I took my "new" Loyale Sedan (4wd) out for a nice drive on my favorite stretch of twisty road. It is the one I always took my white  FWD sedan on. But in 4wd, I noticed the corners were not nearly as fun as they were in my FWD.  It was good that the car seemed well planted but the thrill seemed gone. On the return trip I turned off the 4wd and it was fun again.

 

It appears that FWD has oversteer and 4wd does not. Has anyone else ever noticed that?

 

 

I'm assuming a dirt road? I noticed the same thing with my car. So I just started going faster in 4wd and it was fun again

Hope it's not a paved road or you'll be working on another Subaru very soon!

 

I've noticed the same thing, my girlfriend has a fwd Loyale and I have a 4wd gl . her car corners like it's on rails., I love how good that car handles. My GL is more like a truck though, lots of lean, not nearly as planted.

If it was a paved road & you don't have a full-time 4wd gearbox, then you were forcing yourself to have understeer.

There is no centre diff in the part time 4wd boxes, the front & rear shafts are locked together. So because the rear end takes a slightly shorter route than the front end, it was forcing the front end to spin the same amount, causing it to loss traction (ever so slightly) which because of momentum, the car wants to go straight.

 

Handling also comes down to the spring & shock rates (and how much they're worn), weight distribution, ride height, anti-roll bar specs, tyres, ...

Lift-off oversteer. Learn it, Or forever understeer. Handling dynamic requires specific technique. Brake to sideways, gas to straight.

Hope it's not a paved road or you'll be working on another Subaru very soon!

 

I've noticed the same thing, my girlfriend has a fwd Loyale and I have a 4wd gl . her car corners like it's on rails., I love how good that car handles. My GL is more like a truck though, lots of lean, not nearly as planted.

 

Why do you say that? It is push button 4wd. I don't have the original manual as the owner did not have it. He said it had to be in neutral when engaging the 4wd. Is that not true?

You need to be driving straight for it to engage. There is no synchro, just a set of dog teeth, so if they're not lined up exactly, it won't mesh.

 

And he said that because if you're driving with the front & back axles locked together and being forced to spin at the same rate, then you turn a corner where the rear axle takes a shorter path, then you're stressing the locking mechanism. At some point, it will give up and get damaged.

 

So the only factory fitted trans in this model that is always 4wd (& can be driven like this on hard surfaces) is the one that also has a centre diff lock, and will have a switch for this near the gearstick.

Yeah the push button is the same thing. Don't use it on pavement. Lots of stress on the drive train if there aren't any wheels on low friction surfaces like mud or sand. Only full time all wheel drive vehicles are really meant for pavement.

 

As far as engaging it, not sure on the push buttons. On my dual range I can engage it while rolling with my foot on the clutch. Even in to low.

I make sure to have my foot on the clutch and in neutral when engaging it. Eventually I will swap in dual range. Just have too many things on my plate right now.

Lift-off oversteer. Learn it, Or forever understeer. Handling dynamic requires specific technique. Brake to sideways, gas to straight.

 

This. Everything changes when you go fwd > 4wd/awd. Your driving techniques have to change too.

 

Add a front LSD to a DR and you will have even more understeer, but has the ability to drive faster with more grip if you toss it into corners a lot harder.

 

My fwd loyale felt faster on dirt, but it was just dragging the rear wheels around corners. It feels like oversteer, but you can't power out of anything.

Edited July 11, 201411 yr by Ibreakstuff