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Again, a beautiful post my brother! I enjoyed it immensely...
There were quotes flying all around in the PB (pre ban) days stating that AWD was an unfair advantage.
Dr. Peich's predictions are coming true -- the highest performing cars "are" (or soon will be) AWD.
Acura's SH AWD is PERHAPS the first new new AWD system to make it to a mainstream car in a while.
Audi (and others, Subaru perhaps) have to feel someone breathing on their necks -- the next gen quattro will have to either equal or better the "promise" of SH AWD in some way.
The chassis improvements lauded upon the new 05 A6 are probably somewhat of a neutralizer of the SH AWD's significance.
But hey, the RL isn't even for sale yet.
It is possible, that this all Audi, all the time family (my wife and me, that is) could be a two Acura family: hers a TL SH AWD his an RL SH AWD.
There are better days ahead in the car biz -- all this stuff Acura is doing has to improve the breed (cars in general).
Mark, very good write-up on AWD history. There is no doubt on my mind AWD brings better handling. Skyline GT-R still shine on the 'Ring even though it is not a monster machine for straight-line.
I have heard the term "Skyline" a few times on this board and elsewhere.
What does it mean?
Thanks in advance,
Legendman
Also, what is a "JDM" car?
1) AWD systems used to be a lot heavier than they are now like around 350 lbs. or so, and that did affect performance.
In contrast SH-AWD weights almost 200 lbs, a significant weight difference.
2) Modern cars have a lot more HP back then. A 300HP v6 isn't really going to notice the extra 200 lbs. A 120 v6 is really going to notice the extra 350 lbs.
In short, the extra power and the lightness of modern AWD systems, plus the fact that SH-AWD can basically shift the power to any wheel that needs it, makes AWD very compelling indeeed.
Hopefully, SH-AWD will help the weight balance of the RL as well to get closer to 50-50.
Of course, if the battery isn't in the rear, that is something else the engineers could work on, too.
Indeed, I think there could be some surprises coming in the future (maybe even in the RL) such as a higher performance version -- and of course balance will become even more important.
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JDM just means Japanese domestic market.
Most FWD-biased AWD performance-oriented cars (WRX, EVO, Audi TT, etc.) suffer from understeer, just like FWDers. In fact, the WRX has some of the worst skidpad numbers. It is routinely embarrassed by lighter FWD cars like the RSX, Celica, and Mazda3. That's because the weight still rests on the front wheels, as it does with a FWDer.
So a typical FWD-biased AWD system is not the end-all be-all of performance. RWD still has a "balance advantage".
That said, AWD does add a few things to the performance of a car. Rolling acceleration is better with all four wheels being driven. There is less chance of wheelspin or (in extreme cases) axle hop. While entering a corner is hampered by the unequal weight distribution, exiting the corner is greatly improved. Cars like the WRX can scamper around corners like nobody's business. A little trailbraking, goose the throttle, all your tires light up, and around you go. That's why rally drivers go for AWD. FWDers cannot recover like that.
Acura's SH-AWD is, on paper, a way to reduce the negatives of that weight distribution problem. Powering the outside rear wheels seems like a way to counteract the tendency for the front end to fall out of line. That's what ATTS was responsible for in the Prelude. Call it a "power-distribution" advantage. The fact that the rear wheels are powered in the RL means it also gains the AWD benefits for acceleration.
But that balance problem still exists. SH-AWD is a work-around to cure the weight problem, not a solution for it. If BMW or MB develops a rear differential that does the same side-to-side shuffle as the one in the RL, RWD will be king again. It'll have both the balance advantage and the power-distribution advantage.
FWIW, I expect that the next NSX (if it happens) will have something like that.
And, AWD inherently is neither balanced or not balanced, FWIW. It is, however, factual that many AWD cars are nose heavy -- but that can be said for RWD cars and FWD cars too -- RWD cars, typcially, may have more weight in the rear for obvious reasons, but balance or an "ideal" balance is not just an RWD car's attribute just as AWD does not instantly equate to nose heaviness.
