I've Lways seen these but wondered how "off-road" it can be. It has low ground clearance, is the awd like the 80's civic? Fwd until traction is lost? How's the engine? Slothful I imagine. It's seems like it was the only cheap awd ever produced (here in the states)
Great motor, but underwhelming power
The AWD system is FWD until traction is lost in "auto" mode or a 50:50 split when in the "diff lock" mode, but diff lock switches to Auto when you hit 35 MPH.
They can be fairly capable off road and Rocky Road Outfitters makes a lift for them.
How about for rallycross? Does anyone campaign one on a "grassroots level"?
nokincy wrote: The AWD system is FWD until traction is lost in "auto" mode or a 50:50 split when in the "diff lock" mode, but diff lock switches to Auto when you hit 35 MPH. They can be fairly capable off road and Rocky Road Outfitters makes a lift for them.
Seems like that could be overidden, no?
Petrolburner wrote:nokincy wrote: The AWD system is FWD until traction is lost in "auto" mode or a 50:50 split when in the "diff lock" mode, but diff lock switches to Auto when you hit 35 MPH. They can be fairly capable off road and Rocky Road Outfitters makes a lift for them.Seems like that could be overidden, no?
Why? It sounds perfect for rallycross to me. It should be able to dig yourself OUT of a tight corner like FWDs can do and AWDs (and RWDs) cannot.
The problem is that it's in a cute ute chasis, which would be absolutely scary on course. Put tow hooks under the middle of the car to make it easier to roll back onto its wheels.
We had one run in the D.C region rally cross this summer. The car seemed to do ok but I do not recall any times or positions for that car.
Paul
In reply to Knurled:
Cute Ute? It's a small hatchback...
Found the results from the last WDC RX, look in the PA section. Second place is not bad.
http://www.wdcr-scca.org/RallyCross/ResultsRX/WDCRRallyX820141123/tabid/1818/Default.aspx
Paul
In reply to bgkast:
It's bigger than a PT Cruiser. They can call it what they want, but it's an SUV to me.
Knurled wrote:Petrolburner wrote:Why? It sounds perfect for rallycross to me. It should be able to dig yourself OUT of a tight corner like FWDs can do and AWDs (and RWDs) cannot. The problem is that it's in a cute ute chasis, which would be absolutely scary on course. Put tow hooks under the middle of the car to make it easier to roll back onto its wheels.nokincy wrote: The AWD system is FWD until traction is lost in "auto" mode or a 50:50 split when in the "diff lock" mode, but diff lock switches to Auto when you hit 35 MPH. They can be fairly capable off road and Rocky Road Outfitters makes a lift for them.Seems like that could be overidden, no?
So your trying to tell us that a fwd car will pull an awd car out of a tight turn on a traction limited surface??
Ice race championships in both fwd and awd and I can tell you for sure that an awd car is probably a touch slower from entry to mid corner due to the added weight but mid corner out there is simply no comparison.
I have my eye out for a manual SX4(not as easy to come by)for an ice racer,the rear diff would need to come out and figure a way to delete the locking clutches and replace with something solid so no center diff.My experience with ice and awd says the center should be a good lsd or weld it up...having an open center just makes it very unpredictable throttle on/off.
Roadraceengineering makes a turbo kit but its pricey,a little diy setup with a MS would make it a Subaru killer on the ice with a serious diet program...these things are on the porky side for the size.
Rallycross is not necessarily traction limited, not in the same way ice or snow are. And yes, I do firmly believe that a FWD will pull out of a tight corner a lot better than anything else. This is one of the places were AWD really sucks unless you are able to pivot the car around so you don't get the rear wheels shoving you to the outside. FWD you just dive in and drive out as long as you can turn the steering more.
Well, until you break a CV joint, anyway.
For reference, I've actively competed in all three, in various examples of each, with decent success on all platforms, so I feel that I have a handle on what works where and what doesn't. Once thing about dirt is that it is far grippier than ice/snow and the cars will react differently. On a tight course, FWD will usually embarrass everything else. On faster courses you can do the tricks needed to wrestle an AWD car around, but then on those same faster courses FWD's traction limitations aren't as bad because there isn't much hard acceleration.
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