The myth of the all-powerful all-wheel drive - Yahoo! Autos

thought you guys might enjoy this

 

Read it, subjective and it's an entirely opinionated article. More worthy of being on the Fox network than anything else.


**Why is it all we post lately is pastes of Yahoo Feed. (Sorry to use this thread but it applies.)

We need to get back to wrenching and modding.

 

This is a repost of an older Popular Mechanics article.

The Myth of All-Powerful All-Wheel Drive - Popular Mechanics

 

I stopped reading after that. That's like saying, "I rather have racing slicks on any POS than the best AWD on RE92."

 

Schmucks.

 

I remember a physics class. It's true that once the tire limit is reached you can't create new grip. The equation easily shows it cancels itself out.

As for some of the folks who think it's all opinionated or whatever, I think the idea that AWD grips better or whatnot only occurs when pushing the car to the extreme. So unless you're tracking consistently, you probably won't notice the "enhancements" of newer technology. And I believe 95% of us on here don't track daily to know the difference.

 

I would rather drive a car with snow tires in the snow.

 

The thing is the idiot who wrote the article is ignoring the active contact patch versus static contact patch.

While you can easily get just about any car to break loose it is how easily the vehicle can create or regain traction that is important. A skilled dirver will use whatever tool they have to the best of their abilities.

That said I've seen some dumb moves by Subaru, Jeep, and Ford drivers over the years in the snow up on Highway 4. Of those 3 brands, the Jeeps and Fords wrecked the hardest while the Subaru drivers could regain reasonable control or enough to stay somewhat on or near the road.

I'll take AWD or 4wd any day. FWD if it's a choice of only 2wd choice and it's a car, 2wd and chains if it's a truck. Luckily I don't need to choose those right now.

 

I had a much longer post, but to put it simply, you're correct that you can't "create" grip. You can, however, use more of the grip provided by the tires. By distributing power to all 4 wheels, you have 4 contacts that power can be put to the ground. So, while you're not "creating" grip, you're just using more of the grip the tires provide.

This also isn't only shown by pushing cars to the extreme. How often do you see some idiot making a right turn and trying to quickly accelerate because he just cut a car off, only spin his front tires? The chances only increase when you have decreased friction, such as stopped/rolling over painted crosswalks or driving in the rain. While those tires are spinning, their not gripping to their potential.

Then we can get into torque steer, and all this other stuff, but like you said, this is more in the "extreme" category.

 

Well I don't even want to own my sti anymore, apparently it's awd dccd is useless, just trade it in for a Prius with the most aggressive snow tire out there and take it to a snow rally. Ha! Yeah right! a good set of snow tires on awd is even better! Muahahaaa...my precious... :}

 

In short........ Yahoo is NOT CREDIBLE!

Remember this?

 

The article is trying to sell us Toyota camrys....

 

Teh lolz

 

NOOOO!!!!!


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good those awd ****ers are always too cocky.