Good points! In fact the other day it was raining and at every stop light my car spun wheels as I began to accelerate. I have the MXV4 that came with the car and they are fairly new. My Legend had great traction with the same tires, but the RL was slipping all over the place. That same day I test drove a 1997 S500 and was surprised to see that even under full acceleration the car did not loose grip (same MXV4 tires). Now snowy and icy conditions may prove different and the RL may not get stuck as easily but the fwd does not materially outpace the rwd versions of some competitors