These technology posts are certainly entertaining to write and generally to read -- however, there is always a tendancy to respond "yea but. . ."
The points pertaining to AWD or FWD or RWD or even specifically to the new Acrua RL are not absolutes, they are "typical" or general and in some cases would represent "most" of the cases that the writer is going on about.
Generally speaking, AWD has many real world advantages over FWD and RWD; and generally speaking for many of us even FWD has advantages over RWD. But it is also true that there are certainly examples where these statements are "less true."
One example of something that probably only proves that most of us are writing in general not about one specific trait: The rear engined, AWD Porsche's are NOT nose heavy -- but I doubt anyone would say that is because they are AWD, for instance.
Generally speaking, for driving a car on public roadways and generally obeying the spirit if not the letter of the road laws and regulations and speaking of an amalgam of conditions and weather that we encounter under these circumstances, nothing even comes close to AWD for safety, performance, fun and, in some cases even, economy.
The new Acrua RL may be nose or tail heavy, beats me (I'll bet it is nose heavy for the record), but it will be, I'll wager a huge jump forward in performance and those lucky enough to acquire one of them will have, overall, generally, tyically and for most of the "normal" driving conditions that we will encounter a superior car.
I am not yet a convinced buyer -- but I find this technology perhaps at the very least the most interesting and potentially compelling thing to come out of a car factory in years.
I said it once, I'll say it again: RWD (and FWD) your days are numbered.
> I said it once, I'll say it again: RWD (and FWD) your days are numbered.
I believe your statement is true for high-performance cars. I doubt my neighbors would trade in their Camry/Accord for AWD versions of whatever to come. To most people on highway, transportation is simply getting from point A to point B safely, comfortably, and maybe economically Only small percentage of people like us (who actually spend time talking about automobiles) really care about handling, and performance enough to enjoy AWD.
In fact, I am more inclined to agree that RWD's days are numbered, but not FWD's. FWD would continue to prevail at lower end of market upto near-luxury segment ($35K). RWD+Stability Control would soon be replaced by AWD. Keep in mind that more parts from AWD induce more cost in production, maintenance and repair. That cost works against AWD in lower-end vehicles.
1) The knob that controls everything (much like MMI, or iDrive) is mounted up high on the panel, so you probably can't use it while you rest your arm. A control mounted lower like MMI/iDrive would be better, or even touchscreen.
2) Keyless engine start is done by another plastic knob-like thing. Whats up with that?
1. AWD is a very fast, if not THE fastest, growing segment of the total market. (Doubling in a couple of years from the 2004 levels, according to Wards).
2. FWD for reasons of cost and an "average" of performance that provides more "drivability" (weight over driven wheels kind of thing) than a similarly priced RWD (performance not being thought of as lap times, and other less pedestrian -- no pun intended -- passtimes).
3. AWD will come to be (it already has in some cases, continues in others and is accelerating as we type) the "step up" trait for a significant number of premium and near premium cars; then the trickle down effect will happen.
RWD is far from dead, indeed as far as I can tell it isn't (yet) even on life support. FWD appears to be somewhat sick but perhaps it is just a cold and it will pass over the next two or three model years as the market shakes out to boost the number of AWD cars.
Now the comment about the neighbors not shelling out for AWD vehicles.
I look up and down the street where I live (and have lived since 1990) and what do I see? More what -- RWD cars, more FWD cars more AWD cars? If you will agree that an SUV is a car, and if you will agree that 95% of the neighbors virtually never go off road, perhaps you would agree that the main reason the neighbors got the SUVs (of all sizes, mainly mid-sized as far as I can tell) was AWD! The Jeeps, Chevies, Japanese this that and the other brands that dot my little slice of suburbia belie the notion that the neighbors won't cough up a grand or two more on the sticker for a new AWD Camry -- they'd probably love to, there just hasn't been one to buy, so they bought a Subie or an Acura MDX or a Tahoe or a Cherokee Limited or a Durango -- or 27 Audis (like my wife and me).
