Will 2WD become a rarity a'la the manual? - Gaining Traction: Americans Shun Two-wheel Drive In Record Numbers

Would you buy AWD/4WD for your next ride even if you probably wouldn't need it?

  • Yes

    Votes: 4 40.0%

  • No

    Votes: 6 60.0%
  • Total voters
    10
rickhamilton620

rickhamilton620

has a fetish for terrible cars
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
16,962
Location
Mount Wolf, PA
Car(s)
2023 Mazda CX-5 Premium
Source: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2...icans-shun-two-wheel-drive-in-record-numbers/

Would it surprise you to learn that the majority of 2020 model-year vehicles sold in the U.S. thus far eschewed front- or rear-drive?

That seems to be the case, according to data compiled by JATO Dynamics. It’s no secret that SUVs and crossovers are now the default purchase of most Americans, and with that purchase comes — usually — the all-weather benefit of AWD or 4WD.

As of April, 50.8 percent of 2020MY vehicles sold in the country boasted such a system, JATO claims. If that figure holds for the remainder of the year, it would be the first time in history that a majority of American buyers took home a non-2WD vehicle in a given model year.

Last year came close, with U.S. buyers choosing AWD or 4WD to the tune of 49.4 percent. The trend is clear. For the 2018 model year, this figure was 47.3 percent. 2017? 42.3 percent. You’d only have to go back to 2016 to see a figure lower than 40 percent. Those were long-ago times.
Click to expand...
 
CraigB said:
I will say, unless it's a lowered '80s mini-truck I will never buy another 2wd pickup. Today I used the 4wd on the Frontier to get myself out of a spot I needed to be, but was super wet.
Click to expand...

Given where I live right now I can't see myself buying anything that's "not a car" without AWD/4WD.

In my brain it's like *anything not a car* and 4 wheel propulsion is linked and if I'm not going to get it I might as well buy a more fun car.
 
I live in the snow belt. All things being equal, AWD/4WD > 2WD. Most of the time you can't even sell a 2WD version of an AWD here, they sit on lots for months or even years and eventually get sold down south for next to nothing.
 
We get very little snow (maybe once or twice a winter and lasting 1-2 days) where I live, so I still prefer 2WD for a car. But, I do have the XJ I can drive whenever the weather is nasty.
AWD/4WD wasn't a requirement when we last bought a new car, but it has been nice on occasion to have it in our Outback. Bad weather, trips to the frozen North (Blind_Io land), camping, etc. are no problem at all.
If/when I eventually buy a truck, 2WD is absolutely out of the question. A 2WD truck would be useless for my needs.

AWD now isn't quite the hit on mileage like it used to be, so for a lot of people/families that need to have one vehicle do it all, going AWD makes a lot of sense.
 
So I am probably wrong about this because I still think the pinnacle of automotive comfort is a 4 door sedan. But...yes I doubt if cars will be built other than 4wd SUV's

I think Americans vehicle purchases will be a six wheel all wheel drive SUV for shitbag children driven by a Karen.

I think most people try to buy something that checks all the boxes so fits the most people, is fast looking, could survive their imaginary Jack Ryan revenge fantasy...

Meanwhile a parallel future of autonomous vehicles and car exchange services will be set up. Users will be indifferent and content but those who dislike those services will vilify the very notion and it's users.

Cruise-Origin-in-SFs-Castro-District.jpg
 
Last edited:
Most Americans (not FG!) want transportation. They don't care so much what the vehicle is, so long as it's not public transport because they're better than that. AWD sounds safe so it must be good, right? Never mind that there is no winter tire mandate or winter driving teaching so people drive with shit tires meaning they go 10mph in a snow storm and anyone driving faster is a maniac.
 
Last edited:
For me I'm adapting to the idea of only needing a private ride from time to time and a fun car time to time. I was going to rent a Bentley for my birthday (Covid put that on hold) though even if I had the money I wouldn't want to own one because I wouldn't want to maintain one.

