Why is AWD a must? Is it for off snow/ice, off roading, or handling? If your need for AWD is related to snow/ice then I think a dedicated set of snow tires are a much better option that gives you a wider choice of vehicles.
The BRZ is RWD.
Yes, generally speaking, it’s:
AWD is good for not getting stuck in snow or mud, especially while starting to move after stopping.
Snow tires are for handling or reducing the chance of spinning out.
I believe the general advice is that FWD with snow tires > AWD with all-season tires. AWD is helpful, but not as important as careful driving.
Autocross. Duh! 
Smoking all 4 tires at once? 
Also, great on less than stellar surfaces like gravel, which is a lot of roads even in America.
Female here. I was all sports car until the kiddies came along. Toyota Supra, then switched up to the Turbo. Tried a Porsche 911, hated the clutch. Had a Mazda RX-7. All of these driven with a 2000 vertical up and down climb over mountain roads every day.
Supra wins by a mile, but they don’t make them any more.
The RX-7 I would burn if I could get it back. That thing would spin out sitting still in a parking lot. I don’t know how other models do, but I wouldn’t touch a Mazda for hard driving with turns and curves based on this car.
After the kids, I tried a Honda Accord. That lasted about 6 months, then I switched to BMWs and haven’t looked back. 13 years now. 330xi, then 335xi, and now the BMW x3 (a smaller SUV, we wanted more ground clearance) (all AWD models). No mechanical problems. Hella fun to drive. You can pick up well-treated, low-mileage, leased models with extended warranties that won’t break the bank. I highly, highly recommend these cars.
My uncle loves his Suburus. His wife drives the Outback and he drives the WRX. Definitely worth looking at.
IMHO unless you live in an area prone to heavy snowfalls and ice and/or you live on top of a mountain, AWD is mostly wasted. The drivetrain adds cost to the car (usually around $2000) and reduces MPG’s by a non-insignificant amount, and gas won’t be $2/gal forever. Plus you’re wearing out two differentials at the same time rather than one.
Subarus are kinda the exception here, since all but the BRZ are all AWD and Subaru has had decades of experience with their AWD system so it’s generally viewed as the most reliable AWD if you absolutely MUST have AWD.
:eek:
Well, you can thank Satan for that, because otherwise your maintenance bills would be through the roof :D. I have a modest policy of avoiding the pricier German and Swedish cars for just that reason. Part costs can be unreasonable in the United States ( my dad loved Volvos when I was a kid and we spent more than a few days combing through junkyards to avoid paying retail ).
Again. AWD has benefits beyond snow and ice; gravel roads and rain also take their toll as well and even with traction control driving a single axle drive vehicle can get hairy pretty quickly. There’s a reason WRC cars are AWD, and the same reasons apply even in daily driving for the one time you might need it. The differential in milage isn’t nearly what it used to be, either. For example, the difference in mileage between a FWD and 4 WD Ford Escape is roughly 2 mpg. As far as wearing out two diffs, that’s not exactly a high wear item.
Nothing is going to save you if you are on a shitty set of tires irrespective of what wheels are driving.
I’m 70 this year, and moving from a Prius to the Mazda was, in part, because of the higher perch and better visibility. In addition to that, the handling and amenities are far nicer. The CX-3 seemed like a Prius-sized hatchback without the gas mileage.
If you drive to the conditions, FWD is perfectly adequate in 98% of all driving circumstances. 4x4 or AWD doesn’t help you STOP any better.
no kidding. these people who think they “need AWD” are unhinged.
I’ve had a 2002 Mazda Tribute for… 15 years now. It has about 189K miles on it. After 15 years it is definitely showing signs of aging but it is hands down the best vehicle I’ve ever owned in terms of total cost of ownership. I have religiously had the oil changed every 5K and kept up on all other regular maintenance items. Other than brakes and tires, I’ve had very little additional expense with this vehicle outside of normal maintenance.
I don’t have direct experience with the current Mazda line-up but as I finally look to replace my Tribute I will look at Mazda again. My experience so far has been so good that I can’t just ignore going to a CX-5 or CX-9 as a replacement. I have a family now, so I need a bigger SUV than my Tribute.
