When you look at super cars, what you tend to notice are the outlandish and out-there design features, and the big, crazy performance numbers they produce. But the most important thing about them - the one thing they’re all searching for - is grip.
Ask a Lamborghini engineer and they’ll tell you that, as times creep below three seconds for the 0-to-100km/h dash, we’re reaching the limit of what can be done because there’s only so much power you can get to the ground through the rubber on a road tyre (which is why they prefer to talk about 0 to 200km/h times instead, some of which are now well below 10 seconds).
To help get their monsters off the line as rapidly as possible, Lamborghini - and McLaren, Audi, Bentley etc. - are all AWD performance cars. Because all-wheel-drive cars have two more contact patches, which means getting twice as much power down, twice as quickly, as a rear-driven vehicle.
Little wonder, then, a car as iconic as the Subaru WRX performance car was among the very first to embrace AWD performance.
Grip and rip
Even the famous BMW M5, an executive express, is now an AWD sedan, because its German engineers worked out it was the best way to keep it on the road, and moving quickly.
AWD sports cars, of course, aren’t just better at accelerating off the line, or getting power to the road in general. The fact is, AWD cars are better performance cars because they’re so much more fun, and arguably much quicker, to drive around corners as well.
Bending time and space
A great all-wheel drive sports car isn’t just a better performance car in a straight line, it can also be faster around circuits, or indeed any rally stage, because it’s got more grip, all the time.
An AWD sedan, like the awesome and legendary Subaru WRX sports car, gives you far more confidence when pushing through a bend because you’ve got all four wheels, and all four tyres, working to keep you in contact with the road at all times.
This means you can get on the throttle earlier in a corner and accelerate out faster. While front-wheel drive cars tend to understeer when pushed hard through bends, and rear-drive sports cars can be a handful because they tend to oversteer, or step out, when you apply the throttle mid-corner, an all-wheel-drive car - remains beautifully and encouragingly neutral.
The result is that AWD performance can be quicker and more enjoyable to drive in all kinds of situations. As a bonus, they’re also safer, providing better grip in wet or sticky conditions, when the weather turns sour as well.
CarsGuide
Paid Partnership
03 June 2021
