Don Keener

Check out this article which seems to indicate that new Q5 will not be Torsen. Sounds like a Haldex like system? Take it for what its worth... could be bogus.

New Audi quattro ultra four-wheel drive system detailed | Autocar

DennisMitchell

Sounds plausible. Audi needs to get the mpg of the fleet up and the Q5 is a high volume seller. Will need to see how this performs. I have an S3 and the quattro works great.

Sugadaddy

Hopefully not true, I wouldn't purchase a FWD-biased Q5.

NorthValley

Any reason?

timlocke

I thought that Audi had gone away from Torsen to a proprietary system some time back. But at least it is still steel gears all the way. I am sure they will make this new system work but I wish they would just leave the longitudinal engined cars alone and not introduce automated clutches and stuff. This new system is bound to have a lag spinning up the driveshaft so it will be lumpy like a Haldex system.


If the new system can produce fuel savings of 0.3l/100 km as the article suggests it will make a noticeable difference to AUDI's CAFE numbers in the future...and for them that is a good enough reason to do it. But I doubt whether any of us real humans will notice.

ex-quattro PETE

Current Q5 still uses Torsen...
Audi all wheel drive explained | awd cars, 4x4 vehicles, 4wd trucks, 4motion, quattro, xDrive, SH-AWD, Haldex, Torsen, wiki - How it works

I share your sentiment. And the new system described in the article does sound more Haldex-like.

Keep in mind, Torsen has some weaknesses, too. In rare cases when a single axle loses grip completely (very low traction on ice) the car is not able to move because no torque is sensed on one of the axles, so the differential does not lock. Remember the BMW 'test' exposing this weakness?

Quattro Vs. Xdrive Test | awd cars, 4x4 vehicles, 4wd trucks, 4motion, quattro, xDrive, SH-AWD, Haldex, Torsen, wiki - How it works

Again, this is a fairly rare case, I would say. Torsen has worked pretty well in practice over the years, but I can see how the race to better fuel economy will make it go away.

motoguy128

Then it feels and handles like a FWD car which means lots of torque-steer, terminal understeer and a simple less sharp handling car. Might as well just buy a loaded Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Ford Explorer or Edge and save $20k.

Sugadaddy

This... If they want to disable an axle to save gas, then disable the front one and put a button to let me choose when I want to do it. I'm not paying "Q5 money" for AWD that feels like a RAV4.

Don Keener

The BMW expose only tells half the story... The ABS/ASC detects the wheelspin and applies brakes to the spinning wheel which restores torque and the Torsen then appropriates torque to other wheels and off you go.

if you watch the BMW clip.. the key was that the driver was bumping the throttle instead of keeping it pressed down and letting ASC detect the wheelspin. Audi published a video that showed how to properly deal with the one axle on ice situation. Ill see if I can find that video.

Here is one of them....
Here is the other one...

Don Keener

Yup.. The Haldex system is sometimes called a 'slip and grip' where it runs in 2wd mode until slip is detected and then it brings on the other axle. the Torsen is putting torque to all four wheels all the time so slip is avoided... Id rather avoid slip than try to recover after it happens... Just my preference.