Honestly, I’d never consider a Honda. As a brand Honda says to me “Your life is over. Welcome to midlife mediocrity and settling into a nice, reliable, and boring sedan.” I know that isn’t fair but that is the reaction i have to the Honda brand. Same holds true for Toyota Camr…snores
MeanJoe
Your reading comprehension needs some work. What I said was:
“AWD has benefits beyond snow and ice; gravel roads and rain also take their toll as well and even with traction control driving a single axle drive vehicle can get hairy pretty quickly. There’s a reason WRC cars are AWD, and the same reasons apply even in daily driving for the one time you might need it.” Emphasis mine.
Anything about stopping there? No.
I will agree 100% that for most drivers the sense of overconfidence will contribute to them not driving for conditions but that isn’t about the vehicle , that’s all about the driver and is a totally different thread discussion.
I’ve avoided two fender benders while stopped at icy intersections in 10 years because I could accelerate due to** the combination of good winter tires and AWD** while the idiot in the car behind me slid on through where I had just been (both were FWD vehicles on all seasons; yeah, I look at stuff like that.)
I also said :
“Nothing is going to save you if you are on a shitty set of tires irrespective of what wheels are driving.” See above.
If AWD isn’t something you need, then don’t buy a vehicle that has it but don’t assume everyone drives like you do or has the same needs. The OP has stated AWD is something they want in their next vehicle, so who are you to say they don’t have a need for it?
Yep, a person who has won more than one SCCA national championship has burned into my brain, “What’s the third most important item on a race car? Tires. What’s the second most important item on a race car? Tires. What’s the most important item on a race car? Tires.” Tires are where the proverbial rubber meets the road. All of your car’s power and control boils down to how well the tires work.
Get good tires that meet your needs.
Ehh, I’ve avoided more than one wreck on ice due to the fact that the AWD system can drag me predictably away from the car that has come to a stop faster than the brakes ever could have, even on dry pavement, because the other car has hit a static obstacle and are now sitting in my lane in the aftermath. AWD or 4x4 doesn’t help you stop any better, but it provides other options than stopping. In a 2wd car, I would have most likely just spun into the other car in both instances, unless I was Mika Hakkinen or Mark Higgins .
To the OP: if AWD is truly a must, I’d highly advise shopping Subaru. They’re the least expensive AWD vehicles, usually, and not bad on reliability. I love my WRX, and my wife has no complaints from her [DEL]Canyonero[/DEL] Outback. If I do have a complaint about the Subaru platforms, it’s that they kind of make even their small cars drive like trucks – unless you drive them just right. If you are wiling to have the slow in/fast out patience necessary, they’re pretty wonderful to drive. If you enter a corner a little slow, and get into the the throttle progressively as you enter the turn, it feels like a race car instead of a truck. Even the [DEL]Canyonero[/DEL] Outback responds well to this treatment. It’s almost is a truck that drives like a car.
OTOH, I also have recently purchased a Honda Fit (the wife declared the 125K WRX unfit for 100mi round trip commuter duty). I haven’t hit anything on the freeway that I would take much faster in the WRX than I would in the Fit, other than corner exit speeds. Really, unless you’re driving a car with hopelessly soft handling these days, anything short of a truck or van should meet your handling needs.
Of your requirements, radar cruise control is the one that’s going to be expensive. Subaru offers both that, lane holding and cross traffic detection on their recent models. I really would suggest a Legacy or Impreza if you can stomach the gas mileage hit that turning three differentials can create.
Oh, and if you’re thinking of buying a car that’s just a year or two old, I’d advise against it. I was shopping used Fits, and any low mileage example I could find was so close to a new model that it didn’t make any practical difference in price.
I’d like to put it out there that a 2002 Tribute isn’t the best example of what Mazda can do. It has a Ford engine and Ford transmission, and the rest of the car was jointly developed by the two, so it probably has more Ford DNA than Mazda, to be honest.