The new Lexus RX 330 in the neighbor's driveway will never, I'll wager, deliberately be driven through a mud puddle -- but the lack of an AWD Lexus CAR at the moment shifted the purchase decision.
AWD Camry's -- you bet, and they'll sell well. And, if all that remains in 3 years is an FWD Camry and an AWD Camry, I would not want to bet against the AWD version.
When absolute cost is the deal maker (or breaker) I would argue that the FWD versions will be kept on the market -- I cannot imagine the acquisition of an RWD Camry over an AWD Camry unless there is no other option, and even then I would argue that the customer will find the biggest bang for his buck FWD car instead.
The public knows or at least believes the information they have received since the '70's about the efficacy & efficiency of FWD -- a handful of high buck cars coming out with RWD (many also being offered with AWD) will not zap FWD off the face of the earth. To the contrary, at the price point of -- du jour in the economy that is NOW, whenever NOW may be -- FWD may be given a new lease on life as "the economical AWD alternative." This is hardly something that RWD even with many electronic traction aids can claim.
In not too many years from now, he said confidently, there will be close to 100 cars that will offer AWD. It was not all that long ago when it was stated that power windows and air conditioning would not make it into mainstream cars.
AWD will soon be virtually assumed to be there or at least be "available." Gulp, I'll go so far as to say "in this decade."
Acura's RL for 2005 is a bellwether.
ksso
As far as the keyless ignition goes, the piece to be turned is permanently mounted on the dash. All you have is carry is “smart card” to start the car. This is assuming the keyless ignition system is similar to that Honda offers in Japanese Accord (and Inspire)...
The Smart Card
Sensor on the Door
Keyless Ignition Knob
The Range
This particular forum is not the place, but it would be interesting to see a list of FWD, RWD, and AWD cars from 2003, 2004 -- planned for 2005 and "reliably rumored" beyond that.
Acura's RL with SH-AWD ought to trickle down to the Honda line in the not too distant future. Don't you think?
The "we swear its true" crowd here in cyberspace, claims the TL will get SH-AWD next -- how soon thereafter will the Accord offer it, then who knows which model?
The comparisons -- when there is THIS much shared engineering between the regular and the premium lines are, IMHO, inevitable.
"And, AWD inherently is neither balanced or not balanced, FWIW." - Mark
First, I thought I was pretty clear in specifying FWD-biased AWD in my original post. With FWD, you have a tendency toward a forward weight bias. A RWD-biased AWD system, such as in the BMWs and Nissan's, does not necessarily have the same challenges to overcome.
And just to clarify...
On my remarks regarding SH-AWD being a work-around: it is a work-around to compensate for the inherent balance problem with the typical FWD layout. By that I mean that it does not resolve the balance issue. I fully expect that the car will still have a forward weight bias. I doubt that adding SH-AWD will correct that. SH-AWD may correct the understeer and acceleration issues associate with a forward weight bias. That makes it a work-around, not a solution to the inherent problem.
I don’t understand the fuss on a theoretical weight split when all that really matters is how the chassis holds up in terms of handling.
Rally-cars are designed to understeer, so I’m not surprised the WRX is so. How many rally-cars are RWD? They are usually front drivers or AWD.
Understeer/oversteer is not necessarily a result of weight balance, it is also a result of chassis set up. One can achieve oversteer in a nose heavy front driver or understeer in a 50-50 weight split rear drive, by adjusting the camber. Most RWD cars around have mild to moderate understeer built into them for it is considered safer than oversteer.
That said, the number of hurdles you have to jump to make a car equally capable is a factor in other considerations. I mean, sure, if you mod it enough, you can make a Civic Si that will accelerate and corner just like an Evo. But that Civic will end up costing you $40K by the time you've jumped all the hurdles involved. The Evo would have cost you less.
