Quote:
Originally Posted by xlover
Actually the concept that awd does not provide benefit on the track/dry is not accurate. It definitely was accurate in the past but a sophisticated performance setup like Mxdrive has the ability to electronically move power front to back and side to side using the differentials to ensure the wheels where power will be most effective are being sent power, there are numerous situations where having portions of power sent to front wheels in dry is advantageous (off the line, corner exit, etc), the weight is a small penalty to pay. Ultimately the awd M3 will likely be the better performer for maximum lap times.
However, in a similar driving engagement change as moving from manual to auto transmission, the feel of an awd performance car is not the same as rwd. (Many would say not as fun and that's a totally valid opinion, albeit a personal choice based on how they want their performance car to feel) The driver will not be as engaged with balancing grip and holding adhesion on the rear tires as the Mxdrive car's electronics will be doing much of that work by shifting power forward.
Much like choosing the manual version, rwd is a personal choice based on fun and style of driver engagement, but dismissing the awd system as just a winter benefit to support rwd as a superior choice is short sighted.
Real world street driving... I think feel should be the most important factor in choice anyway. The point of buying these cars is fun so choose the version of fun you want most!
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Like I said for street tires with limited grip that is the case.
At a dry track with high grip tires, AWD offers no advantage in grip with innately worse transition going from one corner to another due to weight vs. RWD version of the car, assuming everything else remains the same (suspension, wheels, chassis, engine).
I cannot believe people are asking for AWD in an M3 that was born for motorsport. Has anyone seen a fast, if any, AWD track car in any tarmac competition series? Where's the purity?