2003 Rx 300 Awd Horrible In Snow

[wwest]

i don't know if this has been posted before but this video from germany has an rx300/harrier participating in a hill climb test against other awd/4wd vehicles:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2...268390&q=german

Damn, I would have thought the Germans would have had enough sense to disable the traction control on the RX300. You will note that just as it stalls the RX300's front wheels come to a camplete stop and the rear wheels starting driving, kicking snow.

That's a clear indication that the traction control sensed front wheelspin/slippage and applied braking to the front to reapportion the engine torque predominantly to the rear. Of course what happens next is entirely predictable, if the front wheels alone cannot move the car forward then certainly the rear wheels alone cannot. It likely didn't help matters that the engine was dethrottled as soon as the rear wheels stated to slip so seriously.

I'm not saying the RX300 would have done very much better, but the test would have been more fair if the viscous clutch had been used alone.

But then again fairness would dictate that testing should be done "as shipped".

The good news is that with the advent of the RX350 the viscous clutch is back in use. Now if the design engineers have rewritten the firmware specifications such that traction control delays the onset of activation or moderates the level of front wheel braking so the both front and rear begin to DRIVE with roughly equal torque levels.

Was that the ML representing MB??

If so it looks as if rear torque biasing wins the day insofar as the use of braking to apportion engine torque is concerned.

[tmastres]

Great video, very interesting. Looks like if you want to drive in snow , you better get an Audi Allroad! as for MB the ML probably broke down on the way to the test :D . Actually they probably alredy had a lot of German entries with the BMW 325x, the x5 the Audi. Would have been interesting to see maybe a Cherokee or 4runner in the test. Perhaps they're not readily available in Deutschland.

[wwest]

In 2001 there were lots of Jeeps where ever we went in Germany and surrounding countries.