stick with my low clearance AWD on snows? If it's staying the garage in really deep snow for the rare 8-12+ inches of snow, it may as well be RWD.
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      12-25-2020, 08:34 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amzbimmer View Post
Hopefully this hasn't been raised before. In my experience driving a RWD car on snow tires is >> AWD on all season tires. I've had great luck driving my F80 in very snowy and slick conditions and had way more control that most AWD SUV's lumbering around on their crappy all season tires.

So is AWD really "necessary" is the snowy north for those using it as a daily driver? I fell like the funds are better used on a nice pair of snow tires or other options? Does AWD really add that much to the day to day experience? I'm not really chasing lap times, which I'm sure would be better with AWD.

My biggest reason for getting an all wheel drive G80 would be resale, which is kind of dumb. Wondering how others feel about this.
My f87 was incredible in snow with blizzaks. I'm doing the same on a g80. I don't want awd
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      12-25-2020, 10:57 AM   #18
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The answer may also depend on what other changes come with the awd m3. With the old e9x I went with the 335x drive not realizing the differences in suspension between that and the rwd models. Those details are beyond the scope of this post but doubt that the m3 awd suspension (compared to rwd m3) would be as drastically different as the 335xi vs 335i. Anyway might be worth looking into any other trade offs (suspension or otherwise) that may come with the awd variant m3.
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      12-25-2020, 04:05 PM   #19
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It's very simple. Depends on where you live and the hills you might encounter as well as your expectations of traction for your driving style.

For me, nothing short of AWD with performance winter tires. I'm over the RWD winter game.
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      12-25-2020, 04:56 PM   #20
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Prior to AWD being offered on M cars every M car I ever owned was obviously RWD and always got snows for them

I never got stuck nor felt like awd was needed. The snows and rwd went through everything and handled well in deep snow and light snow alike.

Get whichever you prefer and add snows either way if you live where it snows a lot.

I long since left the snowy part of the country. Hope this helps :-)
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      12-27-2020, 12:54 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F80SRT View Post
I actually feel there is more to the story than just living in a snowy area or not. I used to live in the NYC metro area and moved to Denver metro. You would think that in CO they know a thing or two about snow, which they do, but because of the altitude and sun, side roads do NOT get plowed. Turns out it's worse than living in the north east. I struggled several times to get 4 blocks out of my neighborhood!

I had an F80 pre-COVID, with snow's and just couldn't keep doing it; sold it for the X5M (to hold me over) and I now wait for the AWD G80.

Someone above said it, "if you need AWD where you live, you know it", and it's spot on.
yea in NY/NYC the roads get plowed super quick. I've never had to drive the F8x in snow because the next morning the roads are clear.

That makes sense why everybody on these forums is always getting winter wheels, but 90% of the F8x in nyc area just run PSS year round lol.
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      12-28-2020, 08:53 AM   #22
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I will be parking my G80 when it threatens to snow and be rolling with my Raptor or Subaru WRX STi.
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