Originally Posted by Nimisys

actually rwd is better in terms of total perfromance over awd for a couple of reasons. first off pure rwd is lighter than awd. two extra differentials, an additional dirveshaft and then a transfercase all add weight. second your combined gear lash through an entire awd system is greater than with rwd, which lowers the effiency of the powerflow through the system. the addional spinning componets add mass that takes more power to spin. and finally the implementation of the AWD system greatky affects its perfromance.