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Originally Posted by silent_jay
RWD is better, how do you figure that a RWD car is better than an AWD car? Of course the WRX isn't American people actually buy them, and they stay running.
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actually rwd is better in terms of total perfromance over awd for a couple of reasons. first off pure rwd is lighter than awd. two extra differentials, an additional dirveshaft and then a transfercase all add weight. second your combined gear lash through an entire awd system is greater than with rwd, which lowers the effiency of the powerflow through the system. the addional spinning componets add mass that takes more power to spin. and finally the implementation of the AWD system greatky affects its perfromance. there are multiple ways of implementing it, some better perfroming than others. the current popular setup of choice *used by honda/acura, mitsubishi, toyota, some gm, etc* uses a single viscous coupling to transfer power to the rear wheels. problem with the setup is that for 90% of the time the rear half is being dragged along (added weight and rolling resistance) and when power is needed to be trnasfered, it is not mechanicly linked but hydraliclly, lowering the effieceny further, combined that it can only transfer when there is a difference in speeds. However subaru's setup is not of this type, but its components are awfully small.
and finally Subaru is owned by Fuji Heavy Industries, in which GM holds a 20% controlling stake. which is why Saab's 9-2x is a wrx, and the two branches are working on new platform now.
And finally go look into the incidents of repairs reports put out, amercan brands are doing quite well while some notable japanese and europeans brands are not.