Kinda going along with the folks talking about rwd... My civic is the first fwd car I've driven, and it is without a doubt a serious disadvantage...

And to you, Brett, having lived in NoVA for a long time, (not to mention WI and CO) MD winters are nothing. That, and theres nothing inherently better about fwd in the snow or ice. I've driven extensively in the most horrendous of winter conditions in two rwd cars with bad tires and still find either of them better than my civic with ok tires.

IMO in the snow, AWD>RWD>FWD. No snow, RWD>AWD>FWD... either way, FWD is the least desirable drive configuration.