[chillindrdude]

I think there's no inherent safety difference.

There are differences in driving style, skill and understanding of vehicle dynamics. And mistakes, bad habits, can lead to loss of control.

But an experienced driver in a RWD or AWD car should not be any safety difference, no?

This was an issue raised on an Audi forum, I took the above position. Peeps be piling on me.

[Vigilante375]

AWD is safer than RWD in some aspects but at the end of the day its all about how you're driving and how good the tires are. People will be people and say how much better AWD is than RWD because they get too smug.

I'd rather have 4WD than AWD. Hell, tell them FWD is far safer than AWD. They'll freak about that and sad thing is....its true.

[rr006rbc]

Honestly it all depends on who is behind the steering wheel and which type of car and the terrain they're driving on. There isn't a definite 100% answer for every instance.

[pgviper]

I think AWD makes people comfortable therefore they are OK with accepting increased risk. Increased risk when you are comfortable and less focused is when bad things happen...

[daonlyillwiz]

I've had all types of drivetrain, my E92 M3 is my first RWD vehicle and honestly I prefer that over AWD.

[EJT86]

Don't forget 30-40 years ago most cars were RWD...and up until the last decade or so pretty much all police cars were RWD...I don't see the roads being much safer now that there's an abundance of AWD options

[EJT86]

Originally Posted by pgviper

I think AWD makes people comfortable therefore they are OK with accepting increased risk. Increased risk when you are comfortable and less focused is when bad things happen...

Good point tons of SUVs were flying down snow/slush covered highways all last winter

[ClawHammer]

I had a 3 series RWD and we experienced a lot of bad weather. It was completely undrivable. Granted it had all season tyres on because there's not much point in getting summer and winter tyres here in Blighty unless you live in the Lakes or parts of Scotland.

Anyways, I got an A5 Quattro now. The BMW felt "safer" around corners in the dry. Audi feels safer in the very wet, ice and snow. Audi cornering doesn't feel as balanced as the BMW somehow. It doesn't instil confidence.

When I bought the Audi, for the purpose of being able to drive my car all winter, I forgot to take into account the law of "sod". We haven't had much in the way of bad weather the last three years that I've had the Audi. Will hopefully be getting my M4 early next year. I expect we'll be having snowstorms here in 2016.

[E90SLAM]

"Safe" depends on the living organism behind the wheel, not essentially the configuration of the drive train.

[USC2000]

A lot of people feel AWD is safer and drive like idiots thinking the AWD will save them from any accidents. They basically negate any safety factor they receive from AWD.

[BlackMarketRacing]

AWD doesn't help you stop any faster, that's for sure. But it can certainly help get you going and steer around a corner faster in loose terrain!

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Both cars still have 4 tires that meet the road. Less acceleration mistakes happen with AWD but they both brake and turn (more or less) the same. The confidence that some AWD owners get in the snow conditions is scary as sometimes they don't realize your limits are still the same in regards to braking distance and turning as those are directly correlated to your tires.

[RM7]

There are too many variables.

My Camaro SS with stiffer sways way outhandled my WRX in the wet. It had to get icy before the WRX was better, but in the snow the performance tires sucked anyway, so it still wasn't great.

With studded tires you can get most of what you would get with AWD, but if you're going up hills or taking things faster, AWD helps immensely on the turns, everything else equal. With snow tires, it depends a lot more on other factors, but usually RWD is ridiculous in any kind of icy condition. With some all seasons, it was better than it was previously, but it still wasn't what I would consider "safe". On the other hand, if your vehicle is very heavy and has a lot of weight on the axles, it almost doesn't matter if it's rear or front wheel drive, again, unless you're driving it fast and there are lots of hills/variations in the surface.

[pgviper]

Originally Posted by EJT86

Good point tons of SUVs were flying down snow/slush covered highways all last winter

Exactly, people think that they are invincible in AWD whether it be boy racers, eager enthusiasts, soccer moms or indifferent beginners... They all think, ohh I have AWD, I can do whatever I want!

[WreckerX5d]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

Both cars still have 4 tires that meet the road. Less acceleration mistakes happen with AWD but they both brake and turn (more or less) the same. The confidence that some AWD owners get in the snow conditions is scary as sometimes they don't realize your limits are still the same in regards to braking distance and turning as those are directly correlated to your tires.

This. You can only stop and turn as your tires limit. AWD will get you going, but that's about it.

[Finnegan]

No safety difference. Can't stop more quickly, lateral Gs don't increase, driver skill doesn't increase. The biggest advantage of AWD is putting down high levels of power. Handling and feel are better in RWD cars IMO (that's comparing various cars E92 M3, Cayman, Z4M, E36 M3, 997 Carrera S, 997.2 Turbo S). Safety comes down to the driver's ability to drive within themselves and drive for conditions and the vehicle (tires, power, suspension, etc.).

If we really want to talk safety then it's those things that protect you from the unexpected. Deer. Texters. Drunks. That's safety equipment though, not drivetrain. Crumple zones, air bags, restraint devices, vehicle design, etc.

[RM7]

I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. Without AWD, you can get into some nasty over and under-steer situations. And not that you couldn't go slow enough to avoid those situations, but when someone else slides and affects where you are, it's nice to have that ability to put that power down safely or adjust the angle safely while sliding a bit. If you drive on real ice/snow (I'm in Alaska, but any place that remains subfreezing for significant periods of time and low enough in altitude that the ice doesn't sublimate), you know that once you have one of the sets of wheels spinning, front or rear, the car may be going for a ride, and it can be a hell of a time trying to get it back in control. Sounds easy to avoid, but in many cases it's not. Neutral handling and being able to control drift and angle becomes important, rather than putting power down to two sets of wheels that will just spin with any throttle input. I did drive my RWD car a little this last winter, and the only thing, and I mean the only thing, that made it somewhat drive-able when I chose to drive it, was the manual transmission, since I could feather the clutch and make the wheels roll at a speed slower than an automatic would turn it. If you put an auto in gear with no brake on these surfaces, you're going for a sliding ride, and again, you've already lost control at that point. Trying to hold the brake to the point where you do have traction is harder than feathering the clutch and keeping the car below the speed where it loses traction, but I digress. AWD does have some good benefits, starting in nasty conditions being one of them, putting the power down without slipping, etc. These are significant. There's also something to be said for better/even/smother braking downhill due to being able to use engine braking. Again, the main concern being you don't want to start sliding, because once you start...

Some AWD systems are piss-poor too, while some are great and put the power down no matter what.

[TomHudson]

Safety is about stopping, not going.

It's all about tires.

[Ezio]

it is safer when you have a lot of power. Its more controllable.

its also easier to drive in snow.

AWD is clearly safer

[w0ady]

Car control skills > tires > all the other variables. Generic arguments like this aren't going to go anywhere.

[Meeni]

All cars have traction control, so the big bad mistake with RWD cars is gone.

AWD is not safer, not even in bad weather. It can help you not getting stuck, but it does not help braking or cornering. Actually, poor driver get too much confidence from it and drive dangerously, so it can be seen as more dangerous.

FWD is safer, intuitive action (stop accelerating when overshooting the turn) is the correct corrective action.

[Game]

Can't say I agree with the masses here.

I'll take AWD all day in Chicagoland winters.