ILuvItTheJDM

I'm not getting my panties in a wad, I could care less really. I've never been a fan of Honda, but I do have a lot of respect for their products, accomplishments and engineering talent.

Like I said, I'm sure their system is/will work great, but I see a few areas that could stand improvement...Honda really isn't know for AWD, after all.

98CoupeV6

You seem to have it in your head that Honda doesn't know what it's doing, which is amazing. Do you think that they didn't rip apart every AWD system on the market and not hire AWD specialists for this project? Honda knows what it's doing. In my opinion, it makes you sound dumb to nitpick the system based on the schematic drawings and 3D diagrams of the system that were povided by Honda. "In theory" doesn't mean much in the real world of automotive design. If it did, automobile engines would have a much higher efficiency than 25% or so, for example.

MrFatbooty

What's the big deal about having a transverse engine layout? Okay so it makes for a longer front overhang and a shorter firewall-to-axle distance, but aside from that who cares? Audi (and the VW Passat) has longitudinally mounted engines and yet they have the same "problem."

The Mitsubishi EVO has a transversely mounted engine and nobody seems to care about that.

ILuvItTheJDM

I don't see the need for this.

Honda may know what they're doing, or they may not. This is Honda's first attempt at a high-tech, non-FWD luxury sedan...Forgive me for being skeptical.

I'm not trying to be a know-it-all prick. I suck at math and physics, so I give those engineers all due respect. Just the same, there are other systems out there (Subaru) that seem to make more sense in terms of design to a layman such as myself.

Additionally, I'm not attacking Honda or their idealogy or methods or...

I'm not sure why the discussion is getting this heated. You said I sound dumb because I took personal issue with the design of their system...Well, excuse me. If I said Honda's system sucks balls and they were stupid for trying to create a luxury AWD sedan, maybe you would have a case.

qtiger

First in the American market, yes. But Honda has produced and sold AWD cars in other markets.

ILuvItTheJDM

So has Toyota. And as much as I like Toyota, I wouldn't be too quick to praise their systems either.

There are only a few companies that do AWD for a living, namely Subaru and Audi.

Honda excels in many areas. Time will tell if AWD will be one of those areas.

98CoupeV6

If you don't see the need for it, don't reply. I was just curious if you had any knowledge you were willing to impart on us other than opinion derived from drawings. I said you sound dumb because you're basing your opinion off of nothing other than drawings and have no technical fact/analysis to back it up. Read what I said please. I'm not trying to be argumentative. My point is that you're needlessly nitpicking. I'm not defending Honda. I'm probably going to go to work for General Motors as early as this summer, I don't ride Honda's sack. But I do give engineers and the men that be all the respect in the world, and am smart enough to realize that Honda wouldn't design a system with such "obvious" defects in it. Clearly, the system is designed the way it is for a reason. They didn't just design this off the top of their head. Like I said, you can bet your ass they studied said Subaru's AWD system down to every bolt.

This discussion really isn't very heated. It's a regular discussion. Without such "discussion", this forum would be a veeeeery boring place.

Tirod

sweet... this would surely make the next NSX debut like the first... for its time

MrFatbooty

Like I already pointed out, there are in fact cars with transversely mounted engines and awd drivetrains. Case in point being the EVO. The Focus WRC and probably several other cars on the WRC circuit also have transversely mounted drivetrains. Mainly this is because they are based on fwd car platforms, but they still manage to perform slightly better than alright.

I would surmise that much of the engineering of the RL, while not necessarily on the global midsize platform, is in fact common. Honda's sole experience with building awd vehicles, including ones with V6 engines (Pilot, MDX) is with transversely mounted engines. There is a total of one current Honda with a longitudinally mounted engine, which is the S2000. There were several fwd cars with longitudinally mounted engines: Vigor, 1st gen TL, 2nd gen Legend, 1st gen RL. It would stand to reason to me, that the longitudinal mounting scheme was not retained because of packaging concerns with the addition of the awd system.

Also as far as efficiency is concerned, look at how the driveline is set up. Power is not sent to a transfer case and then back out to each wheel: it is sent to the front wheels first and then the rear wheels sort of siphon it off of that path. In effect it's no less efficient even though the engine is mounted sideways.

ILuvItTheJDM

I totally agree with you, and concede to all your points. I don't mean to come across as a nit-picker. I'm sure the design is sound. I definitely don't see anything "defective" about it. I mean, MB for one uses a somewhat similar "layout" and it seems to work just fine.

All I wanted to say that not getting too technical about it, Subaru's system seems the most logical to me. In practice, Honda's system may be superior, despite what it looks like to me. But I'm sure the RL will compare favorably against other AWD cars. Looks like it's main competition will be the Quattro Audis? Nothing else in that luxo price range has AWD. Well, the 330xi doesn't really count, I don't think...Maybe the upcoming Legacy GT? But that's not in the same class as Acura or Audi, despite Subaru's desire to move the brand upscale...Now I'm just rambling... h: