iiPancho

Ok lets say two cars both have 180 bhp
and however much of a loss at the wheels.

what other factors besides drivers really make a difference?
does rwd really make all that much difference.
and is awd really that much better off the line.

also when you have an awd car does it lose more whp than a car propelled by 2 wheels?

like lets say a a car is both 100 hp and one is awd and the other is awd will the awd have less horespower than the other car?

im not sure if this should be posted here but, i post here the most.
just some questions i was looking for an answer.

thanks

Townson

if one was automatic and one was manual, that makes a pretty big difference off the line, but not so much from a roll as i have found out. and yes awd is better off the line.

iiPancho

Would auto be better than manual, cause its harder to like lets say, launch my civic which is a 5-speed as to were my moms element is an automatic.

i mean its just slam the gas an go.

Townson

yeah but the thing about an automatic is that you cant wind the gears out as far as you can in a 5 speed. like an automatic shifts at around 6500 every time where as you could take a 5 speed on up to around 7500 RPM. so in the long run the 5 speed will pull away.

Creepsjr

I could be very wrong on this, but as far as I am aware, the awd will be putting down less power to the ground then lets say an equally powered car with front/rear wheel drive only. Think about it... An awd car requires much more effort to move its four wheels, and has two extra differentials to deal with as compared to a stock fwd car that is only propelling two wheels.

Although the horsepower will be less at the wheels, I don't know about actually starting off the line. There's definitely a smaller chance of spinning your tires with awd, that's forsure, especially if you were to compare exact weight/power ratios. Maybe that in itself is enough for a faster launch.

If you ever paid attention to a Subaru commercial, they always tell you the horsepower at the engine and rarely, if ever, (well, I've never seen it anyway) will they tell you the power at the wheels, and I think that is because of the substantial loss in power. Even when I read car review articles and they mention horsepower, they never say what it is at the wheels. The few times I've seen them throw "power to the ground" into an article, they just put a whopping "N/A". Makes you kinda wonder...

Anyone else know more specifics regarding this? I'd be curious to find out myself...