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OK I'll bite - no you don't need awd, especially in NJ!
I've driven rwd cars as long as I've been driving (a long time...) and many of them were equipped with summer performance tires. With planning and careful driving I've gotten stuck exactly twice. Once parked on ice at a restaurant (the waiters pushed me out) and once on an icy sloped on-ramp after being forced to stop at the bottom by a traffic light (the kind people stuck behind me gave me a push). Both times the tires were summer performance and if I learned one thing from those experiences, if it's a daily driver you have to rely on when it may snow, summer tires really are not a good idea.
The Friday of the blizzard I had to work late. My current rwd 335 with all-seasons had no trouble on the slippery and hilly but plowed roads. Made it all the way home only to be confronted with the inevitable pile of snow in front of my driveway, which I blasted through only to get stuck due to deep snow. Poor beemer spent the night in the cold. Yes, awd probably would have dragged me those last few feet into my garage.
I guess my point is I choose rwd in an area where it actually does snow occasionally and I may have no choice but to drive because I prefer less weight, less complication, less expense and better steering feel and fuel economy AND I actually ENJOY those few days where winter driving becomes a real challenge. I have however, definitely given up on summer-only performance tires.
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