I've been driving 4X4 vehicles since the 1950's, my first being a '49 Jeep, so I do have a little experience with this. But I've never driven one like the All4 Countryman S.

We finally had some snow here in Minnesota(about a foot), so I got to go out to play in it. No serious ice yet, but plenty of hardpack snow and general slippery stuff. But here's what gets me. At an intersection of hardpack snow, I get on it hard enough to expect it to spin, but even with the trac control off, all it does is go, and go fast. I've been able to get it in to some fairly nice slides, but have to be a little careful, as it's brand new and don't want to crunch it up.

What I want to know is how do they do that? What kind of drive is this thing? I've read that it is a full time front wheel drive with the rear wheels kicking in as needed. Others say it's 50/50 all the time. With no controls available to the driver, it makes me feel a bit helpless.

All in all, this is probably the best 4X4 I've ever had, but for the life of me I don't know why!!

Can anyone tell me how this system really works?

Jim

 

Try this link from MotoringFile:

http://www.motoringfile.com/2011/12/...tem-clarified/

 

Thanks, I had read that one. It still doesn't explain to me how the system seems to adapt so quickly to surface variables. I can take off with the front wheels on hardpack and the rears on fairly solid ground. Or the opposite. And nothing seems to affect how the car accelerates. It just goes. And available traction differences side to side also seem to make no difference.

Does the system react to wheel speed sensors? And if it does, how can it react so quickly? I've had dozens of 4X4's, including some with full lockup capability, and none of them had the feel of this car.

The only negative I can say about this car is that it could use more power. I need to do this carefully, without voiding the warranty, but I will be doing as much as I can.

Anyway, where I live, 4X4 isn't just for show. I've had most all of them, but this time I think I'm in love!!

 

You have never owned a Subaru then!

 

My husband and I had 6 Subarus before our CM. All but 1 were manual, and all but 1 were turbo. I will say a manual Subaru is awesome, the automatic not as much. I haven't driven my All4 in the snow yet since last winter I had my CM Justa, so I can't really compare yet. I pray for snow soon though.

 

I have a manual WRX which is 50/50 AWD all the time and I concur...with winter tires it is awesome on ice, snow, or whatever...hammer it and always straight as an arrow! Hope you get to test your CM soon, it has been snow squalls here all day today

 

I also have a Subaru Wrx over 400hp and opted for the CM S non awd knowing I have the Wrx as the snow machine!

 

You are correct, but you must be reading my mind! I was actually looking for a WRXSTI, but the dealers in my area had nothing at all in stock that I liked. I can take only so much BLUE!! :-)

Anyway, I decided to take a look at the CMS, and got hooked. I also have a red R53 that I'm setting up to match the new red CMS with black wheels and roof, and a number of mods. So the blower for fun and the turbo for winter. Seemed like a good idea to me and the Subi got forgotten.

The only time I think about the Subi is when I notice the distinct lack of power from the CMS. Gotta do something about that!

 

Yeah, Subaru, until recently, had really crappy and old 4 speed autos, and they suck. Only recently have they had 6-speed autos, not sure if they are any good.

 

It's a FWD biased system, so it's FWD under normal conditions, only powering the rear wheels after slip is detected. If it were fully 50-50 awd, the gas mileage would suffer big time, and it would be even slower.

 

That's the line they gave when it first came out, but I don't think it's true. I think it's 50/50 split starting out and then transfers more to the front as speed increases. So at highway speeds it's very FWD biased (90/10, maybe up to 100%?), but can send power to the wheels if it detects wheel spin.

This topic comes up every few months, but I don't think a definitive answer has ever been proven. There's a lot of speculation and conflicting articles on various car sites.

 

On the BMW website it says its entirely FWD expect under wheelspin conditions.. But there was a guy who got a tuner to make his 100% AWD all the time.. Which is pretty cool

 

I would like to know who made theirs 100% awd. Would be interesting to see how they went about it

 

It's a CVT so yeah.

 

Post two in this thread has a really good overview of the All4 system. I tend to think he understands it. He says 50 x50 at start and can transfer 100% to front.