REVscene Automotive Forum - Cheap AWD car?

No you got your facts wrong.. Both Haldex and Torsen have both mechanical and electronic guises. The past is hydro-mechanical (80s or earlier).. later is electronic.. 90s or 00s.. mostly when ABS became standard. They exist because Haldex is primarily designed for latitudinal engine packaging (FWD).. and Torsen is primarily for longitudinal applications.

Because Haldex is primarily designed for FWD, they are biased for the front. In the past their system sucks (as recent as the early 00 TT) because the rear don't kick in until the front completely looses traction. Now with more yaw sensors, they kind of fixed the problem.

There is honestly no "independent car companies traction control program". The car manufacturers get them from the brake controller companies.. Bosch, Hella, Siemens etc. and after the advent of ABS. They use the brake to distribution traction, basically grabbing one side of a spinning drive shaft to emulate a diff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoc (Post 7793632)

Buy this:

Subaru Impreza WRC S8 / Rally cars for sale

problem solved.

Also AWD is not just AWD, there is electronic AWD (ie. Haldex) then there's mechanical AWD (Torsen) then the power distribution ability (i.e. 50/50 95/5) and the complexity of the AWD system (i.e. 3 LSDs on a Evo 9 vs Audi Quattro.) Then you also have each independent car companies traction control program (some sucks so much to the point that it is safer if you didn't have AWD in the first place)

What you are looking for really depends on what you expect out of the AWD system, if you get stuck in snow often then you'd want to get something with a locking diff, and if you want electronic assistance for slippery roads then get ready out major cash for something that is remotely decent.

But seriously AWD vs no AWD only plays a small part of how well a car does in winter. A well designed FWD that has good weight distro and good suspension and drivetrain setup is going to fare better than a front heavy AWD tank (with proper tires of course)