More power will equal more all-wheel drive

I stated the horsepower race is over, but I didn't say big horsepower cars will no longer be sold. What we will see is a trend for all-wheel drive (AWD) for high horsepower cars. Rear-wheel drive cars with that power level will spin their tires at highway speeds. Can you imagine utilizing that power from a standstill? Hence the reason for the 60mph to 130mph performance standard become more popular and replacing the quarter-mile. See my article here.

What does Audi, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Nissan, Porsche and all have in common? They offer all-wheel drive in their most powerful cars, except Porsche who still believes in offering the ultimate experience with the Porsche GT2. Even Ferrari has looked carefully into an AWD drive system now that their production cars are over the 600hp mark.

What are the disadvantages? Weight and powertrain loss which translates worse mileage. Cars are gaining weight anyway, in fact becoming obese. Look at the wheelbase-to-weight ratio of the Nissan GT-R and Mustang GT500 for example. Adding all-wheel drive won't make much difference. Mileage continues to improve with various technologies as well. I don't think it is a major penalty and actually contributes to the safety and drivability of the car, especially in adverse condtions. Not that these cars are driven often in the rain, but it sure helps.

Some other advantages are quicker acceleration due to more aggressive gearing. Check out the overall gearing the Nissan GT-R and Porsche Panamera. Each gear has a roughly 30mph spread or less! This allows for fantastic acceleration. Mileage isn't a big tradeoff when the top gear is the one used most of the time when traveling any appreciable distance anyway.

Another advantage is easier and drivabilty during adverse conditions. Even though the performance tires get hard and slippery in cold weather, it is the wet weather where all-wheel drive will come into play. However, all-wheel drive does NOT mean shorter braking distances or better emergency maneuvers. So don't confuse pace with safety.

As long as development continues for these ultra high performance cars, even though we won't see major leaps in horsepower any more, I believe we will see more and more all-wheel drive models.