Ed Newman

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Kent M. Wood:
<strong>guys, according to Excellence Porsche mag, Porsche test drivers drove the same course at top speeds and the AWD C4S bettered the RWD C2 by several seconds. And we all know, seconds at high speed is a long ways. It was noted that the C2 is faster on acceleration, but still lost the test, by I wish I could recall how much, but significantly.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">A few seconds is a small margin. Keep in mind the C42 benefits from larger rear tires, wider rear track, larger brakes and a better suspension than a C2.

Greg Fishman

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Ed Newman:
A few seconds is a small margin. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">A few seconds is an eternity on a road course, don't minimize that difference.

JJayB

Pikes Peak racer Jeff Zwert was 6 seconds faster in a 96 993tt allwheel drive compared to last years 996GT2 two wheel drive which had over 50hp advantage.
Conditions due change from year to year, but 6 seconds is staggering amount of time in road racing and hill climbs.

pig4bill

12.5 miles and around 12 minutes to run, 6 seconds is negligible between 2 different years.

boostaholic

This may be marketing, but I remember audi showing some "data" to prove a driven axle has less resistance than an undriven axle above 60 mph. Opinions?

M758

Remember what AWD does. It sends power to the front wheels as well as rear wheels. If you have enough power to break loose the rear wheels AWD will be an edge. My 944 race car with 131 Rwhp can break loose the inside rear tire in corners. It is 225/50 Toyo. Sure a limited slip would help greatly, but what would also help is less power going to the rear wheels. AWD will do this. It is true that AWD does add more weight and complexity, but in Pure theory AWD is better since each tire has less power that goes through it thus leaving more grip for cornering.

In practice there are so many variables that it is not so easy to determine. The way the AWD is set-up, the line taken, the power level and tire size, weight distribution, etc all play roles that can overcome the traction gain.

And of course in racing remember the rules. They can easily dictate what will be better or worse with stroke of a pen.

swftiii

It was mentioned that a different line should be used to get the most out of an AWD system. What is the line difference?

Thanks,

-SKip