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by pandaman
674 days ago
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I am not an off-roader by any stretch of imagination, but I figure the AWD works like single axle drive with a simple diff on each axle i.e. if one wheel has no traction then all torque goes to that wheel and zero goes to the opposite one. I once got stuck on pretty solid pavement in a RWD car when one rear wheel hanged off a curb and lost traction, after that the car could not move as the only wheel getting torque was the one hanging off the ground. I figure the other axle would still get torque on an AWD as they usually have some kind of limited slip mid diff effect from whatever scheme they use to distribute torque between axles, but if you hanged out a wheel on each axle then an AWD vehicle would become stuck too? |
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Many will do what you’re describing—getting a front and rear wheel off the ground at the same time will leave it stranded. A limited slip center differential will ensure if one axle loses traction the power goes to the other, but many vehicles cheap out and have open differentials on each axle, meaning when one on each axle loses traction it’s just spinning wheels.
Some vehicles have limited slip front/rear/front+rear differentials that avoid this issue. Many newer vehicles simply use the traction control and brakes to avoid it—if a wheel is spinning, it applies the brakes to provide resistance and redirect some torque back to the other wheel.
Like many others are saying, “AWD” is such a broad term as to be basically meaningless.