Disappointing first use of the AWD
December 19, 2004So we had the first decent snowfall/ice blizzard this morning. Nothing dramatic, but enough to make the roads slick. I was excited by the chance to see how the Realtime AWD in my Honda CR-V would perform. Unfortunately it was something of a disappointment.
Maybe I had too high an expectation for all-wheel-drive, but on several occasions this morning the car slipped. It happened while turning and while moving from a complete stop. Eventually the wheels got traction and I recovered without a problem from the slides, but still it’s a bit disconcerting that those slides happened at all. I thought AWD would take care of those things.
Could be the tires, though these are supposed to be good all-season radials on here. I may drop by Big-O and see what some beefier tires would cost me.
Comments RSS
-
Etienne
TrackBack URIThe keyword here is ‘REALTIME’. The system in the CRV is a re-active system unlike the Subaru, and waits for slippage to occur before engaging the other drive wheels.
The Subaru AWD system is a pro-active system, ie if you are accelerating from a standing stop, the system will automatically add more power to the rear wheels to compensate for the weight shift to the rear wheels even before the wheels start slipping.
Leave a comment