I agree. Great points by both chunky and kati. The biggest hurtles for these drivers I feel are, using their mirrors properly and being aware of the effects of rwd. And, some people are too physically small for the dimensions and seating of large suvs too.
One of the big unintended consequences of the original truck based suv’s was the increase in rollovers and fish tailing our of control when people bought them w/o rwd experience. This confusion is exacerbated when these people have both fwd and truck based SUVs in their driveway and have to move from one to another without using mirrors properly and paying attention to the drive train on slippery roads.
Proof…even the posts by some regular contributors here who drive fwd cars seem to indicate they are automatically better in snow then rwd cars and trucks. Not true…traction in snow has more to do with weight distribution, tires and clearance then drive train. This is why contractors in rwd truck vans can almost go any where, and novice rwd people must depend on the govt. and manufacturers to come up with traction control, stability control and, the over use of 4 and awd.
Full time Awd standard on these vehicles is the capitulation to lack of driving ability on owner driver’s part…next, standard automatic back up and back up cameras will be the capitulation to not using mirrors properly.
A veteran of rwd trucks can always drive a fwd car successfully, the opposite is seldom true with out lots of practice.
Sure I’ll get disagreement on these points…always have. :=)