Engine load: 2WD vs 4WD

[Fahlin Racing]

I have had the thought on my mind recently, I figure I should post it before it slips away while thinking about other things that are ahead on my importance scale. If you may be building for drag racing or sled pulling or hill climbs. How often has this come up on your guys & gals brains?

How much different can the load on the flywheel or torque converter be between these two situations?

 

[SteveLBZ06]

I don't have a solid answer for you but interesting question..I would think it would certainly be higher tho since drivetrain loss in power in awd/4wd setups comes from everything after the flywheel so the motor would have to work harder to produce the same numbers

 

[Fahlin Racing]

I wonder if the tire pressures would play a roll at all. We have driveshafts, a transfercase and rear axles. I wonder how big or small of a difference there is between a solid front axle vs front cv axle shafts.

 

[Fahlin Racing]

I am sure the tread design in the tires alone would affect the load through contact patch size and how effective the suspension is at planting the shoes to the surface of the track.

Brings to thought, how many different parameters can you tune/time/modify to run the best possible between the two? I guess that is up to each builder to find and figure out.

Anyone else have anything pertaining to the subject? Anything really, I would just like to have a simple discussion nothing drastically involved.