Shnippy:
We in the North East of the US have cold, wet and slippery winters. Having an AWD vehicle is a necessity. In fact when shopping for the car, my wife insisted on my getting the AWD. When I told her it was a $10,000 US upgrade she didn't hesitate. She said "get it in AWD or don't bother getting it at all"
The AWD is rear biased "on demand AWD" meaning when the car demands it or "needs" it rather the ratio of rwd and fwd is adjusted.
The computer checks the wheel grip, road surface, speed, yaw, etc and in 100 millisecond shifts power to either the rear or front in whatever proportion is needed.
When driving on dry pavement on the highway the ratio is 100% rear driven. So the AWD gives the driver the best of both worlds. I think I explained it correctly...LOL
Steve