Any advantage of getting AWD over FWD in a city like Atlanta?

I agree. His first post, at least to me, doesn't sound like he's sold on AWD. Just wondering if he should.

Agree: tires, tires, tires

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finch204 said:
Get what you want so you don't regret it later as stated by someone else above.

I have the FWD, I wish I would have gotten the AWD even if I'm in Texas. Reasons for wanting AWD:
- Performance. The car will use all four tires when it needs to. This means corner exits are much better, standing starts are much better and the car is better balanced when loaded up. Towing is better from a traction standpoint with AWD.
- Wet weather traction. Doing a quick right turn on an intersection on wet roads can be a safety issue on FWD. In my case, I was spinning the inside tires due to the wet roads and the car took some time to regain traction. Another example is doing a protected left turn where the incoming car is not stopping. (This happened to my sister and she flipped over her Corolla as a result.) You better be able to get on the power and quickly finish your left turn, or you get hit.
- Out of state road trips. Just because I live in Texas doesn't mean I'm only going to be driving in Texas. It would be great to have a car that can do a road trip into a snowy state. (You can argue that FWD with winter tires is better, however it doesn't make sense to use winter tires in Texas. All season tires with AWD is a good compromise here.)
- Better modding potential. This really ties into my first point about performance. If you somehow mod it to where it makes more power, or put wider wheels/tires on it, the AWD version will put your mods to good use.

There are certainly some advantages to going with FWD, like cheaper price and better MPGs. In my case, I get MPGs similar to owners driving AWD CX-5s, so really I only got the cheaper price benefit.
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BAM, agreed...
 
Maybe it's just me but I feel like getting FWD in an SUV make the car feel 'incomplete' to me. I always pictured an SUV to have the ability to go off-roading every now and then. I live in LA but picked up an AWD because my thinking was I might need it someday. 1 month later I tried hiking and loved it and now go every weekend. Part of these hikes take me into areas where AWD is needed so I'm glad I purchased AWD.

I would recommend it, just because you don't need it now doesn't mean you won't need it someday.
 
I wouldn't get the CX5 without AWD. I can understand being reluctant though being that you live in Atlanta but I think finch's post is pretty spot on. You don't have to have snow to have that awd to pay off.
 
mangoconchile said:
Maybe it's just me but I feel like getting FWD in an SUV make the car feel 'incomplete' to me. I always pictured an SUV to have the ability to go off-roading every now and then. I live in LA but picked up an AWD because my thinking was I might need it someday. 1 month later I tried hiking and loved it and now go every weekend. Part of these hikes take me into areas where AWD is needed so I'm glad I purchased AWD.

I would recommend it, just because you don't need it now doesn't mean you won't need it someday.
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jhu8 said:
I wouldn't get the CX5 without AWD. I can understand being reluctant though being that you live in Atlanta but I think finch's post is pretty spot on. You don't have to have snow to have that awd to pay off.
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Totally agree.
 
mangoconchile said:
Maybe it's just me but I feel like getting FWD in an SUV make the car feel 'incomplete' to me. I always pictured an SUV to have the ability to go off-roading every now and then. I live in LA but picked up an AWD because my thinking was I might need it someday. 1 month later I tried hiking and loved it and now go every weekend. Part of these hikes take me into areas where AWD is needed so I'm glad I purchased AWD.

I would recommend it, just because you don't need it now doesn't mean you won't need it someday.
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That's a pretty good point.

You might want to do road trips to areas where having AWD is definitely a plus to have.

Anyway, guess it all depends on what you plan to do with your CX-5.

I agree that I'd want one for weather reasons where I live. But if I was only going to drive it around Atlanta, then maybe that's a price difference I don't want to pay.

Ultimately, up to you, OP.
 
AWD can be beneficial even on wet grassy hill you might want to drive from time to time and stuff of that sort.

No need for snow/ice to justify AWD.

Once in FL, I went off road up a hill. It turned out to be sandy road as well. FWD would not have made it.

It is small stuff as well. Finch 204 mentioned wet traction as well. I agree.
 
AAAAGH!!!

You guys are making me confused! ;)

I had the S4 when I was in FL and I autocrossed it. I also autocrossed my Mazda3 (and won) so FWD is no slouch.
I drove from Miami to Boston in the S4 and it snowed. I promptly took the S4 to empty parking lot and proceeded to have a blast!

S4 could chirp all 4 tires. Don't think the Cx-5 can. However I can see if it's wet or sleety (is that a word) it could be an issue.

I think I'm going to look harder for a AWD. You all make good points that there are rare occasions you will need it. The RDX has 250hp or so and I had to be pretty careful in Columbia when it snowed/sleeted.

As far as tires yes I agree it's very important. However it's hard to play especially in my example when I drove from Miami to Boston. I'm not going to buy snow tires for one week long trip so maybe AWD + all season is about as good as FWD with snows (for standing starts)
 
I've chirped my tires... on dry pavement no less (not sure if it was 2 or 4 though). We're not talking J-strips... but still....
 
