Water Injection Thread

[Raymond C Drouillard]

>AWD is really great for low traction conditions and year-round driving.
>Rear wheel drive with a mid engine and sticky tires should be nearly as
good
>on dry pavement with way less complexity.  How and where do you drive?

If that's the case, why does the Lambroghini use AWD?

AWD is useful when traction is a problem.  This could mean moderate
speeds with a slippery surface, or high speeds and lateral acceleration
on a sticky surface.  It's just another way to have a bigger performance
envelope to push.

The main advantage of a mid engine is that the mass is near the center of
rotation when the vehicle is going around a corner.  This makes it more
maneuverable.  It also makes it easier to spin out.  Performance comes
with a price :)

Yes, it helps the designer achieve 50/50 weight distribution, but there
are other ways of doing it.  The Corvette engineers did it by putting the
engine in the front and the transmission in the back.

Another advantage of AWD is that all four wheels are pulling right from
the start.  With a 50/50 weight distribution, you will have twice the
ability to apply force to the pavement from a dead stop.  I know that
accelerating adds down force to the back wheels and removes it from the
front wheels, but AWD allows a forward force equal to the weight of the
car * the coefficient of friction, rather than some fraction of the
weight * the CF.

I know that dragsters are RWD, but that is a specialized application. 
Typically, the front wheels bear very little weight or lift right off the
ground.  Also, some of the acceleration force is used to add downward
force to the rear wheels.  Draw a vector diagram sometime if you have a
hard time imagining this :)

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