[GregW / Oregon]

Visiting from the M3 forum. I'm knowledgable over there, but my area of interest at the moment is BMW's all-wheel drive system (particularly 3-series) vs. Audi's . Can someone point me to a primer on the differences, advantages, disadvantages of each, please?

Thanks.

[335iPSI]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Visiting from the M3 forum. I'm knowledgable over there, but my area of interest at the moment is BMW's all-wheel drive system (particularly 3-series) vs. Audi's . Can someone point me to a primer on the differences, advantages, disadvantages of each, please?

Thanks.

Well, there are the various technical articles and youtube videos debating this topic everywhere. Here is how I look at it in summary:

Performance:
I think the stock Audi is superior in terms of out-of-the-box performance. You get a standard sport suspension (no sport suspension for 335xi ), and a rear diff option for the audi that uses torque vectoring. Of course you can add a diff (a few grand) and a good suspenion (bilsteins/springs or coilovers) to the 335xi and have nearly the same performance. It is nice to have this all complete on day-1 though.

Quattro

X-Drive

Weather:
From many youtube video's I've seen, despite the open dif's in the BMW AWD system, the X-drive seems to have an advantage in slippery conditions mostly due to software programming in my opinion. In many instances when only 1 wheel has traction, the x-drive is able to put the power there to get the car to move where as the Audi and Mercedes systems sit there spinning. You can check this out on YouTube. Now, if you were daily driving in the snow, I once again would probably prefer the Audi just due to the more controlled drift-ability with the torque vectoring rear diff.

Summary:
I personally like BMW's better than Audi's --- they're nearly the same and both great cars but the driving feel of a BMW (rear-biased) is more pronounced even with AWD. Most of this has to do with where the Audi's engine is mounted --- in front of the front axle. They have played with this mounting point, but it definitely makes their cars tend to understeer. Naturally, this vectoring diff they have now takes care of most of that, but it's almost fighting itself. It's really too bad that BMW can't make a PERFORMANCE oriented version of their AWD system. I personally love the AWD ability to do a full launch with 400+lb/ft of torque in 3" of standing water and barely chirp a tire. I hit the beach and could drive straight up a sand dune, and then go skiing in the winter without issue. I'm looking foward to BMW's current torque vectoring rear diff (found in new X3, X5 etc) to trickle down to the 3 series.

If I Could Choose:
I'd make an M3 with the twin turbo V-8, X-drive with front and rear torque vectoring differentials, and the typical M-suspension.

***EDIT*** And give every car the option of the damn DCT!!!

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by 335iPSI

Well, there are the various technical articles and youtube videos debating this topic everywhere. Here is how I look at it in summary:

Performance:
I think the stock Audi is superior in terms of out-of-the-box performance. You get a standard sport suspension (no sport suspension for 335xi ), and a rear diff option for the audi that uses torque vectoring. Of course you can add a diff (a few grand) and a good suspenion (bilsteins/springs or coilovers) to the 335xi and have nearly the same performance. It is nice to have this all complete on day-1 though.

Quattro

X-Drive

Weather:
From many youtube video's I've seen, despite the open dif's in the BMW AWD system, the X-drive seems to have an advantage in slippery conditions mostly due to software programming in my opinion. In many instances when only 1 wheel has traction, the x-drive is able to put the power there to get the car to move where as the Audi and Mercedes systems sit there spinning. You can check this out on YouTube. Now, if you were daily driving in the snow, I once again would probably prefer the Audi just due to the more controlled drift-ability with the torque vectoring rear diff.

Summary:
I personally like BMW's better than Audi's --- they're nearly the same and both great cars but the driving feel of a BMW (rear-biased) is more pronounced even with AWD. Most of this has to do with where the Audi's engine is mounted --- in front of the front axle. They have played with this mounting point, but it definitely makes their cars tend to understeer. Naturally, this vectoring diff they have now takes care of most of that, but it's almost fighting itself. It's really too bad that BMW can't make a PERFORMANCE oriented version of their AWD system. I personally love the AWD ability to do a full launch with 400+lb/ft of torque in 3" of standing water and barely chirp a tire. I hit the beach and could drive straight up a sand dune, and then go skiing in the winter without issue. I'm looking foward to BMW's current torque vectoring rear diff (found in new X3, X5 etc) to trickle down to the 3 series.

If I Could Choose:
I'd make an M3 with the twin turbo V-8, X-drive with front and rear torque vectoring differentials, and the typical M-suspension.

***EDIT*** And give every car the option of the damn DCT!!!

Thanks!