[quote]Stunt drivers consider this to be the most dangerous stunt they are called upon to perform.[/quote]

?? They did it on Fear-Factor with the (non-stuntman) driver blindfolded and being verbally guided by the (non-stuntman) passenger
... using RWD Camaros.

PS- Cars with electronic traction control or stability programming would go nvts if you tried this.

I would like to see if it is possible to get an AWD or 4WD car up a ramp like that. would the center differential just give out? I don't want to hear about inertia and all that. I want to know if the front wheels moving at 5mph and the rear moving at 60mph will break the car. I know in the AWD case the center diff allows for some difference in wheel speed but isn't there some kind of limited slip built in? I wouldn't consider this a revisit because the Mythbusters did a great job and answered the question that was asked. This is a new quest/myth.

The results would be the same no matter what drivetrain you use. There is absolutely no point in retesting this.

quote:

Originally posted by maxman:
The results would be the same no matter what drivetrain you use. There is absolutely no point in retesting this.

You can not definitively say that. If you have a car and it's wheels are forced to move at the same speed the car could break as a result of doing this. It could break and not make it up the ramp. I'm not saying that a AWD or 4WD car will going flying up the ramp and crash but they could break and not even make it up the ramp.

quote:

Originally posted by maxman:
The results would be the same no matter what drivetrain you use. There is absolutely no point in retesting this.

They Myth they test was would the car go flying forward and crash into the back of the truck. I agree no matter what kind of car you have this wouldn't happen. But how do you/we know that an AWD or 4WD car wouldn't stall,or break, and not make it up the ramp?

in theory if you can keep those front wheels spinning until the rear wheels hit the ramp it could be possible, which then brings me down to the ramp material.

i have three possible solutions in which the ramp surface material is the x factor.

1)once the car hits the ramp which has more traction than the road. the front wheels will peel out and gain a little traction while the rear wheels will marginally start to skid due to the difference in ground speed. what happens next is most likely shear a differential. the front or center differential shears; you drive up it in rear wheel drive. the rear diff, you gain front wheels traction and you drive up the ramp. your center diff, you roll back down it's game over.

2)car hits the ramp with less traction, front wheels peel out until rear wheels on the ramp, or a diff will break. if the rear breaks then it will be a task finding traction on the slick ramp.

3) your diff shears right away and it's one of the mystery three.


if you want to do this i would recommend an all wheel drive vehicle that has an electric rear wheel drive. you would need to tap into the right wire or two (a lot of electric rear wheel drive's have a fuse that can be pulled for towing; so i would tie right into there), stick the wires on the right switch and attach to the steering wheel or position of your choice. this is the part where i have to say don't do this and i'm not responsible for any events that this post may trigger. oh, and don't drive around with the rear wheel drive off because it will break the front differenntial.

Why not coast up the ramp and apply the brakes when level? The speed before braking would be 5 mph relative to the truck. Speed at the bottom of the ramp would be faster relative to the truck.

quote:

Originally posted by Nanomyth:
Why not coast up the ramp and apply the brakes when level? The speed before braking would be 5 mph relative to the truck. Speed at the bottom of the ramp would be faster relative to the truck.

Because i want to know what will happen to the center diff. the center diff is trying to keep the wheels spinning at about the same speed. a 50mph difference in speed cannot be good for the center diff.