Fair enough, but citing Tony Devers in the article doesn't overturn the fact that the website the article was hosted on (and by association, the article itself) seems a little sketch (at least to me). A significant portion of the articles on the site were provided by one person, the site hasn't had a new postings in over a year, and it's parent site hercar.com.au doesn't seem to exist anymore or is having massive technical difficulties. I understand what murcod meant when he quoted this article in the Fuel economy and iAWD - let the fun begin! thread:bootymac wrote:Journalist integrity? The author is quoting Tony Devers' (Suzuki AU's GM) explanation of the iAWD system. The things you pointed out are irrelevant.
murcod wrote:The important bits from that previous link - in case that page is ever taken down:
While I was looking for an official Suzuki PR statement on Tony Devers lecture on AWD, I found this article written for Carpoint by Jeremy Bass on the Kizashi AU website. The interesting tidbit from this article is:
This is the first time I've seen it mentioned ANYWHERE, that more than 50% of the power will get shifted to the rear axle in the Kizashi AWD system. It's hard for me to tell if Jeremy is implying that the power only gets shifted when slippage is detected at launch, or if he meant when the highly advanced iAWD program that Tony Devers described detects ambient conditions based on telemetry, road conditions, and driver inputs and adjusts power dynamically.Unlike the [Subaru] Liberty’s full-time AWD, [the Kizashi Sport AWD's has] a part-time system, switchable on the hoof between FWD and AWD via a button on the driver’s right. That activates an electromagnetic coupling in the transfer case up front, connected to the rear diff by a three-link prop shaft. On the go in AWD, it defaults to FWD until it detects slip, at which point it starts shifting torque rearward – up to 100 per cent if it feels the need.
For maximum traction on all but the softest take-offs – anywhere over 10km/h or 10 per cent throttle – the AWD system makes the most of the 2.4-litre four’s 131kW and 230Nm by defaulting to a 50:50 split between front and rear axles until it hits its stride.
Now I don't know where Jeremy got this info, but it would be in line with my findings that in situations of especially low traction, like trying to drift in 2-3 inches of snow, the AWD will feel the need to push more power to the rear tires, not just equal power. I just wish I had better measurements than observing the amount of snow buildup in my wheel wells after I drift in the snow for a few days. As for the alignment, the issue is probably less with the alignment, and more that I like to drive like a madman on public roads. I guess what I meant by "power oversteer" earlier was drifting a Kizashi without the handbrake. If I time it right, I can get the rear axle to drift a little bit on dry asphalt after stomping on the accelerator. It's hard, but I've done it a few times. I have an SE, which leads me to believe the "Sport AWD" is on all American Kizashi AWD models, even though all the AWD systems on Kizashies I've seen have been called "iAWD".
I'm still hunting around for something that calls the AWD system on an American Kizashi "Sport AWD" or something of the likes, in the mean time, it looks like I have a lot of research to do on the suzuki.com.au website. There are a lot more promo articles for the Kizashi in Australia. I'll probably crack open the Owner's Manual when I get home from stuffing my face for Thanksgiving too. I haven't looked in it for a while, and maybe it'll have something to say about the AWD system that I might have overlooked.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
I never had that problem with the OEM Dunlops. 