Quote:
Originally Posted by mole7374
I ended up going to bed before I read the remainnig posts last night, but great post MM....totally agree with you. I mean electronic systems are good b/c they react quickly and they avoid having to add any additional weight, but IMHO they cannot do what mechanical systems do...how many rally cars (that win) have total electronic setups? I still don't understand the "sport suspension delete" thing for the m-sport US models....what do they put back on and why is that different than the "regular" non-M models? Do they put on an even sportier suspension? Very strange I guess.
And look I think x-drive is a fine system...it really is, however like you said, when you start "faking out" enough stuff (like the poor mans torque vectoring factor you point out) eventually you hit a wall...that being said, for just about every x-drive owner in just about every situation, x-drive will run like a champ.
AWD conversations are near and dear to me as a subaru enthusiast and STI owner....and I can tell you that if you ever want to see some crazy obsessive people, go out to an STI board and read the crap that gets thrown around about other AWD systems...some of it is spot on, a lot of it is crazy flaming, but the bottom line is this....when you put in mechanical LSD and a multi-plate transfer clutch, and a planetary-gear-type center differential,...and oh yea don't forget the limited-slip helical front and Torsen rear differential.... you can just achieve things that electronic systems can never do.
That being said though...BMW has ended up selling A LOT more cars over the years b/c of the fact that they introduced X-Drive....now that is either good engineering or great marketing!!
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I do enjoy xDrive, but it's not my favorite 4x4 system. It is a sportier 4x4 system with a 40/60 power split f/r with driving dynamics closer to a sports car but the capabilities as a 4x4 system are not up to scratch with Audi and Land Rover, for example. We have to give BMW credit, though--given how late in the game they were to introducing a 4x4 system--for being able to turn their company into almost half xDrive vehicles that
do sell very well.