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Four-wheel drive is no longer limited to pickups, SUVs and station wagons. Some of the highest-performance cars in the world use 4wd. These cars have so much torque available that they can easily cause the rear tires to break their grip in hard acceleration or cornering. The availability to send some of that torque to the fronts when needed is an added measure of safety and improves the performance, too. One of the first supercars to have 4wd was the exotic Porsche 959. The 450 bhp from its twin-turbo engine was sent to all four wheels for good measure. This was not just for show. The 959 bagged 1st, 2nd and 6th places in 1986’s Paris-Dakar rally. Sports cars that retain their rear-wheel drive “feel” while being able to send some propulsion forward include the Porsche 911 Turbo, Nissan Skyline GT-R, and Lamborghini Murcielago. For today’s World Rally Championship cars, 4wd is a must. Thus championship-winning cars like the Lancia Delta Integrale, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Subaru Impreza Turbo all have 4wd. Lucky owners of their roadgoing counterparts can play like McRae with the unflappable grip that the cars’ computer controlled-4wd systems can provide. Notably, several Formula One cars that were propelled via four-wheel drive systems were introduced, such as the Lotus 63 from 1969. None however achieved much success. The added weight of such systems, and the success of today’s computer-managed traction control systems somehow negate the need for 4wd in today’s F1. Four-wheel drive has indeed come a long way from the World War II Jeep. It has made its way into the fastest and most fun-to-drive cars on the planet—wherever they may be driving. Sources:
Introduction to All-Wheel Drive by Eliot Lim |
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