Hercules

I had often tried to make this point to my friend, who is an Audi fanatic but he continues to argue that AWD will beat RWD cars on the track. I'm glad to say, I have found a way to prove everybody with that thinking wrong. Better drivers will beat AWD cars every time in a RWD car, with clear weather on a track. Obviously AWD has advantages in bad weather. Anyway, here's the link: Click me! It's a discussion I followed from the first day, and if you read along it says the same thing (with lots of proof hehe), that a better driver can use an RWD car to the maximum and beat AWD cars on the laps... AWD just makes driving a fast car easier, and makes bad drivers look better than they are Yell at me if ya want, but the proof is there

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fuz

Yes, I'm sure that's why audi dominated the super touring circut until AWD was banned, despite the penalties...

http://www.audiworld.com/news/02/unf.../content.shtml

And the AWD Skyline GT-Rs...

Besides, what happens if you have equally good drivers in both cars? What is the point in saying that a better driver in a different car will win? You can't make a comparison with more than one variable to compare. It doesn't make any sense.

How many drivers have the skill to make RWD better than AWD? Are any of us that good?

Quick_lude

I think his point was given a professional race driver, rwd will be better than awd. Awd makes "regular" drivers like us better, especially in wet weather.
Awd is not the "ultimate" way of putting the power down.. It will not help you to corner better, it will only help you to exit the corner better in slippery conditions.

Hercules

*nod*

bolda48

In most real world driving, i.e. not including a professional racer on a dry tarmac, AWD would be a better choice. It gives each tire a chance to operate closer to 100% during acceleration.

JGard18

AWD is easier to control, but RWD is generally faster. There's a reason why Indy cars are RWD.

I remember having arguments with things you've said, and I only argue that you CAN do everything in AWD that you can do in RWD, it just takes more skill.

As for driving a track, the AWD cars do it much easier. They're point and shoot kinda cars.

But if you want to have more fun on a track, I'd take AWD. It's much easier to bust into a drift, and carry it throughout a corner. No worry of looping the car due to spinning the rear tires.

Sputnik

That's the thing, it gives each tire a "chance" to operate "closer" to 100% during "acceleration".

The big point is that it is during "acceleration". It does nothing with cornering. In fact, all of that extra weight, sprung and unsprung, makes it handle worse than a comparable car with only RWD. Oh sure, you can quote all sorts of minor issues that where having the front wheels under power will offer a slight benefit, but with as many of those minor details that you can bring up, they don't combine to overcome the weight deficit, and that's even assuming that the AWD's drivetrain is always tuned perfectly for each situation, which is not the case in the real world.

And even considering the grip on acceleration, you do have more weight to haul around. Heck, put that same amount of weight in strategic locations on the RWD version, and it would also have better grip. But down the line, the lighter car is flying by. So unless a particular car has enough power to that the grip needs outweigh the penalties, AWD is not all that effective in straightline, needless to say the twisties.

I can tell you from experience, that the Eclipse AWDs certainly did NOT have enough power to utilize the AWD effectively. Not from the factory, anyway.

Oh, and please, someone bring up that 10-yr old commercial about how AWD made the Audi's so good that they were not allowed to compete in a certain race series. C'mon, I dare ya...

---jps

Hercules

"Audi had a commercial that showed how it was banned for having AWD in racing!"



*waits for reply to be educated*

Quick_lude

I believe that was only in rally racing where awd definitely is an advantage due to slippery road conditions like gravel, snow and mud.

If you are drifting on a regular race track then you are losing time. Instead of going forward, your car is going sideways. It might be fun but it's a slower way around the track.

Grimace

I'm not anti-AWD, but on a dry track, RWD is better.
However, AWD holds a lot of appeal for people who drive on surfaces other than a well prepared track. Especially in my neck of the woods. Something like a WRX would be lovely in the winter and during rainy weather. Can't think of a better vehicle to put 4 snow tires on and pretend I'm Tommy Makinen in the white stuff.

Sputnik

Well, it was soo hot that...

IIRC, the Audis were just placed in the wrong series to begin with. Just like as if they were placed in the Speed Channel Touring instead of the Speed Channel GTs. It really didn't have to do with AWD, it was just a matter of making the series equal. Bein' a series outside of the States, 99.5% of Americans didn't follow the series, so they didn't know the whole story.

Credit to Audi for an EXCELLENT Marketing campaign that people still remember to this day, though.

---jps

wakeech

you mean that the unfair advantage was in something like total wieght, dimensions, tyre specs, or a (really big) engine advantage?? tell me more... i know nothing about this.

Sputnik

Actually, I know nothing more on the subject. I just remember that there was alot more to it than just AWD.

---jps

VikingDJ

I'd have to guess the car was just in a different power/performance class as well, and it was unfair. It probably would have trounced the competition had they not banned it.

wakeech

holy resurrections batman!!