Are the roads that bad in OZ? To me AWD in Austrailias climate is about as usful as a snowmobile in Florida.

Branden,

Put VERY simplistically. the majority of Australians live near or very near the coastline so the roads that join the various main cities and regional cities and towns are bitumen. But there is a massive area of Australia where there are "dirt tracks and roads" (an Aussie saying is "off the beaten track") that an ordinary vehicle would really struggle on.

Equally Australia has regions from the tropics through to temperate zones and of course a spine of mountains.

probably the most numerous vehicle in the "outback" is the 4wd/AWD Toyota Cruiser and Troop Carriers - pretty rugged and versatile awds. The most popular medium vehicle is the Ute with a LSD.

Holden have just added another option for the outback users and of course, the city person will readily adopt such a vehicle.

Mike

For urban-based motorists, those AWD-equipped SFVs (Sport Futility Vehicles) are in practical terms little more than a 'lifestyle' fashion statement. There's virtually no snow anywhere in Oz even in winter, and the whole place is as dry as a thirsty farm dog

I guess the big attraction for suburbanites is that high-riding seating position for Mum as she dodges traffic while ferrying the kids to school, or so Dad can pretend it's a truck and thus be eligible to register his SFV under the 'Commercial Vehicle registration' classification and therefore legally park in designated Loading Zones otherwise reserved for Goods-Delivery vehicles

Of course the rationale for buying an SFV is their dream of 'the big trip' around Australia .. one day. Hardly any do. And with few exceptions, 'soft roader' AWDs are also fairly pointless in the outback. They are typified by either an unrealistically small fuel range (ie Holden Adventra LS1 AWD, Subaru etc) or they don't offer such exotica as an actual spare wheel (Porsche Cayenne, Audi et al). At least two spare wheels are prerequisites for remote-area travel

Genuine 4WDs like Toyota Landcruiser/Troop Carrier, Nissan Patrol etc make sense in the outback as they feature economical diesels, long-range tanks & heavy duty construction capable of standing up to terrible outback roads aka the infamous 'dirt highways'. But it's surprising how far you can go in a well-driven locally-made 2WD passenger car or ute, especially with LSD. For example, many Aborigines successfully get around in the harshest of locations in 20 year-old 2WD Falcon sedans etc ..

Indeed in such a dry continent the focus is usually more towards ground-clearance than traction issues. And when it does finally rain, it's often the reality that even traditional 4WDs are no advantage, as many local councils simply close the roads until things dry out, due to damage caused by wheel track imprints in the mud that later bake rock-hard, & resultant expense of sending out the grader to resurface those hundreds of miles of dirt highway

Branden, on a side note I bet you've heard the rumours of upcoming 'low-rider' AWD Monaro Coupé 4 with supercharged LS1, via HSV & CSV

Whats wrong with AWD? I used to drive a Scooby 22B b4 I sold it.

AWD sucks!

You can;t drift AWD.... It;'s f4 P{USSIES! WTF is a 22b scooby? You drive a mystery machine and asspack shaggy :lol:

-Huy

HAHAHa
You just got served! :afro:

No no no! Teh 22B has a special drivetrain called the Ruh-Roh CQB. With the twist of a nob, I can select awd, fwd, rwd, leftwheelsd, and rightwheelsd. It is a drift beast I swear.

I lilke my old S14 bettAr with RB26DETTTT! YEah!

:rolleyes:


I'm beginning to understand why there's a 'special' section just for us ..

Branden,

it depends on whether you are referring to AWD as seen in the Audi, Subaru sedans etc or 4WD as you would see in a pickup/suv type vehicle.

A sedan based AWD system has all the usual benifits in wet weather and for occasional light off roading such as a "good" dirt road up to a farm etc. Arouns Aus this can be very beneficial... and with gas prices the way they are down there... a good compromise between fuel efficiency and basic off roading.

Now if we are talking living on a farm in the back of whoop whoop or off roading out in the deset areas... or maybe at mining facilities.. then your big 4wd/pick ups are the way to go... groud clearance and true off road capabilities are a must.

To be honest... most of the SUV people dont get out of RWD and only want the vehicles for the prestige and ride height so they can see over others..... not wanting to offend the ladies... but it can sometimes be called the short female effect..ie they are all driven by short females.

HSV has the awd Coupe4 (sedan height)... and the Avalanche and XUV (ride height raised 20mm).... Holden has the Adventra (raised) and i think the cross8 (also raised). The off road ability is good but you wont be rock climbing of going way outback in them

James

Originally posted by nota@May 27 2004, 06:03 PM
:rolleyes:


I'm beginning to understand why there's a 'special' section just for us ..
If you havent noticed monaro drifto and the GTOdrift guy are the same. We have a loney bin escape here folks.

lol, that fad lasted about what, a week? Did they get banned or just leave?

Originally posted by Nocturn@Jun 23 2004, 02:33 PM
lol, that fad lasted about what, a week? Did they get banned or just leave?
ITs pretty scary to see a skitco here :laughbounce: . Is it just me or does that a****** not make any sense when he talks.

Maybe to him, but it makes him look like he needs that special little bus we have in the assylum....lol.

Its scary when people talk to themselves.

AWD exploded here in Aus ever since the huge success of the WRX AWD. Obviously takeoff and cornering are drastically improved with awd. Thats it.