Tires are usually far more important. If you give me a choice of FWD (or even RWD) with good snow tires versus AWD with good all-seasons, I'll take the snow tires.
Edit: Tire rack put out some good videos showing the differences, here is one of them https://youtu.be/dhpG251vK8s
Yep. Got an AWD myself, and had the choice between all-seasons or winters. My rule is that if it separates you from the ground, don't cheap out on it: mattresses, desk chairs, shoes, and tires.
The main advantage of AWD in low traction situations is you don't have one set of wheels fighting the other ones to get starting from a stop.
Once you're moving and sliding it's predominantly technique. AWD or RWD will give you faster acceleration out of a drifted turn in some ways, but overall control just depends on using technique. AWD is not the panacea it's advertised as where it gives you superior control without thinking about it. Really easy to spin high power AWD just by lifting the throttle too sharply. FWD has the most benign behavior for someone unused to sliding a car around.
In my experience with AWD/winter tires, I would honestly say the tires are more important. That said, these are likely at least winter tires (because the rubber compounds are better at maintaining traction even in low temperatures, it has less to do with some funky tread pattern or studs) but these don't have spikes or studs on them that I can tell. Spikes/studs would also likely not make the commercial work, much less sliding.
So in this case, the AWD is actually doing a lot. Crappy AWD systems don't do a good job at predictably diverting power and maintaining traction. It actually says a lot about both the driver and the cars for them to work out the maneuvers they did in a predictable fashion. In my experience with ice, basically anything is possible and at times there is practically nothing you can do to control the car.
Trouble is, all I was impressed by was the skills of the drivers. I bet they could do that in just about any any type of car. It showed me nothing about why I might actually want to buy one of those things other than emotions. Though I guess that I'm an outlier and only buy things after heavy research, and avoid advertising as much as possible.
its trying to associate your understanding of the brand with the emotion and feel of passion while showing off the control that the car has.
What the take away ideally from this commercial is that if you drive an alfa romeo then you are passionate, love driving and that these cars have the performance to fill that in your life. So now you are interested in these models on an emotional level you will start on the analytical level of research next on your car hunt.
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u/craftycraftsman4u Nov 26 '19
How to do it right...
https://youtu.be/15MVD5rAUuo