The wet grass is a great point. A lot of my friends I end up parking off the road, in the mud, etc. I will not be that guy who gets stuck in an suv because I got fwd lol I remember when I was young at my parents house, a family friends Escalade got stock in the mud. I was young and confused, was like doesn't that thing have 4x4. Flip it on and go. Nope, it was FWD. How in the world do you spend all that money and not equip your SUV appropriately.

So yeah, I think AWD is worth it.
 
My guess based on some quick research a couple of weeks back is the AWD holds about 50% of it's value after 5 years, so that $1,300 is actually $650, depending.

Thinking back on my FWD, I've spun the front wheels, maybe 5 times. Unfortunately, I don't think the AWD would have meaningfully helped in any of those.

I've watched a lot of videos on AWD and it just never comes up as viable, except in pretty specific conditions, and snow tires get you really close to AWD + Snow Tires (AWD and regular tires aren't even close). I wouldn't mind having it, and if the dealer had what I was looking for, in a color I wanted in AWD vs FWD, and was willing to take a few dollars off, then sure, otherwise, nope.
 
dyingquail said:
My guess based on some quick research a couple of weeks back is the AWD holds about 50% of it's value after 5 years, so that $1,300 is actually $650, depending.

Thinking back on my FWD, I've spun the front wheels, maybe 5 times. Unfortunately, I don't think the AWD would have meaningfully helped in any of those.

I've watched a lot of videos on AWD and it just never comes up as viable, except in pretty specific conditions, and snow tires get you really close to AWD + Snow Tires (AWD and regular tires aren't even close). I wouldn't mind having it, and if the dealer had what I was looking for, in a color I wanted in AWD vs FWD, and was willing to take a few dollars off, then sure, otherwise, nope.
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You've never had an AWD car have you?
 
mangoconchile said:
Maybe it's just me but I feel like getting FWD in an SUV make the car feel 'incomplete' to me. I always pictured an SUV to have the ability to go off-roading every now and then. I live in LA but picked up an AWD because my thinking was I might need it someday. 1 month later I tried hiking and loved it and now go every weekend. Part of these hikes take me into areas where AWD is needed so I'm glad I purchased AWD.

I would recommend it, just because you don't need it now doesn't mean you won't need it someday.
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The last part of this yes, but the first part... these aren't SUVs, in the offroading sense, really. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would buy a "non-rugged" vehicle and go offroading. And with < 8" ground clearance, LOL.
 
shaendra said:
The last part of this yes, but the first part... these aren't SUVs, in the offroading sense, really. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would buy a "non-rugged" vehicle and go offroading. And with < 8" ground clearance, LOL.
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Off roading doesn't necessarily mean "muddin'" or "hill climbing", but it does include slippery, uneven surfaces where AWD pays off ten fold. Gravel roads and pull offs to go hiking are perfect examples...
 
If the FWD CX-5 came with a limited slip differential then I would say it is a much harder decision to make between FWD and AWD. After driving our CX-5 for 2 years, I will always recommend getting the AWD version.
 
NelsonLewis said:
Off roading doesn't necessarily mean "muddin'" or "hill climbing", but it does include slippery, uneven surfaces where AWD pays off ten fold. Gravel roads and pull offs to go hiking are perfect examples...
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Exactly what I meant. The majority of hikes I do usually requires to drive on dirt/gravel roads. Here's the one I did last week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbHVAw9W_GE

Took me about 20 minutes of driving on that road at 5-10 MPH to get to the parking lot. I would hate driving thru that in a FWD car.
 
mangoconchile said:
Exactly what I meant. The majority of hikes I do usually requires to drive on dirt/gravel roads. Here's the one I did last week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbHVAw9W_GE

Took me about 20 minutes of driving on that road at 5-10 MPH to get to the parking lot. I would hate driving thru that in a FWD car.
Click to expand...

And that's in a Jeep which sits much higher. Not sure about y'all but I have no intention of taking my car out on even a flat gravel lot, if I can avoid it. It's too "pretty" of a vehicle for me to consider for non-paved type driving. My old pickups, sure. But not this thing... Even with AWD.

JMO.


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ColoradoDriver said:
I live in Colorado (wait, really?) So AWD was natural.

Atlanta? Think you'll be fine with FWD.

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Of course the funny thing is my FWD CX-5 handled this winter fine in Denver. The two times I went into the mountains, I threw my chains in my trunk as a just in case.
 
FWD more mpg in city.
FWD less mpg or same as AWD on highway. Also it seems AWD does not suffer from pneumonia every time the speed is above 75 like FWD does.
 
shaendra said:
And that's in a Jeep which sits much higher. Not sure about y'all but I have no intention of taking my car out on even a flat gravel lot, if I can avoid it. It's too "pretty" of a vehicle for me to consider for non-paved type driving. My old pickups, sure. But not this thing... Even with AWD.

JMO.


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Click to expand...
It won't be "pretty" forever. It will be just like that pickup before too long, "old".
 
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