Re: Quattro vs Volvo V70 AWD

[Rob Bailey <baileyr@cuug.ab.ca>]

>I was intrigued to see that Volvo has introduced an AWD system for their
>V70 wagon. Its a viscious fluid-based system, distributing 95% of the power
>to the front wheel under normal situations (much like Suburu). Check out
>www.volvocars.com for more info.

Only some (mostly automatic) Subarus act this way. Manual Legacy's have a 
50/50 front to back power split.

>One thing mentioned specifically on their web pages (almost as an "oh by
>the way" type of thing) was that their AWD also worked in reverse. I never
>gave it much thought, but does Quattro work when in reverse? (Apologies if
>this is a silly question).

A quattro has a normal centre diff, therefore letting it work in forward 
or reverse direction. I'm not sure if a Torsen diff will lock in reverse, 
but I suspect it would.

>I'm glad to see that my choices for an AWD car (for my wife :-) will be
>more than just an Audi or a Suburu. I'd have no problem buying a Volvo,
>even without AWD; the addition of AWD to that line of cars is terrific, 
>IMHO.

Well, there have been all types of AWD cars over the years, the problem 
is that most North Americans won't pay for it. They would rather have 
leather seats than AWD.

>Something tells me that AWD is going to turn out like ABS; every car will
>have it either standard or as an option, eventually.

I might have thought that 7 - 10 years ago when Audi, Subaru, Pontiac, Ford, 
Mazda, Isuzu, Toyota, AMC, Chrysler, Mitsubishi etc... (and many other 
that I can't think of right now!) were building AWD vehicles of varying 
forms, but today it looks more like a niche market, unfortunately. I 
think the market is quite different overseas, though. On the other hand, 
Audi and Subaru sure seem to be raking in the sales lately.

Rob