[ZigmundUK]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

At the end of the day it's purely a judgement call.
The RWD fans obsess over AWD braking and handling
The AWD fans obsess over RWD instability on slippery roads and corners
Taking everything on board and doing the research, there's very little in it. The AWD handling isn't as compromised as RWD guys claim and RWD with winters is excellent.
I'll only really know if I got it right in a few years but for now I think the AWD benefits are worth me adding the feature to the car

Hmmm. Reducing it to 'fanboys' implies this is a subjective decision process. On the contrary there's plenty of objective reasoning to decide which to go for for any individual. There is a subjective aspect to this - mainly being 'handling'.

Let me just state again I have no issues with people getting x drive. But I can't fathom why people prefer awd over winter tyres if the issue is winter safety. Now some guys state wet roads make their cars dangerously slippy - that's their experience and their reason to go awd. Fine. But if talking about snow and general wintery conditions I can't figure out why awd with winters is any more superior than rwd on winters for 90% of the roads. Note I've omitted awd on summers in snow as a reasonable option as I believe it increases the danger on roads - basically gives folk the false sense of security.

Now lots of people get awd in America but most places in the states I believe sell the cars with all seasons and all seasons with awd is probably a decent idea in the uk. But many people will turn their noses up on it saying it's the worst of both worlds and stick with summer tyres on winter roads!?

Anyhoo. You're right it's a judgement call and I reckon there's enough in this forum at least to add to test drive experiences to make an objective judgement call rather than sticking with labels.

[f1swk]

harry fairbairn is now owned by arnold clark group

[languidmandala]

Originally Posted by ZigmundUK

Hmmm. Reducing it to 'fanboys' implies this is a subjective decision process. On the contrary there's plenty of objective reasoning to decide which to go for for any individual. There is a subjective aspect to this - mainly being 'handling'.

Hmmm, I never said anything about fanboys. As far as I am concerned "fan" (the term I used) is a perfectly respectful term for someone who favours one artist, football team or car over another.

Anyhoo. You're right it's a judgement call and I reckon there's enough in this forum at least to add to test drive experiences to make an objective judgement call rather than sticking with labels.

or perhaps jumping to judgement?

[languidmandala]

Originally Posted by f1swk

harry fairbairn is now owned by arnold clark group

I know. Scary.

[f1swk]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

I know. Scary.

bmw would be horrified if they saw the prep level

[languidmandala]

Originally Posted by f1swk

bmw would be horrified if they saw what we did

Is your real name Arnold?

[ZigmundUK]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

Hmmm, I never said anything about fanboys. As far as I am concerned "fan" (the term I used) is a perfectly respectful term for someone who favours one artist, football team or car over another.


or perhaps jumping to judgement?

Sorry for messing up fanboy/fan. I wasn't implying you we're being disrespectful at all. However I still think you're implying the decision is/should be subjective decisions - e.g football teams, artists etc are generally not based on objective evidence or rationale based criteria. They're usually on emotional or 'feel' criteria. I think that's a small part of the equation and there's actual concrete things to base the overall decision on.

Not sure I understand the jumping to judgement statement... Sorry

[languidmandala]

Originally Posted by ZigmundUK

Sorry for messing up fanboy/fan. I wasn't implying you we're being disrespectful at all. However I still think you're implying the decision is/should be subjective decisions - e.g football teams, artists etc are generally not based on objective evidence or rationale based criteria. They're usually on emotional or 'feel' criteria. I think that's a small part of the equation and there's actual concrete things to base the overall decision on.

Not sure I understand the jumping to judgement statement... Sorry

Ah I see, but I disagree. For me most aspects of xdrive vs sdrive are entirely subjective not because the merits of each aren't quantifiable but because their relative importance is. In other words we can probably agree on the relative merits but disagree entirely on their importance. Just because a judgement is based on facts doesn't make it any less subjective.

[ZigmundUK]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

Ah I see, but I disagree. For me most aspects of xdrive vs sdrive are entirely subjective not because the merits of each aren't quantifiable but because their relative importance is. In other words we can probably agree on the relative merits but disagree entirely on their importance. Just because a judgement is based on facts doesn't make it any less subjective.

Interesting. Need to digest that for a while.

[oop north]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

Ah I see, but I disagree. For me most aspects of xdrive vs sdrive are entirely subjective not because the merits of each aren't quantifiable but because their relative importance is. In other words we can probably agree on the relative merits but disagree entirely on their importance. Just because a judgement is based on facts doesn't make it any less subjective.

Do you know, I think that is probably the most astute thing I have seen written on here!

In any event, none of us is as objective as we like to think we are - we are all products of our different experiences and backgrounds

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

Ah I see, but I disagree. For me most aspects of xdrive vs sdrive are entirely subjective not because the merits of each aren't quantifiable but because their relative importance is. In other words we can probably agree on the relative merits but disagree entirely on their importance. Just because a judgement is based on facts doesn't make it any less subjective.

Good post

[languidmandala]

Cheers guys. There's something about spending £35k on a car that focuses the mind...

[Zero71]

Collecting mine from Parks in Glasgow, on Saturday - all going well!

[languidmandala]

Originally Posted by zerolight

Collecting mine from Parks in Glasgow, on Saturday - all going well!

Aye, rub it in, why don't ye

[Zero71]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

Aye, rub it in, why don't ye

Been waiting since Feb!

[f1swk]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

Is your real name Arnold?

i think something went wrong there,edited to what i thought i wrote

[languidmandala]

Originally Posted by f1swk

i think something went wrong there,edited to what i thought i wrote

That makes me so much happier

[languidmandala]

... and the car is built. Just the delivery which should be around two weeks all being well. There remains the possibility the whole process will actually come in a smidgen under the 6 weeks. Phew

[ZigmundUK]

Originally Posted by languidmandala

... and the car is built. Just the delivery which should be around two weeks all being well. There remains the possibility the whole process will actually come in a smidgen under the 6 weeks. Phew

Whoa. That's impressive. I ordered 8th march and probably on the same delivery timeline as you! They must have had a freed up slot at your dealership or something. Anyway great news!

[Poohbore]

As mine will be a company car winter tyres is not an option so I went xDrive as the one thing I could do to help the traction in the winter.

[ZigmundUK]

Originally Posted by Poohbore

As mine will be a company car winter tyres is not an option so I went xDrive as the one thing I could do to help the traction in the winter.

On a 2 year lease and one of our cars winter tyred I'll get some snow socks for this one. Ie just to keep me going for commute for v short distances. I've done the awd with summers for winter and having almost crashed twice due to braking issues I'm not going there again!!

[Bored of Audi]

Originally Posted by ZigmundUK

Whoa. That's impressive. I ordered 8th march and probably on the same delivery timeline as you! They must have had a freed up slot at your dealership or something. Anyway great news!

I ordered a F30 330D first week of march and got another 4 weeks to wait, starting to get desperate... Still quicker than my last Audi which took just short of 6 months..