What drivetrain configuration do you prefer?

What drivetrain configuration do you prefer?

  • FWD

    Votes: 6 4.3%
  • AWD

    Votes: 34 24.5%
  • RWD

    Votes: 99 71.2%

  • Total voters
    139
That's why I said *if* they have open diffs. Does your A4 really have locking axle diffs? That's useful in very bad road conditions but not good on a paved road. It means the wheels on both axles turn at the same rate which = bad in a turn.
Yeah locked diffs are bad on pavement. I have EDL's, which basically uses ABS sensors to detect wheel slip and apply brakes to the wheel in order to force the other wheel to get the torque. The actual mechanical diff is open though.

The line between both has been pretty blurry as of late. Most AWD systems have the ability to lock diffs automatically as necessary making them very useful off road/slippery road.
Word. But the question remains whether you'd get better along in FWD car with winter tires or in an AWD car with all season tyres. (Surely that depends on specific situations as well)
That would be quite interesting to test. I suspect that FWD with Winter tires would do at least as good if not better.
 
Well, here is a relevant article about winter tires vs all season vs summer tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=64

Not quite what you guys were looking for, but a good reminder that summer tires should never be used on ice. Whether all wheel drive will make up for the lack of traction all seasons have is a question you would have to ask tirerack. But note that the drivetrain makes no difference in braking and cornering on ice, so winter tires on FWD would be the clear winner in my mind. There is just no replacement for the right tires.
 
Well, here is a relevant article about winter tires vs all season vs summer tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=64

Not quite what you guys were looking for, but a good reminder that summer tires should never be used on ice. Whether all wheel drive will make up for the lack of traction all seasons have is a question you would have to ask tirerack. But note that the drivetrain makes no difference in braking and cornering on ice, so winter tires on FWD would be the clear winner in my mind. There is just no replacement for the right tires.
That's a good link, although I am not sure how to translate the result as they used an FR vehicle. Presumably FWD and AWD would show very different results with all the tires.

From personal experience
(Buick Century FF and A4 AWD only two cars I had a chance to drive in the snow)

I have found braking to be more of a function of driver's ability as well as the ABS system fitted to the vehicle (had to use engine braking nearly exclusively in the Century while the A4 does pretty well with ABS) than the drive train. The only difference is that the A4 with it's torsen diff in the middle had better engine braking than the Century with it's FF layout and no diff.

Turning wasn't much of an issue, with stability control on it would make 90 degree turns at about 20-25MPH on all season tires, w/o any slipping/under/oversteer, which is about the normal speed for most people under normal traction conditions.

Acceleration is somewhat hard to judge, it was more stable under acceleration with no wheel spin even w/o delicate throttle control that was required in the Buick. The problem, however lies in the fact that as a fairly responsible (most of the time) driver I wouldn't floor it in low traction conditions no matter what the drivetrain and tires.

I would say that for places that get heavy snow frequently and it tends to stick snow tires would be a must. For places like NYC where snow while not unlikely is not all that common and doesn't tend to stick AWD with all seasons would be a good choice.
 
Just voted for all wheel drive. Have tested it from Subaru and feels good upon driving in all type of roads..
 
Top