Quote:
Originally Posted by T Bone
No my comments are specific to Quattro with the full time AWD. The newer ones with torque vectoring with complete 100% torque shift front to back are good so long as it doesn't add too much weight. Look at the torque to the wheel differences between the M3 and the RS4.....only difference is the drivetrain losses. This is backed by observations where the RS4 gets spanked...
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My knowledge of various awd systems being a bit superficial, perhaps I could use a little schooling here, as well as making sure of your position.
I should say that anecdotal evidence isn't worth much in terms of proof, but I'm a little surprised about your opinion because of my experience with our 2000 A6 4.2. This car's off-the-line performance was sluggish enough that I thought card-carrying members of the Anti-Destination League had infiltrated Audi's engineering department, but it was no slouch out on the road. In fact, on two separate occasions it managed to hold its own against a pair of 540s from a highway roll. Of course, it made more power (300 to 282), but it also weighed a fair bit more, it being a bigger car plus Quattro. Those bimmers could slaughter me off the line, but everywhere else, it was pretty even, with me seeming to have the upper hand as speeds rolled into triple-digit territory. The car wasn't anything special in terms of performance, either, running a best of 14.9 @ around 93 mph at the local drag strip, so it isn't as if I had a ringer or anything.
In any event, it didn't seem as if Quattro was hurting me a whole bunch, powerwise.
Can you tell me why Quattro suffers more power loss than, say, the awd in your bimmer? Is it the Torsen center diff? If not, what is it?
Thanks,
Bruce