Gidday ST & Thunder
You'll get yourself in all kinds of hot water with all that quoting! :rotfl:
I agree, I'm yet to be impressed by any "on demand awd system"'
I like a goodly amount of hot water, usually twice a day, but sometimes more frequently ...
As for the other, me neither.
Better to be able to choose 2WD/4WD HR/LR as appropriate before getting oneself into difficulty, IMO.
Either that, or have an "intelligent" constant AWD system, as Subarus and some other cars have.
the only benefit of the the other AWD systems are the lock options that are available in both the rav4 and the x-trail
I grant you that it can be a benefit sometimes, Thunder.
I am unconvinced that it is a particularly suitable system for our kind of vehicles however.
Different situation completely from that of big, work 4WD vehicles, whether passenger or goods vehicles.
Toyota reckoned that my vintage tray top and deep well ute bodied LCs would carry a ton
anywhere, and I never found any reason to doubt that for an instant. In fact my 1968 LC deep well ute would carry a ton
almost anywhere while towing around 2 tons of horse float behind it ... AND do it all year round, if needs be.
I towed said horse float (full of horses) from Brisbane to Adelaide. The back of the LC was very full as well. It spewed out all the oil in the transfer case by Rankin Springs (IIRC). Completely empty. The casing was almost red hot ... . The mechanic re-filled it, and then we drove on to Adelaide. I reconditioned the transfer case some 2~3 years later.
If one ran any modern car gearbox or transfer case completely empty in this way, that would be the end of it, then and there. Let alone with a ton in the back and 2 tons on behind ... Bloody tough!!
That sort of treatment (even scaled down to suit) would wreck our vehicles pretty quickly. They simply are not designed for that sort of very rough treatment. These days, neither is a LC GLX s/w ...
That having been said, my LC was beyond primitive in almost every conceivable way. Tough as old boots, but primitive!
For almost every use I have for it, the Fox is vastly superior, and much of that is down to the superbly designed and engineered constant AWD and suspension systems. Not being a one-trick pony, Subaru extend this design philosophy and balance to the rest of these cars, and to their other models as well.
I, for one, appreciate that care in design and build quality and balance.
I do not lose any sleep at all that my car/s cannot compete with a Maybach V12, or a 1968 LC ... :ebiggrin: :lol: :rotfl:
to ORS.
