i was at the ski resort the other day and i saw a 2.5 rs in the parking lot. when he tried to lauch he got about 1.5 seconds of front wheel spin before the back wheels started to push the car. i was very unimpressed with the effeciency of the AWD system. i am wondering if:
the uneven surface (ice-snow-small bumps)
and/or absence/presence of a rear LSD
and/or fact that the car was still not at operating temp (viscous LSD need to heat up to work) could have all played a role.
thanks.

 

When you are on ice, there is pretty much nothing you can do without studded snow tires. It doesn't matter if your a FWD, RWD or AWD, the wheels will slip and slide at least a little bit on ice (AWD less then the other two obviously, but it will still slip).

He could have also been applying too much gas. There should be a decent amount of traction (compared to smooth ice) in the parking lot of a ski resort, so if he started the car slow enough, there would have been significantly less wheel spin.

I don't think it really has anything to do with the diffs or the AWD system itself. I think it has more to do with the driver and tires.

 

i know that there could be wheel spin but 1.5 seconds of it is a lot!!! during that time it was not moving at all, nothing! i thought that the normal split was 50%front/50%rear so it should have spun from all four wheels.

 

Depends on the year and transmission type. If it is an auto, it would be a 90% front /10% rear split.

 

you are right, anyone as seen/been in a situation like this before?

 

Are you sure it was both front wheels and not just the one closer to you? I've gotten one front wheel to spin on ice a couple times the last few days.

 

Bingo.... better than having it suddenly engage making you spin out of control.

In super-tight slick and twisty roads, I notice a bit of spin from the front, but none in back (lsd rear). I wish I could adjust the bias like the STI, but oh well.

 

you cannot judge an all wheel drive system on one occurence alone.
rent one drive it for 3 weeks... keep in mind that the auto has a 45/55(rear bias) and the 5speed has a 50/50 bias. in terms of the effeciency of it you'd really have to do more than just observing it for a few seconds.







aloha from the summit of *-^-Mauna Kea-^-*

 

what i mean is i was expecting a bit of wheel spin but it took a very long time before the rear wheels engage and actualy do SOMETHING i thought it would spin all 4 wheels at the same time, not just the front ones. don't get me wrong AWD is still far superior to any other type of drivetrain: to prove that i have a FWD and to get out of the same parking it took me tree try to get up that iced out (slight) uphill. the suby simply got up with no efforts.