|
I remember reading years ago about an AWD Can-Am race car that somebody was building and their conclusion was that since frictional losses were a percentage of the power being transmitted, splitting the power between the front and back axles cut the losses to each axle in half resulting in the total losses being about the same. This would explain why cutting power to the rear axle in an AWD vehicle but retaining all the moving driveline parts would reduce MPG because you would be using just as much power to move the vehicle and extra power to turn the extra driveline parts. A vehicle with locking hubs such as the Suizuki would be able to eliminate the movement of these parts and show some improvement.
|