09 Ms3 Vs 09 Wrx

Hehe, you may not like how it looks, but that car is amazing for what it can do. It is faster than the Evo or STI and it's handling rivals the Corvette's. It also come loaded for thousands less than the Evo and STI.
 
I'm finding myself at this WRX/MS3 fork myself. I haven't driven the WRX it, and though I like the MS3's looks better, and enjoyed the drive, the AWD would be very helpful during New England winters. Really wish it was simple and settle on the MS3, but I guess I'll have to give the WRX serious consideration. Also doesn't help that my roommate has an STI hah
 
I wish I could tell you how it goes in the snow with snow tires, but I'm waiting to put them on the car until next fall. I will run the gauntlet the rest of this spring and simply drive a backup car if we get another major snow storm.

I am confident with snow tires on this car, it will do fine in winter. It won't go like an AWD car with snow tires, but it will get around just fine. I've been driving all winter in a Camry with worn, all season Dunlops which offer horrible traction, almost to the point of being ridiculous and I made it without any problems.

In the end, the AWD is cool and everything but not worth drive train losses considering the vast majority of the time the roads are pavement.

Picking up my FWD MS3 today.

Oh yeah, and the 370 Z is truly FTW.
 
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I hear so much misinformation about the awd in subaru products. Damn, people don't have a clue.

Their cars are still primarily front wheel drive with the awd added on as an afterthought, yet somehow they pulled the wool over everyone's eyes, and now they are gospel when it comes to awd.....

Not to say their product isn't a good one, but it sure as hell isn't the holy grail of AWD. Also, even WITH AWD many of the people driving them are still going to crash spectacularly, when they go past their driving abilities.
 
AWD doesnt stop u from sliding all over the place either.... it can help but i seen plenty of subarus spin out. It does give you an advantage when plowing through snow banks though.

MS3 with snow tires however is a very confident car in the snow.
 
Their cars are still primarily front wheel drive with the awd added on as an afterthought,
can you explain this in more detail? as far as i know their awd system is a 50/50 torque split and has 50% of the torque going to the front and rear wheels under normal conditions. unlike the fwd biased MS6 awd system which, from my understanding, is mostly fwd and then when things go bad sends power to the rear as needed. i believe the haldex system in quattro cars acts similarly to the MS6.
 
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I hear so much misinformation about the awd in subaru products. Damn, people don't have a clue.

Their cars are still primarily front wheel drive with the awd added on as an afterthought,
yet somehow they pulled the wool over everyone's eyes, and now they are gospel when it comes to awd.....

Not to say their product isn't a good one, but it sure as hell isn't the holy grail of AWD. Also, even WITH AWD many of the people driving them are still going to crash spectacularly, when they go past their driving abilities.

LOL...you need to explain this my friend...my subaru has a drive bias of 57 front and 43 rear if my memory serves me right. the awd system that subaru uses is superior to any awd system that toyota / honda etc use as well. The sti has the ability to control power/tq as well going from 50/50 to 30/70. i think you maybe misinformed.(hand)
 
i have an 08.5 MS3 sport and i put some blizzaks on 16" for the winter and i tear it up in the snow, the only down side to that is MASSIVE body roll anywhere above 60 mph.... **** the WRX my MS3 is pleanty for me :)
 
can you explain this in more detail? as far as i know their awd system is a 50/50 torque split and has 50% of the torque going to the front and rear wheels under normal conditions. unlike the fwd biased MS6 awd system which, from my understanding, is mostly fwd and then when things go bad sends power to the rear as needed. i believe the haldex system in quattro cars acts similarly to the MS6.

you are correct...it doesn't just send power when the wheel slips...the power is there 100% of the time.
 
The sti has the ability to control power/tq as well going from 50/50 to 30/70.
i don't believe that's technically true either. i did a little research on this before and i seem to remember that was my conclusion. the DCCD, which i believe is what you're referring to, does not change torque split. it instead changes how the center differential locks up just like the Evo's ACD. so torque distribution in a straight line is still always 50/50. however when you turn and lose traction it adjusts how strongly and the conditions under which the center diff locks. i believe to change torque distribution something would have to happen in the transfer case and not in the center differential. from what i remember in my previous research it's a fairly subtle point and appears to be a common misconception
 
i could be wrong but as i understood it the power/tq could be applied to either front or rear biased. ... off to do some research....
 
the tricky part is that the DCCD does effect where the torque goes because it controls how the center diff locks which controls rear power output. so while it's not immediately "flip the switch to go to rear bias" it can create a rear bias by how it causes the clutches in the diff to act. it just only matters when the center diff comes into play like around corners. i still don't think i fully understand its nuances but i get the basics

i believe BMW's AWD system is considered by many to be more ideal because it is based on a RWD platform. i don't know of any others that are RWD based and also don't really know of many that are 50/50 like subaru's symmetrical awd system. the skyline has a nice awd system but it's rwd biased and only does the front wheels when needed. i'm not really sure how porsche's awd system is setup.
 
I hear so much misinformation about the awd in subaru products. Damn, people don't have a clue.

Their cars are still primarily front wheel drive with the awd added on as an afterthought, yet somehow they pulled the wool over everyone's eyes, and now they are gospel when it comes to awd.....

Not to say their product isn't a good one, but it sure as hell isn't the holy grail of AWD. Also, even WITH AWD many of the people driving them are still going to crash spectacularly, when they go past their driving abilities.
You're wrong on so many levels. You really need to learn a bit before you post. (screwy)

The Subarus aren't primarily front wheel drive. I don't know where you get your info from. There are three different center diffs that Subaru uses. The STi DCCD user adjustable diff, the manual transmission viscus limited slip, and electronic controlled center diff used for autos.

Subaru's AWD system was designed as an AWD system. Just look at the engine/transmission/drive system layout. Before 1996, you could get FWD and AWD Subarus, they literally just took out the drive shaft to the rear and the rear diff. FWD was more of an afterthought on those cars than AWD. The Impreza chassis was developed with Rally in mind when the Legacy platform failed in Rally racing. The AWD system Subaru uses is pretty darn good and is pretty close to perfect.

Anyone can wreck a car, it doesn't matter what kind of car it is. That doesn't have anything to do with Subaru or AWD.

I can go on and on....
 
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