War of the New Generation Sports AWD systems

[hightower99]

None of those are new. ATTESA has been around since the R32 GTR (so '89 IIRC) with the ETS Pro version being on the V-Spec R34s so about 99 or 2000. S-AYC and ACD have been around since the Evo 7, and the DCCD has been around since the 22B but has only been on JDM vehicles until recently (the MY05 here)

The actual systems aren't new...

But the next generation of each system is coming out soon (GT-R, EVO X) or is already out (subaru)

[h00t_h00t]

They already have. It's available in the new Legend which is reported to be a very good drive

Fifth Gear compared it with a mid-range Audi A4 quattro and BMW 3-series, it was slower than both and to get the SH-AWD system to work you have to throw the car at the corner and let the electronics sort you out whereas in the Audi it only smoothed out the corners. The BMW had none of this and was much faster than both.

[Niko_Fx]

I <3 Quattro because it can climb walls. That's how much grip it has.

<insert video of RS4 climbing ski slope here>

Given the right tires...

I'm still awaiting for a technical answer from 092326001.

[PerfAdv]

http://www.subaru-global.com/special...vie/index.html

Believe you me, as Subaru says, symmetry is the answer.

Symmetrical AWD, ftw.

[quattro_20v]

Fifth Gear compared it with a mid-range Audi A4 quattro and BMW 3-series, it was slower than both and to get the SH-AWD system to work you have to throw the car at the corner and let the electronics sort you out whereas in the Audi it only smoothed out the corners. The BMW had none of this and was much faster than both.

It was actually the 5 series and A6 and the bmw and audi were both like 6-7 seconds faster with the BMW being 1 second faster then the Audi. The Legend even had by far the most power.

[Ingolstadt]

All 4WD systems should do the same, maximise grip on whatever surface, gradient thrown at them. All the alphabet wars are just marketing gimmicks. In the end it relies the most on drivers, weight distributions, down force and ultimately, suspension and TYRES.

EDIT: I've once heard a Canon digital camera salesperson said this to a consumer :" But Sony's digital cameras doesn't have Digic II ... "

[Kooper]

Not to be nit-picking, but BMW also has x-drive. Now that I think about it, it's probably more 4x4 than AWD, oh well.

[h00t_h00t]

Not used in sports cars either.

[hightower99]

So nobody has any driving experiance with any of these systems (or earlier versions?).

I had a quick drive in a '05 WRX STi and I thought the AWD system helped keep the car under control even when I did things that would have surely sent me off the road in a car without AWD or several sophisticated ETC devices. I loved the DCCD as you could basically set the car up with oversteer or understeer. Drifting in the WRX STi was alot easier to maintain then most of the other cars I have driven. Has anybody here driven the Evo IX with the AYC and ACD?

Anybody with any driving experiance with ATTESA-ETS (Pro)?

[clutch-monkey]

Anybody with any driving experiance with ATTESA-ETS (Pro)?

i've driven an R33 GTR if that's the same system, was like RWD until you got silly

[QBridge]

I know enough to say that RWD is the best of all systems of systems.

[NSXType-R]

I <3 Quattro because it can climb walls. That's how much grip it has.

<insert video of RS4 climbing ski slope here>

That looked more like an A6 of some sort.

In any case, any car with heavy duty snow tires with studs and I think it can tackle that with enough tries and hard packed snow.

BTW, do you think that Audi was pulled up by the wire instead of being driven up?

[hightower99]

I know enough to say that RWD is the best of all systems of systems.

You obviously don't watch topgear...


If a car allows Jeremy Clark to keep on the ass of a Lamborghini Murcielago driven by a professional race driver then it must be good. Most of the handling advantage from the Evo he was driving came from the advanced AWD system (and yes I know the Lambo is also AWD designed by audi) The AWD system in the Subaru gave me the lee-way I needed to do things I wouldn't dare with a RWD car (unless it had some serious ETC systems)

[h00t_h00t]

The professional racing driver wasn't even concentrating, and the Evo in question was one step away from being a full on race car.

[quattro_20v]

And it lost a whole runway dragrace to a Fiat Stilo 1.6 stationcar in 5th gear because of the turbo lag.
Anyway in countries where there is always nice weather and no rain or snow RWD might be the best.
But with changing weather conditions all the time I think AWD is best. So far I only drove cars with the Quattro system and it is really nice. I havent driven other AWD cars yet (exept for some 4wd terrain vehicles) so I cant judge about all of them.