Ten Reasons Why Your Next Lexus Should Have All-Wheel Drive
12-11-13, 05:53 PM
#46
Lexus Fanatic
- Prompt acceleration in the rain. I live in a wet and hilly climate. I've owned many rear and front wheel drive cars. Go into downtown Seattle, and sit at a stop light on a steep up hill in the rain. The light turns green and in a 2WD car your tires will spin as you get started. Also, one of the turns out of my neighborhood requires a hard right hand turn onto a 50 mph highway. Try to pull out there too quickly, and again, you'll spin your tires.
What I wish is that Lexus would have the AWD system on the RWD cars (the IS, GS & LS) go to 100% torque to the rear until wheelspin occurs. Then we get the best of both worlds. Ito be fair, its better than BMW or Mercedes which is 40/60.
12-11-13, 06:48 PM
#47
I own Lexus GX and when I travel and rent some RWD/FWD cars I'm constantly getting amused just how much they lack in traction in rainy/snowy conditions. Before GX I had on-demand AWD vehicle (Toyota Venza) which is similar to Lexus RX AWD in that it's FWD most of the time and AWD when the wheel spin is detected. During winter, even with winter tires, the back was skidding left and right if I was trying to take a turn too fast because rear wheels receive no propulsion and don't help you going in the right direction instead being "dragged" by the front wheels. Compared to that GX drives like it's on rails. I was skeptical about full-time 4WD drive trains before but became a big believer since then. I will never trade couple more MPG for increased capability full-time gives you.
If you want a fun to drive vehicle then for sure get RWD. But anybody who claims that RWD >> AWD in the snow must be living in Florida.
If you want a fun to drive vehicle then for sure get RWD. But anybody who claims that RWD >> AWD in the snow must be living in Florida.
Last edited by Quadro; 12-11-13 at 07:02 PM.
12-11-13, 06:54 PM
#48
Lexus Champion
I own Lexus GX and when I travel and rent some RWD/FWD cars I'm constantly getting amused just how much they lack in traction in rainy/snowy conditions. Before GX I had on-demand AWD vehicle (Toyota Venza) which is similar to Lexus RX AWD in that it's FWD most of the time and AWD when the wheel spin is detected. During winter, even with winter tires, the back was skidding left and right if I was trying to take a turn too fast because real wheels receive no propulsion and don't help you going in the right direction instead being "dragged" by the front wheels. Compared to that GX drives like it's on rails. I was skeptical about full-time 4WD drive trains before but became a big believer since then. I will never trade couple more MPG for increased capability full-time gives you.
If you want a fun to drive vehicle then for sure get RWD. But anybody who claims that RWD >> AWD in the snow must be living in Florida.
If you want a fun to drive vehicle then for sure get RWD. But anybody who claims that RWD >> AWD in the snow must be living in Florida.
I used to have a 4Runner with full time 4WD. Amazing in the snow.
12-11-13, 07:26 PM
#49
Lexus Fanatic
12-11-13, 07:32 PM
#50
Perhaps there is something about Chicago winters I don't understand but last time I've heard there is some snow: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/8276102-post7.html
12-11-13, 08:44 PM
#52
Lexus Fanatic
Perhaps there is something about Chicago winters I don't understand but last time I've heard there is some snow: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/8276102-post7.html
If I lived in a climate where it was worthwhile to put winter tires on I wouldn't be concerned about RWD in the snow either. A RWD car with winter tires can be very capable in the snow, better than an AWD car on all seasons. My issue is it doesn't make sense to buy winter tires here, if anything they would reduce my traction on the many more days we have over 45 degrees and dry here. My issue here would be I would be caught in snow on all seasons if my GS were RWD and my only car. A situation that just isn't good.
In a cold snowy climate I would rate traction/safety as follows, from best to worst:
1. AWD (winter tires)
2. RWD (winter tires)
3. AWD (all seasons)
4. FWD (winter tires)
5. FWD (all seasons)
6. RWD (all seasons)
Why did I rate RWD with winter tires over FWD with winter tires? FWD presents some steering and control challenges in the winter. It helps you get going vs RWD, but having the only throttle wheels be the only way to control the car is not an idea arrangement in snow and ice. RWD separates the steering wheels from the throttle wheels which is a good arrangement provided you have adequate grip.
Last edited by SW17LS; 12-11-13 at 08:47 PM.
12-11-13, 08:55 PM
#53
P.S. And your rating is wrong for on-demand AWD vehicles which are FWD most of the time. That was the whole point - you can't simply stack AWD somewhere without specifying which exact implementation you're talking about.
Last edited by Quadro; 12-11-13 at 09:01 PM.
12-11-13, 08:57 PM
#54
Lexus Fanatic
That's not the way I read it. He came to a thread which promotes AWD for confident driving and made a statement that "RWD >> AWD >> FWD". The fact that he didn't care and wanted RWD for a fun factor came out much later into the discussion which, by the way, I agreed with.
12-11-13, 09:11 PM
#55
12-11-13, 09:18 PM
#56
Lexus Fanatic
LOL, who cares? If all I cared about was traction I'd be driving some lumbering SUV all day. I want a car thats fun to drive...and a RWD car is more fun to drive than an AWD car I agree. If I lived where he did I'd drive a RWD car in the winter and snow on winter tires without concern too. Lexus doesn't give us that choice though.
I'm not talking about SUVs. I'm talking about sedans, which really is the subject of the blog post. SUVs have their own benefits in the snow separate from the type of drivetrain (namely ground clearance).
When you're talking about on demand style AWD systems you are right, you have different systems. For general snow driving though, any type of AWD system is going to be better than FWD or RWD assuming the type of tire used is the same. Certainly more sophisticated AWD systems will be better than less sophisticated systems. But, I stand by my rankings.
P.S. And your rating is wrong for on-demand AWD vehicles which are FWD most of the time. That was the whole point - you can't simply stack AWD somewhere without specifying which exact implementation you're talking about.
When you're talking about on demand style AWD systems you are right, you have different systems. For general snow driving though, any type of AWD system is going to be better than FWD or RWD assuming the type of tire used is the same. Certainly more sophisticated AWD systems will be better than less sophisticated systems. But, I stand by my rankings.
12-11-13, 09:41 PM
#57
At any rate fun is subjective while improved road traction provided by full-time AWD systems is an objective measure which I think what this thread is about, not which system is more fun to drive according to some subjective opinion.
12-11-13, 10:02 PM
#58
Lexus Fanatic
Plenty of people buy full-time AWD sedans for improved traction they provide. Also fun is in the eye of the beholder. Some people find it more fun that they can take turns faster in the AWD car. Friend of mine bought AWD Infiniti sedan for this very reason because for him having more traction means more fun.
As for taking turns faster, that depends on the AWD system. Lexus' AWD system is designed for traction assistance from a stop, it doesn't improve handling.
At any rate fun is subjective while improved road traction provided by full-time AWD systems is an objective measure which I think what this thread is about, not which system is more fun to drive according to some subjective opinion.
12-12-13, 05:13 AM
#59
Besides who are you to tell me what I can and can not discuss?
I'm not interested in discussing your feeling or opinions because I see no point. Maybe other people in this thread do and will continue the conversation with you. I'm interested in discussing objective topic of traction when it comes to RWD/FWD/AWD system. Unless you're interested in discussing objective traction then I suggest we stop this conversation
Last edited by Quadro; 12-12-13 at 06:18 AM.
