http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/18/a...-in-minnesota/


Some things stood out for me. One of them was related to some peoples questions about if somehow the older RLs could be reflashed to have a 30:70 awd split like the new ones do. In the article at one point, they had a techy messing with the system doing something similar to that with a laptop connected to the MDX he was in. worth a look IMO.

 

Its funny reading the comments of the article. People are so misinformed or ignorant. They are saying Quattro and Subaru's AWD system are king when both of those systems are passive and outdated compared to SH-AWD. I was driving my boss's new A4 on Pirelli snow tires two weeks ago in Canada in a snow storm. Our cars are sooo much better in the snow in comparison, and the 2.0 seemed wheezy and underpowered to me. I know it's not in the same class as our car but it was so small and the doors were light and flimsy like my wife’s 07 RAV4, not a strong luxury car thump like our car. Oh and it was really small inside.

 

I keep telling people that SH-AWD is the shiznit....and it is.

Now with better external design, Acura would be pretty dang near perfect....but that's another story.

 

i hadn't read the comments before. quiet entertain now that i'm looking through them. i love how defensive some people get. i guess ignorance is bliss. ::shrugs::

 

Again as we have said before, best car nobody knows about. Our gain, their loss.

 

The video of that snow driving test is on TOV. It really does not nice job showing how dynamic SHAWD is.

The competitors poo poo it. But then why are they now copying dynamic AWD? From what I have read the closest copy was designed by SAAB. Another underappreciate niche vehicle.

Sour Grapes.

 

It's funny...I was thinking tonight about all the abuse car companies put their new models through before selling them and here is this article. That picture of the suspension covered in ice was freaky. And to think all new cars get the crap beat out of them in 125ºF deserts, -40ºF frozen tundras, hurricane-force rains and wind, ice and snow, beating sun, hail, and anything else mother nature can dish out. And this is all before production even begins.

 

And yet, we still end up with issues like the door handles not working when they get wet, windshield wipers not working well at highway speeds, and propeller shaft bearings wearing out. Just how great is all this extreme testing if regular day-to-day issues don't get uncovered before the car goes into production?

 

Durability testing has nothing to do with poor engineering. The poor wiper function at highway speeds is incredibly annoying, I have to say.