That said most Americans if given a hundred million lottery win would be bankrupt in a month. I think that same logic applies to the cars they purchase. Of course I need AWD it's an SUV! Single women living in an apartment in a moderate city who once drove to the mountains nearly 8 years ago you really should get it "then you'll have it"
 
Last edited:
Momentum57 said:
For me I'm adapting to the idea of only needing a private ride from time to time and a fun car time to time. I was going to rent a Bentley for my birthday (Covid put that on hold) though even if I had the money I would want to own one because I wouldn't want to maintain one.

That said most Americans if given a hundred million lottery win would be bankrupt in a month. I think that same logic applies to the cars they purchase. Of course I need AWD it's an SUV! Single women living in an apartment in a moderate city who once drove to the mountains nearly 8 years ago you really should get it "then you'll have it"
Click to expand...

And yet we laugh at how foolish the Russian people were in the 90s. Boris Yeltsin had this idea to allow the Russian people to buy shares in Russian companies after the fall of the Soviet Union and privatization of big companies particularly in the energy field. They (the people of Russia) instead sold them all to the wealthy Kremlin after being duped. We’re both wasteful and don’t see the value in things we have and can look to the future.
 
93Flareside said:
And yet we laugh at how foolish the Russian people were in the 90s. Boris Yeltsin had this idea to allow the Russian people to buy shares in Russian companies after the fall of the Soviet Union and privatization of big companies particularly in the energy field. They (the people of Russia) instead sold them all to the wealthy Kremlin after being duped. We’re both wasteful and don’t see the value in things we have and can look to the future.
Click to expand...


I guess I fail to see the analogy. You are likening stock in energy companies to a depreciating asset of a vehicle... profit?
 
Momentum57 said:
I guess I fail to see the analogy. You are likening stock in energy companies to a depreciating asset of a vehicle... profit?
Click to expand...

*wakes up*

yeah I don’t know either....
 
:dunno: I consciously didn't check the xdrive box when ordering the 2er... but then I don't live in a mountainous four month long snow covered winter, and have good winter tyres.
In my mind, ordering the xdrive would be...
...faster in theory, ie 0-100 times
...slower in reality because more fuel stops
...more in income tax



and some numbers:
...it would officially drop 0.1s off the 0-100 time
...fuel consumption appears to go up 5% on average, nudging on 10% for the more frugal drivers (seems logical, the effect is lower if you go very fast and aero takes over), so it would likely mean approximately ten additional fuel stops over the three-year lease period just for the weight and drivetrain losses
...it would cost me approximately 135€ per year in additional income tax
 
Last edited:
I've only really needed the 4wd on my F150 a few times. But those times, I really really needed. For that I will always own at least one 4 wheel drive vehicle.
 
I can't help but wonder why this is. This data is only for 2020, and car sales have tanked in this time due to COVID-19. So why would suddenly more than 50% of vehicle sold have power to all 4 wheels?

Fleet sales. Fleets for mining, highway departments, even police tend to go to SUVs and truck platforms (or AWD police interceptors in the case of Ford and Dodge). I think this might be an artifact in the data due to the lowered overall sales figures. There were probably a lot of deliveries and purchases that were already scheduled to happen for these large entities and went ahead in the first part of the year.
 
What really will piss me off is when most brands go "well this is all anyone buys so we're just going to sell AWD models." This is why we have such boring options.
 
At what point does AWD even become a necessity? It depends entirely on who you ask. I talked to some guy that traded his Hilux for a new Rav4 Hybrid, and I asked him what the electric AWD is like. He replied that he had bought a FWD model, because "he never used 4WD in the hilux anyway" ... I don't even.

Then there's me. I love having traction on tap regardless what the road surface is like. The light turns green, I press the right pedal and go. If the road is slippery I'll know from the sound of studs against ice when the car in the other lane spins its front wheels. My car doesn't care. And I like it that way.
 
What I would rather have is a limited slip diff, somehow that's way more expensive than AWD.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top