I would argue that AWD could create a false sense of security for a driver in slippery weather. I.E. you're able to get going faster, therefore you don't realize quite how slippery it is until you need to stop in a hurry.
= driver input, irrespective of car.
Someone in a FWD car could detect the 'extra slippage' that you note and continue to ignore it.
The same argument could be made of winter tires - "I have winter tires so I can now drive through anything! muahahahaha!"
Yeah, but at least proper winter tires, as well as helping a car accelerate faster, also help it stop sooner and corner better in slippery conditions. AWD only helps you get moving faster. It doesn't help you stop sooner, and it generally doesn't help you turn any better (fancy torque vectoring systems not-withstanding).
People will be idiots with everything you give them. That does not, in and of itself, negate a benefit provided. Without referring to driver error, AWD, with a vehicle's dynamics control programming, has the capability to correct unintended directional changes with further and selective power input. This is especially true of a vehicle while underway at any speed above 0.
Not really true. Aside from a few select systems, most vehicles VDC systems will use ABS and brakes to correct a car's course. This is something that happens on both FWD cars and AWD cars, as long as both are equipped with VDC (I've felt it happen on my car, it's kinda neat).
I WILL make a concession that if you need to accelerate out of a bad situation, AWD will be safer. Such a situation could involve you being stopped at an intersection with nobody in front of you and seeing a vehicle unable to stop behind you.
MOST bad situations in a car however, require either braking or steering inputs, not acceleration inputs. As mentioned before, most AWD systems do not help you with steering or braking inputs.
We're not even delving into the fact that most AWD vehicles tend to have a higher center of gravity than FWD cars, and are therefore more prone to rollovers (yes, mostly negated with modern VDC systems, but still, physics is physics, and a higher center of gravity is easier to roll than a lower center of gravity).
I think a LOT of people here have fallen HARD into the marketing ploy that all the major car makers have undertaken promoting AWD as a safety item. But this is the thing: It's just marketing. They're trying to upsell more expensive cars. AWD is an easy upsell, especially when marketed as a safety item.
In reality, I think if you analyze it, AWD is a convenience/performance upsell, and much less of a safety upsell than it is made out to be. Please note, I'm not trying to marginalize it. AWD is VERY useful, and there are times when I wish I had it. But I just don't think it makes a car any SAFER.
