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Originally Posted by martinbo  Of course the real-world flipside to all of this is down to that age-old concept of...?
Compromise.
Proponents of the AWD benefits are all too aware of the disadvantages involved. However, a car that's used in the real world, by real world drivers is far more socially acceptable by virtue of its imperious dynamics in all weather conditions than how quickly it accelerates from 200 km/h to 300 km/h. In that sense we're talking absolutes...
And in terms of absolute performance nothing comes close to a very much AWD, quad-turbo, 16 cylinder Bugatti Veyron. |
Except for Caparo T1. And you can be sure it will absolutely destroy it in the corners, unless the driver suffers from g-LOC.
And if the Veyron uses 320 Km/h+ speeds to gain the advantage, it's fuel tank will be empty in 12 minutes, and the tires can only resist 15 minutes (by logic it will be stopped due to lack of fuel).
So no real world advantages from here.
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Well it's obvious, really. At lower speeds the engine power is consumed only by the AWD system. So 0-100 km/h, AWD cars put in a good showing. However, at higher speeds aerodynamic drag starts to consume more and more engine power as a greater portion of the output is put to work in overcoming this aerodynamic resistance. The added resistance of an AWD car merely compounds this wasteful consumption of power.
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While this is true, the nature of S85 engine and SMG III have to be taken into consideration. That engine really comes alive at 180 Km/h and is still strong at 325+ Km/h.