I think Ford and Dodge absolutely missed golden opportunities to absolutely nail their ultra HP cars down with some AWD.
As evidenced with the TrackHawk and Durango Hellkitty..
Tell me a 650 hp AWD GT500 wouldn't beat the snot out of a lot of cars.
AWD rally hellcat challenger or Charger? Oh yeah. May even give the Tezlers a run for their money.
AWDs do tend to bog down off the line, a characteristic not found in RWD cars that are better suited to drag racing.
You could do a heavily rear-biased AWD system like the Audi R8, but even then you're still going to get some off the line chug, what with double the rotating mass and all. The stress on the clutch is going to be monumental, and you're going to have a lot of 'burnt hair smell' complaints coming into the dealers followed by someone having a heart attack over the repair bill.
I've got one of the Canadian Tire special trolley jacks. Been fine for the most part with cars but it really struggles to get my truck off the ground. The short bar got a bit bent when doing so and it's too short to use effectively on a truck. And looks like it may be developing a leak to boot.
Any suggestions for a decent low profile trolley jack with a long, fixed handle?
AWDs do tend to bog down off the line, a characteristic not found in RWD cars that are better suited to drag racing.
You could do a heavily rear-biased AWD system like the Audi R8, but even then you're still going to get some off the line chug, what with double the rotating mass and all. The stress on the clutch is going to be monumental, and you're going to have a lot of 'burnt hair smell' complaints coming into the dealers followed by someone having a heart attack over the repair bill.
Counterpoint: GTR.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
Best example when discussing stock vehicles is the BMW M3/M4 Competitions as the exact same engine and transmission is offered in RWD and with xDrive. The xDrive models are considerably faster in a straight line.
Well, I suspect that also had to do with people abusing launch control. But regardless, all I'm saying is the GTR is AWD and you can say what you want about the driving dynamics but you certainly can't say it bogs off the line.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
The larger point I was making is that, with the way people expect to be able to thrash on a Mustang, you're going to have an awful lot of customers with clutch and transmission problems if you made the Mustang an AWD car. People flog those things like it owes them money.
The larger point I was making is that, with the way people expect to be able to thrash on a Mustang, you're going to have an awful lot of customers with clutch and transmission problems if you made the Mustang an AWD car. People flog those things like it owes them money.
I think it's more true of AWD vehicles with manual transmissions without any factory calibrated launch control. Launching my STI was a pretty violent affair not to mention the foul smell of burnt clutch afterwards. My Golf R with DSG was extremely easy to launch repeatedly with little drama. Little doubt that there's more driveline shock when launching any AWD car but automakers have set up their launch control systems pretty good these days. You can launch a 911 Turbo S all day long if you wanted. If you have never seen this video you should check it out as R&D does 50 straight launches one after the other.
Edit: Zedman beat me to it. Love that video and the faces that R&T guy makes.
Last edited by Erick Estrada; 09-16-2022 at 04:02 PM.
Although I like they kept the exterior on the evolution path it's a wee bit futuristic for me. But the absolute line in the sand for me and is a hard no, is that interior. It looks like a gaming PC, not a car. It's like Apple watches. Cool, the thing can calculate the moon landing, order Beef Vindaloo, and have 15 different looks for 400 bucks.... but it just doesn't age well. Where as a 15 year old Rolex Submariner just keeps time, but it's worth 15 grand and timeless design. The lack of critical knobs and switches also wrecks it for me. Certain things should be analog and work better as analog.
My wife had a 2018 Golf R and ordered a 2022 Golf R she waited 8 months for, drove it 2 months and traded it back in for a 2019 we had with 9000 kms on it. She HATED the digital dash and lack of buttons. Nothing was intuitive, and the interior was a huge downgrade from her previous car for fit/feel/finish.
I just like the old school look and feel. These digital dashes are going to age terribly when these things become classics on day... if ever. This is the interior of my car. I specifically ordered it without the digital dash as it just loses some of it's classic character without it.
There is nothing more satisfying than the solid clunk those aircraft mode switches in front of the shifter make when they engage. One of the best analogies I heard on this issue was from a Porsche engineer.... "There's a reason 100 million dollar fighter jets still have buttons dials and levers. It's tactile and usable in your peripheral" This digital revolution is 100% for cost cutting measures for the manufacturers. Ergonomics are being sacrificed for economics, and it sucks.
As for the AWD argument.... yeah cool, AWD cars are quicker, track better yada yada....but the sketchiness of RWD is just part of the fun. But I'm an old guy that grew up in V8 RWD cars... year round, and it's a flavor not everyone enjoys.
Here's a few other shots of my car from the Cochrane show n shine.....
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Although I like they kept the exterior on the evolution path it's a wee bit futuristic for me. But the absolute line in the sand for me and is a hard no, is that interior. It looks like a gaming PC, not a car. It's like Apple watches. Cool, the thing can calculate the moon landing, order Beef Vindaloo, and have 15 different looks for 400 bucks.... but it just doesn't age well. Where as a 15 year old Rolex Submariner just keeps time, but it's worth 15 grand and timeless design. The lack of critical knobs and switches also wrecks it for me. Certain things should be analog and work better as analog.
This is something I've been wondering about, too. My '17 just missed the digital dash of the '18 revamp. At first I was bummed about it, but I've really come to like the deep recessed speedometer and I like flipping the buttons and switches.
Though, the one place I do like electronic control is the in-steering wheel entertainment controls. Love being able to cycle stations with a thumb while hand is on the wheel.
This is something I've been wondering about, too. My '17 just missed the digital dash of the '18 revamp. At first I was bummed about it, but I've really come to like the deep recessed speedometer and I like flipping the buttons and switches.
Though, the one place I do like electronic control is the in-steering wheel entertainment controls. Love being able to cycle stations with a thumb while hand is on the wheel.
It's all about personal preference. The cool thing about it, I feel it's really gonna make the car that much more appealing to a younger demographic, which you want. But it will alienate a lot of the old school guys like me who grew up lusting Fox bodies, GM F-bodies etc..... However, like everything else, we eventually cave-in, I'm just not ready for that yet.
If I make the deal on the '72 AMC Javelin AMX 401 I'm trying to put together, none of this analog digital stuff will matter anyway....LOL. Fingers crossed.
If I make the deal on the '72 AMC Javelin AMX 401 I'm trying to put together, none of this analog digital stuff will matter anyway....LOL. Fingers crossed.
What???? In Alberta? My first car was my dad’s ‘73 AMX 401 that we lightly restored. Biggest regret of my life is selling it back in the day. I’d buy another 401 4spd in a heartbeat.
