Small(ish) 4 wheel drive cars

edwardcasbon1

edwardcasbon1

edwardcasbon1

Associate
Joined
29 Mar 2004
Posts
593
Location
Cambs, UK
Hi all,

The snow outside has just got me thinking. What are the options for normal size cars with 4 wheel drive?

Im talking hatchback, maybe saloon size cars, not your Range Rovers and your BMW X5's.

I think VW made a mk4 golf with 4 wheel drive didn't they? The 4Motion?

What else is there out there?

Cheers,

Edward
 
Why bother with a 4x4 for what, three snow days per year.

If you are that worried about the snow get yourself some winter tyres (presuming you have a FWD car currently).
 
Volvo V70 XC.
Quattro audi's.
Impreza's.
Evo's.
Mitsu Eclipse.
Mitsu 3000GT.
Alfa 156 crosswagon/159 .
Alfa Brera (Torsen T-3) .
VW Passat Torsen T-2
Nissan GTR's.
Some hybrid Lexus.

etcetc.
 
Last edited:
BMW made a few E30 3 series with 4WD, badged 'iX'. They did the E34 5 series in a similar format - quite rare but there are a few drifting about.

Mind you, it just gives you four wheels with no traction instead of two :D

Still going to stove it into a fence, or not get up a hill, if you aren't committed or restrained enough to drive in snow.
 
Subaru Justy
Fiat Panda
If you want to go really small, Subaru Vivio RX-R, I doubt you'll find one much smaller than that :)
 
Clarkey said:
Practically every Japanese car has a 4WD version. Almost never sold outside of Japan though.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that reminds me.

Nissan Sunny GTi-R (more commonly found in import Pulsar GTi-R badging) and budget for a new gearbox if you start modifying it.


Can we narrow down the 4WD requirements? Do you want a car that's basically FWD with the rear kicking in when you balls up (Golf, TT), a car that's basically RWD with the front kicking in when you balls up or floor it (Skyline, A4) or a car that's permanant 4WD (Impreza or any other large Subaru)
 
Last edited:
Dandle said:
Its nearly always awd while driving. Just it has a large bias to the front wheels and moves more power aft as required.
Click to expand...

I thought it was FWD until it detected slip and it would send power to the rear? You can have a 50:50 split but you need a Haldex controller for that.
 
Janesy B said:
I thought it was FWD until it detected slip and it would send power to the rear? You can have a 50:50 split but you need a Haldex controller for that.
Click to expand...

Thats not right. The term slip is the difference in torque between the front and rear axle not wheel spin like a lot of people think. Theres a torque difference even when driving at low throttle inputs due to the fact the front wheels are driven and the rears have some drag on the system, even this low amount of torque is enough for the haldex unit to be transfering power aft to make up for the slip its detecting. The unit constantly varies the power to the back wheels while power is being delivered. The HPP controller cannot send more power to the rear then the standard unit but what it does is act more aggressively and send more power to the rear faster than what the standard controller does, this gives the car a more balanced feel but the system is still FWD biased and it can never get away from that due to the fact the power for the rear is tapped of the front diff and the rear can only ever have a share of the front wheels power.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom