Honda Develops World’s First Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive this fall in the Acura RL
VEETEHK
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 503
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From: S. Carolina
Originally Posted by 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.
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.
All I'm saying is that with the engine and transmission off-center, it may not be an optimal design. That is, I'm sure it would handle even better than it's going to if everything were lined up. But again, I'm sure it'll be just fine the way it is.
Good point about packaging, I was thinking about that, and that was probably the reasons they chose the design they did. Audi claims that there is no way a large 12-cylinder sedan could be AWD without their "W" configuration. I'm not sure how true that is, but apparently engine size and type play an important role in AWD layouts. Kinda obvious, but oh well. I've been OWN3D.
h:
it's my D in a B
Joined: Aug 2001
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From: Your Mom's House
I don't see whats so "world's first" about it :dunno: Sounds like pretty much every WRC car... just the logical next step from production cars like the EVO, as Mr.Fatderriere mentioned.
Wannabe yuppie
Joined: Dec 2000
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From: Madison, WI
Originally Posted by white_n_slow
I don't see whats so "world's first" about it :dunno: Sounds like pretty much every WRC car... just the logical next step from production cars like the EVO, as Mr.Fatderriere mentioned.
it's my D in a B
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 24,787
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From: Your Mom's House
I wasn't talking about the orientation of the engine. I thought the EVO had two "smart" differentials... hence the "next logical step" comment. (might be mistaken :dunno: ) And I believe most WRC cars have multiple computer-controlled difs.
VEETEHK
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 503
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From: S. Carolina
This reminds me of the Best Motoring episode where they're racing the Evo and the Impreza. While the Evo's computer-controlled diffs were good, they were not preferred to the traditional mechanical diffs of the Subaru.
We shall see. While this is all very interesting, I think it's dumbing-down motoring (I'm saying this is the case/tren in general, not referring to the RL here) . Computer-controlled steering and brakes and throttle and everything else may work fine for mega-bucks race cars, but having 9-speed auto transmissions and voice command sunroofs and drink coolers in the rear seat, etc. don't add much to the experience, in my opinion. Those are features for people who don't care for driving. Pretty soon, all we'll have to do is get in a box, no wheel, no pedals, say where we want to go and it will take us there. Is that driving? Motoring? No.
It suck for people like us, or for me at least. Most of the public is happy with huge SUVs and FWD autos. Why not some affordable midesize RWD cars? Why can't someone step up to the plate? The IS300 is a perfect example of a lost opportunity, but since I'm already way off topic, I'm not going to go there.
We shall see. While this is all very interesting, I think it's dumbing-down motoring (I'm saying this is the case/tren in general, not referring to the RL here) . Computer-controlled steering and brakes and throttle and everything else may work fine for mega-bucks race cars, but having 9-speed auto transmissions and voice command sunroofs and drink coolers in the rear seat, etc. don't add much to the experience, in my opinion. Those are features for people who don't care for driving. Pretty soon, all we'll have to do is get in a box, no wheel, no pedals, say where we want to go and it will take us there. Is that driving? Motoring? No.
It suck for people like us, or for me at least. Most of the public is happy with huge SUVs and FWD autos. Why not some affordable midesize RWD cars? Why can't someone step up to the plate? The IS300 is a perfect example of a lost opportunity, but since I'm already way off topic, I'm not going to go there.
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,664
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From: Columbus, Ohio
i dont know, i think having features like this in a luxury car are perfect. people dont buy luxury cars for the joy of driving them. they want them to be comfortable and easy to drive and thats it. they dont want to have to think about the conditions around them. i hope the RL lives up to the standard set by its advanced drivetrain and i hope its a huge hit. only thing that worries me now is the design. as long as they stay away from the look of the TL it should be fine. 
