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2006 BMW X3 vs Acura RDX
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Comments
Industry wide marketing has created, intentionally, a belief among the general public that AWD, like 4WD/4X4, equates to off-roading capability.
Apparently this reporter is just another victom.
I really like the car and am thinking about a 2008. But I want a comfortable ride--not a back breaker.
To me, the ride is comfy enough, but I'm coming from a 2nd gen Integra. Everything is comfy
As for the noise, I have heard a few weird things in my first 200 miles. I'll have to get back to you on whether it's stock or weirdness as I'm working with the dealer on them.
We love both the MDX and the X3, my wife would get another MDX, I'd vote for the X3.
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/112_0708_midsize_luxury_crossover _comparison
The report is also printed in the current issue of the magazine.
Car&Driver's ranking in a similar article was X3, RDX, LR2. "Different strokes for different folks," I guess...
I recently compared both the X3 and the RDX (not to mention the new GLK and the surprisingly capable Subaru Forester) and found the X3 to have the firmest ride of the bunch. The X3 that I drove (and bought) is the base model, without the sport suspension or larger wheels, making it about the cushiest X3 available.
There are many areas where the other vehicles were better, but none were more stiffly suspended or less luxobargish.
I think that BMW, as unresponsive to its customers as it is, will see its market share eroded on one side by other, better Euro imports with more stuff for less money and by the Asian manufacturers for reliability and high tech.
I see no reason to ever buy another BMW ever again. That is sad to say but after 20 years I am DONE. :lemon:
With FWD & F/awd vehicle inadvertent/unavoidable engine compression braking, or "regenerative" braking for hybrids, even at the slightest level, can result in virtually INSTANT loss of directional control in those conditions.
To that end the Ford Escape hybrid significantly reduces the level of regen braking used to simulate engine compression braking as the OAT approaches freezing. Ford also disables, regardless of road condition, regen braking the very instant there is an indication of the need to activate the anti-lock braking system to prevent interference with ABS.
VW now has a technique wherein the engine of their FWD vehicles with stick shift is automatically up-revved should the driver inadvertently downshift to a level that produces so much engine braking that front wheelslip results.
Are you saying that loss of speed during slippage causes loss of directional control or are you saying that the mechanism that causes the engine braking also causes lack of directional control regardless of any loss of speed.
Willard and I have had this discussion before.
Of course, I've had my FWD minivan up at the local ski hill some and never had trouble (usually I'm in my AWD wagon though). Not to mention 20 winters driving only FWD when I lived in Anchorage, but the storms there weren't like his experiences in Montana.
But if FWD was inherently unsafe, where's the carnage on the highways?
The AWD/FWD/4WD wars will go on and on, but ultimately it's the tires that make the real difference anyway.
In my opinion anyway.
During panic/HARD braking on a tractive surface there is a very REAL danger of losing directional control if your front wheels begin to skid/slip due to the braking friction overcoming the tire-roadbed traction coefficient. With the tires skidding across the roadbed you have NO LATERAL control with which to deviate from the path set by the vehicle's momentum/inertia, nor the ability to hold the direction if the vehicle begins to "drift" in an undesired direction.
The same circumstance will exist if the roadbed happens to become an "ice rink", except now it is entirely possible that even the slightest level of engine compression braking, or "regen" braking, can result in an adverse effect. Engine braking that (today) ABS CANNOT abate/alleviate in order to allow you to maintain directional control.
With RWD engine compression braking occurs at the REAR WHEELS and therefore does NOT INTERFERE with the lateral traction at the front wheels. Back in my days in NH or MT (and more rarely Anchorage/Fairbanks), BEFORE ABS, if I were driving a stick shift I would often downshift and then use the clutch to moderate the level of engine braking at the rear. With an automatic I often used a very slight application of the e-brake to add a slight "drag" anchor to both slow the car going down a SLIPPERY roadbed section and to hold the car "in line".
If you should ever find yourself travelling down a fairly steep incline, SLIPPERY incline, with, as recommended, tire chains ONLY on the front wheels of a FWD or F/awd vehicle you will know, INSTANTLY, of which I speak.
If you are driving a FWD or F/awd vehicle on a wintertime adverse condition, SLIPPERY, roadbed, keep this advice from the AAA in mind. Be prepared to QUICKLY shift the transaxle into neutral the INSTANT you begin to feel the onset of loss of directional control. The advice also applies to RWD and R/awd with automatics.
Anyone driving a stick shift doesn't need to be, SHOULDN'T need to be, told what to do.
No, the rear end coming around is really a result, "after effect", of having lost traction at the front tires, and therefore directional control, "control of direction". If lateral traction remained at the front, as would happen with the new VW technique, you could simply "stear into the skid" and thereby quickly recover.
Maybe us FWD guys just know the limits of our vehicles better. :shades:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMzeiMJQrvk&feature=related
Maybe because these days MOST SUV's are FWD, patently UNSAFE FWD...??
Or at best F/awd...??
People first, tires second, drivetrain third.
Look at skiers. The good ones could put on a pair of sharpened 2x4s and outski me on fancy new shape skis (actually had an instructor do that to me one year at Donner Pass). Equipment isn't a substitute for skill.