Does anyone else notice the physics seems to be the same with AWD cars and RWD cars in the rain? The initial power down and launch is good with AWD, even unrealistically good, but turning in and out of corners and braking in corners yeilds some ridiculous oversteer. At times it seems like I’m driving on ice.
Also it seems like the rain has zero effect on oppenents with the difficulty setting on expert. I was having trouble keeping up with a RWD cars in my RS4 Avant, while in dry races I have zero issues getting to 1st place with the same cars. I have all my assists thrned off.
I suppose I didn’t try the race tire however I would think AWD cars would be able to at least corner in the rain rather oversteer and understeer all over the place. The racing in the rain is not realistic at all but can be fun/annoying.
AWD doesn’t help you corner it just assists you putting down power. What I’ve seen so far is that AWD drivers think they can just punch it after the apex like on dry tracks and they end up spinning out w/ the lack of traction.
I have found the all-wheel-drive cars to be slightly easier to control in turns, but not dramatically so. This is pretty reasonable. I’ve also seen the ai having as much trouble with the rain and puddles as I am. Definitely having an impact on them
Unless your car is equipped with race tires you will NOT get rain tires on the wet courses…so if you’re running sports or streets, that’s what you’re running in the rain as well.
Well this is very important information. Can you confirm where you found this or is this just from your own testing. And if this is factually the case I can’t believe they don’t state that in the upgrade menu when you’re looking at race tires. Luckily it’s usually the first thing I buy as an upgrade as a handling & grip priority kind of driver.
I’ve raced both AWD and RWD on the rain courses, online and time trials, what I’ve noticed.
AWD wet: Corner entry has to be slower, but I can rotate the car towards the apex which I can’t do in RWD. If I don’t rotate on brakes, the car will push a lot more. Regardless of whether I rotated the vehicle or not, I have to be patient on the accelerator. If you roll on power at apex, you will understeer wide, if you hit the accelerator the momentum from the turn (or rotation) will carry the back end out and you will 4 wheel slip wide. I have to be patient and roll on until about 25-35% power, when I know the tires have set, I can hit it the rest of the way.
RWD: Faster corner entry, off brakes or trail brake, wait for apex, and roll on power steering the rest of the corner off of throttle balance. Over cooking it will spin you, but just the right amount gets you forward momentum and comparable acceleration speeds when you are nearing the line again (to AWD). Front grip isn’t much of an issue, but occasionally can I’ve noticed a trail brake into the corner will leave your car unbalanced for exit, and getting back weight on the rear is more important for that portion of the corner.
I much prefer RWD actually. I can be thoughtfully impatient with the car to get results I want, where I’m sitting around and waiting for the AWD more often.
I remember back on old Top Gear (early 90s) they tested 4wd cars against 2wd equivalents. Cars used were a Vauxhall Cavalier and BMW 5 series. Their findings were 4wd is good for traction but makes no effect on cornering characteristics unless you’re applying power at the same time. If anything the 4wd Cavalier lost grip at lower speeds on the skid pan due to the extra weight. Other than traction the main advantage was a much more predictable break away when it did lose grip but in normal wet conditions there is very little in it if you a smooth with your throttle inputs.
These two have it exactly right. All else being equal, an AWD car will be slower in the corners due to the extra weight, and a little quicker on initial launch and acceleration where grip is the limiting factor.
As it should be. All street-legal tires are made to handle wet conditions. It’s why they have treads. Try going down to your local Discount Tire store and asking them for a set of “rain tires”, and I’ll bet you get some funny looks.