You can jump any hurdle you want if you have enough money. But why not start with a car that doesn't have so many hurdles in front of it?
Now, I'm not saying that the new RL should be a RWD car. Not at all. I just don't agree with the notion that AWD is going to replace, displace, or swap places with either FWD or RWD. AWD has its own crosses to bear.
Take a look at it this way. The new RL might prove itself very formidable against the RWD competition because of SH-AWD's ability to send torque to the outside rear wheels. I expect it will do quite well despite the balance issue. Well, what happens when the RWD competition comes out with a rear differential that also acts like ATTS or SH-AWD and powers the outside wheel? Now those RWDers have both the power-distribution advantage and the balance advantage.
Take any 50/50 balanced BMW and add AWD you will end up with nose heavy vehicle(without any other mods).
So the point is there is no problem making FWD or RWD biased AWD vehicle 50/50 balanced.
The WRX STi AWD has absolutely no similarity to the AWD employed in the "regular" manual-transmissioned WRX.
The regular WRX uses a cheap viscous coupling Center differential, an open front differential and a weak viscous coupling rear differential.
The WRX STi on the other hand, uses a rally-derived dual-planetary gear center differential, a mechanical torque-sensing front differential and a mechanical torque-sensing rear differential. It also biases a majority of the power to the rear wheels and continuously varies power/torque front to rear and side to side to aid handling. In no way shape or form is this setup similar to the MUCH CHEAPER setup above.
The RL's SH-AWD is intriguing too.
Later...AH
Is there anything new about the RL that has not been mentioned in the last few weeks?
Anyone know what exterior/interior colors will be offered?
Estimated MPG?
Will Acura offer any kind of gas saving feature? How long before a hybrid engine in an Acura?
Separately, I will be selling my 1991 Legend LS this fall. Any suggestions on how to sell it, and where I could get the most money? I understand that the Legend has become quite popular and sought after; there are a number of websites just dedicated to Legend fans.
Thanks in advance.
I don't know if Acura lurks on these boards, but you'd think they would at least throw us a bone of a fully realized brochure OR at least an updated web site.
No wonder we wander off topic -- we have no board members who actually are owners or drivers.
All the neat stuff about AWD vs other layouts is certainly entertaining and mostly relevant to the new RL -- but even an early test of the thing in the Car Magazine du jour seems to be lacking.
I've been reading A6 pretests and tests and impressions for months now -- mum's the word on the RL.
We're starved here for "input" need input, need input. . . .
The TL, I'm guessing is nose heavy, probably something like 58 to 42 -- anyone? anyone?
The RL will likely be so too -- but, is it safe to opine that the new RL will be better weight balanced than the current model?
Anyone who has ever driven a Turbo, specifically the Saab Turbo 9000, knows how frustrating (and dangerous) lag time can be. You womp on the gas pedal and nothing happens, then after few agonizingly slow seconds later the Turbo kicks in, the steering wheel and the car suddenly lurches in whatever direction your tires happened to be pointed in. It was nice on the highway, but in city traffic, you couldn't count on it.
On another topic, I have my doubt that SH-AWD TL would actually happen very soon. The reason being the body shell needs to be redesigned to accommodate the AWD drive train. Honda have to wonder if the return justify the cost of development.
No, I haven't heard anything new about RL, other than the fact that an IBM ads on local newspaper showing a black RL. It looks great!!!
I think you're right on this point. OTOH, FWD-based AWD should have better weight balance than pure FWD. Also, I'd guess that RWD based AWD system would be heavier than a FWD-based AWD system, which will affect performance as well.
>I havent not heard about that sort of problem in a VCM system though, Mercedes has been using them on their twelves for a bit, without issue.<
Hey guys,
I post regularly on a medical website. While we do use abbreviations, we also try to at least once per post or per page, to provide a definition along with that abbreviation. Example: (VCM) Variable Combustion Management.
