Try buying a 4×4 truck with the options and colors you want off the dealer’s lot in Dallas, Texas. Odds are you’ll find the options and colors in rear wheel drive only because 4×4’s don’t sell as well as 2x4s in Texas. Why do you need a 4×4 in Texas?
So why do SUVs have to be 4×4’s or All Wheel Drive? In fact, at the entry end of the segment, many Cute Utes are available in two wheel drive (predominately front wheel drive since the small SUVs seem to be developed off passenger car platforms). But the X1 is available in sDrive in several world markets.
The advantages to rear wheel drive are numerous. The best advantage being a strict split of work between front and rear axles. The RWD variant will feel better to the knowledgeable driver than the AWD model. That and there’s a weight advantage and potentially a better price too boot.
The question that has to be asked is do you need all wheel drive? Since most SUVs are rarely taken off road, and real snow tires make a rear wheel drive vehicle acceptable in snow, why would you need the expense and weight of AWD? And what if you live in a section of the country that rarely sees snow?
The new X3 is a much better vehicle than the one it replaced, and it would be neat if BMW could make it even better by offering an X3 sDrive variant. A sweet driving, ‘command view’, easy to get in and out of – a requirement for aging boomer babies – car that doesn’t have the weight or price penalty of the xDrive version.
So this calls for a poll! Would you be interested in an X3 sDrive? And if so, where do you live?
