in the dry on pavement yes. the subaru AWD is far superior on anything other than tarmac. id have to say my favorite AWD is ATESSA-ETS followed by mitsus AYC and ACD, and then subarus DCCD. but thats just for the electronic ones. personally i prefer fully mechanical drivetrains, but im oldschool hehehe.

 

It's kind of the other way around: because the turning radius is large, the front wheels don't move much lock-to-lock, so the steering wheel doesn't have to make many revolutions lock-to-lock.

 

A further breakdown of ATTESA ETS taken from the JB homepage:

"(Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All - Electronic Torque Split).

ATTESA-ETS

The GT-R uses an electronically controlled all-wheel-drive system (similar to Porsche's 959). A 16-bit microprocessor monitors the car's movements a 100 times per second, including wheel rotation and lateral as well as longitudinal acceleration. When slip is detected at a driving wheel, the system electronically distributes torque from this spinning wheel to one without slip.

In this case the electronic AWD-system offers the advan-tage that actions are enacted much faster than by a viscous-coupling-system (we're speak-ing of hundredths of a second here). In standard setup, ATTESA-ETS distributes the torque to the rear-wheels, but when slip is detected on one of those rear-wheels, it can distribute up to 50% of the torque to the front wheels, i.e. it can adjust the front/rear torque-split fromanything between 0:100 to 50:50. Among the rear-wheels, an active LSD can further distribute the torque from one wheel to the other if necessary. Due to this setup, the Skyline GT-R can even drift, although it is an AWD car."

 

My Toyota pickup goes from RWD to AWD when it needs to. Except you have to get out, lock the hubs, get back in, shift the transfer case to the appropriate gear. And there is never any slippage, it's either 100% RWD or 50/50 exactly!

 

the quattro was the first awd in rally, hehe the only reason i know that is becuase i just watched 5th gear haha I LOVE THAT SHOW

 

do you know if the AYC and honda's Super Handling are mechanically the same. if they are not the same, then it's not a copy but a re-invention. honda introduce their Active Torque Transfer System (ATTS) with the prelude Type SH in 1997. the new super handling system in the new acura RL is not the first time honda used some type of Active Torque Transfer. the prelude was the first although in a front wheel drive format.

 

quattro made AWD mainstream and the benefit is the likes of EVO,STI,R32,etc...being also an 82 quattro owner,new cars are amazing when it comes to overall balance[less understeer].

 

AYC was the best back in the days of the evo 6, although when the 7 and 8 came out the SAYC has been seen to be the most high tech best working awd system ti date here in the uk, any car critic inc clarkson and loads others in the uk would agree, im not just saying becuase i own an evo but because it is a known fact that the SAYC is THE most advanced 4wd system on any road going car, if you doubt that then go out and give it a shot, our cars can probable out handle most of us here, ie our limits are well below what the cars is

 

Attesa-ets

 

SH-AWD

Check it out
http://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2004-4040401a/

 

Quattro is def the best awd system in the world. Winning the most races using awd from back in the 80's from group B rally to IMSA. Go check the history of awd in racing and u will see audi on top!

 

that's some high tech $hit, thanks for the link. now they just need to put that in the civic with a turbo K20 and go race in the WRC.

 

The systems used back then were very simple, Quattro won because they beat everyone to the punch, they were racing against 2wd cars when they were winning, as soon as everyone else came out with their AWD cars Quattro lost it's advantage and Peugeot (mainly) dominated winning back-to-back championships IIRC. Not to take anything away from those old Audis, they were awesome Their modern stuff has not been designed for performance but there is a ray of hope for Audi they are now putting more torque to the rear wheels and trying to get the weight distribution better as well, give them a couple of years.

The Honda system on paper is more advance but because of typical Honda tuning (conservative) the car understeers like a pig, plus the car is heavy . Yes I have driven it on the road and track

The Sti is getting better each year as the US car gets some JDM goodies

The EVO rocks not just because of it's AWD system but because of it's superior platform, it's the whole package that makes it great not just the AWD. Imagine a 3000lb Skyline (great AWD but the cars a boat!). The platform is the most important thing, that's why all EVOs handle well whether it's a 2003 with an all Mechanical system or an MR or a RS whatever...it's the platform

 

that nissan system I heard was pretty sick

 

i had an 84 that i loved, but i had to get rid of it. great, beautiful cars. you have any pics?