Of course, I have absolutely no idea what VCM means. Would you mind sharing its definition? That way, your words of wisdom will reach a larger audience, instead of just the few that know the esoteric vernacular in which you speak.
ksso
Here is a link to video from Honda on how it works. VCM has been available in Japanese market (Honda Inspire) for about a year. Honda Inspire is American Accord with some cosmetic changes and the 3.0/V6 is tuned to deliver 250 HP/218 lb.-ft. Of course, VCM is a part of it as well.
VCM operation is apparently completely transparent (based on couple of road tests that I have read).
In practice, light bi turbo applications such as this are often said to have imperceptible lag. DBW or auto-trans lag (called tip-lag) generally is more of the issue that the time it takes for the positive effects of the turbo to kick in.
Saabs are known for their turbo lag issues. I've been told that even in the Saab family each new generation reduces the lag over the prior ones.
Turbo lag, in the Audi RS 6 4.2, if it is an issue is insignificant -- as is the lag in many other turbo cars.
As they say "there's no replacement for displacement -- except for volumetric efficiency" -- well designed turbos provide efficiency aplenty. My only personal beef against turbos seems to be the cost if/when one of them goes "bump in the night!"
My wife's 225HP TT is turbo charged as is my 2.7T -- both of them have been "flawless" in virtually every respect (except milage) -- lag is not an issue (we both have 6spd manual transmissions, and we both ALWAYS keep the engine above 1900 RPMs).
If Acura WANTS to blow on the 3.5L RL engine a little bit -- I would say "hello 400HP, but mainly hello bags of torque" in a heartbeat!
Personally, I'd rather they went that route than a V8 -- but that's just me. I know for bragging rights the V8 is probably ultimately needed -- but one could add, perhaps Turbo Diesel should be considered too!
A buddy of mine, a real estate agent, just sold his 1997 Mercedes S class for a 1997 Mercedes E class with diesel engine. He claims that the fuel mileage is signicantly greater than in a gasoline fueled E class counterpart. He reports that in Europe, diesels are all the rage, and given a few more years, that will happen here in the USA. I kind of doubt that, the thought of a diesel in an Acura RL doesn't quite cut it. He claims that in Europe, you have to special order a gasoline engine. (Trust me -- I'm not too sure of his "facts"!)
With the cost of fuel headed North, its incumbent on the auto makers to design and sell more fuel efficient cars. The last ten years seem to have been at a standstill, as regards general fuel economy. It seems that horsepower and bragging rights -- including the V8 engines we've been talking about -- have been paramount to buyers of luxury cars and Navigator sized SUVs.
Me thinks that with gas prices what they are, the downsized cars and gas sipping engines of the post 70's oil embargo may reemerge.
As someone here said a while back, maybe Honda was right in staying with 6 cylinder engine manufacture, and not making a V8. I suppose that like neckties, if you wait long enough, they'll eventually come back in style.
tick tick tick.
ksso
I took a three day driving course in Austria -- our cars were 2.5TD Audi A4's -- 6 speed manuals. We also had a one year old S4 (turbo gas) -- the off the line grunt of these two cars was remarkably close.
The thing we Americans love so much is torque, we hardly care about horsepower (except to brag).
Diesels, esp TD's, are capable of low low low RPM torque, decent horsepower and fantastic economy (and if we get to clean fuel, which I keep reading is "coming soon" -- well, case closed).
Your "next car" may be a TD -- and the Acura would be a stormer with such an engine -- it could still have 300HP but the torque and fuel economy would shoot up -- as would the performance, 0 - 60.
The TD is the next HP and Green car all rolled into one -- couple it with SH AWD, a decent balance of weight over the F+R wheels and you would have the "car of the future." Bye bye gasoline powered cars -- especially at $3 a gallon (coming soon to a pump near you!)