Having had the opportunity last year to drive a FWD+trac and an AWD vehicle under identical winter conditions, I can say that there *is* a difference despite what everyone says. Dedicated snow tires help with the FWD, but there is still a difference in your ability to negotiate hills, driveways, and areas that are less than optimally plowed. (read as: The parking lot at my old office)
Not to say that FWD+Trac is useless, but it does require more time, patience, and careful application of power to negotiate some areas without getting yourself stuck. Of course you *could* get in over your head with AWD too. But I had to try very hard to do that. :stupid:
For some AWD is a necessity. For others, it's merely a "would like to have", much like someone having a preference for a wood steering wheel, or a larger engine, or RES. For me it would've been a slam dunk if the Ody was available in AWD. But it took some boneheaded moves by Toyota to help bring me back to a FWD vehicle. Fortunately I live in an area where we don't get wicked winter weather *too* often, but we do get a lot of slushy/icy conditions often, so we'll have to see how it goes.
As for the future of AWD, it doesn't look like this current platform is engineered to accomodate for a conventional AWD drivetrain (too little ground clearance), so I think the only way we'd get it before the next model change would be if they offered a hybrid version with electric motors driving the rear. Which still sorta leaves the question of where do the batteries go.
--> Andy
