The Eighties have been a extremely distinctive time for the automotive business. As corporations crawled out of the Malaise Period, there have been numerous new applied sciences or options being tried in locations you wouldn’t count on. Take this MotorWeek comparability take a look at of automobiles geared up with all-wheel drive from 1987, that includes the whole lot from a compact sedan to a rear-engine minivan.
Except for the Civic, each different nameplate from this take a look at is gone, although the Subaru does have a contemporary equal. It’s attention-grabbing to see what number of compact automobiles had an all-wheel drive-option again then, one thing practically unprecedented immediately outdoors of Subaru and a pair different outlier fashions..
Honda confirmed up for the take a look at with a third-gen Civic Wagon, which got here throughout as a small-ish MPV. The Civic Wagon’s means to haul folks and their stuff was glorious, one thing famous by MotorWeek. It might maintain 5 adults and a great quantity of baggage with ease. It had a 1.5-liter inline-4 with 72 horsepower that was paired with a six-speed guide transmission, the one choice for the Wagon, and torque was despatched by way of an all-wheel-drive system with a vicious coupling. There was a bit of additional floor clearance, however the Civic Wagon had no limited-slip differential, that means this wasn’t one thing you may use to assault even the lightest of trails.
Volkswagen loaned MotorWeek a Vanagon with the Syncro all-wheel-drive system, which additionally gave the Vanagon barely bigger tires and an additional inch of journey peak. Syncro was in a position to switch energy between the entrance and rear axles, an enormous deal again then, by way of using a moist viscous coupling that was in a position to measure wheel slippage. The Vanagon was even obtainable with an optionally available locking rear diff, making it a bit extra of a real off-roader than the opposite automobiles within the take a look at.
The Mercury Topaz was an outlier within the take a look at and doubtless probably the most distinctive due to how uncommon the choice was for the Topaz and its Ford Tempo sibling. Solely obtainable from 1987 to 1991, checking the field for all-wheel drive on the Topaz and Tempo received you a high-output four-cylinder engine and an all-wheel-drive system consisting of a two-piece driveshaft. When a vacuum-actuated swap on the sprint was pressed, a sliding clutch collar linked the transmission to the driveshaft sending energy to a rear-mounted limited-slip diff partaking all-wheel drive. Ford says this was tough to engineer, and whereas the system could possibly be engaged at any velocity, Ford warned that it was for “filth roads or pavement in unhealthy climate solely.” MotorWeek discovered that, when utilizing the system on moist cow paths, it supplied glorious traction.
The opposite two automobiles within the take a look at, the Subaru and Audi, come from manufacturers who’re no stranger to all-wheel drive. The Subaru GL-10 used a full-time four-wheel-drive system with a locking middle diff, one thing Subaru says improved the automotive’s dealing with. Paired with a turbocharged 1.8-liter engine, the GL-10 was the second quickest automotive within the take a look at at 10.3 seconds to 60 mph, although that’s not saying a lot. The Audi 5000 CS Quattro was the quickest. Its turbocharged 2.2-liter inline-5 and Quattro all-wheel-drive system resulted in a 9.5-second 0-to-60-mph run. Quattro was additionally probably the most refined AWD system within the take a look at. A splash-mounted swap allowed drivers to lock the middle and rear diffs, which allowed for higher traction in slippery situations like a moist highway or harsher stuff like mud or snow.
Sadly, all of those automobiles are misplaced to historical past. Issues like worth and purchaser choice implies that except you pay massive bucks, distinctive all-wheel-drive automobiles like these hardly exist anymore. Thank god MotorWeek’s Retro Evaluations are round to remind us simply how good we used to have it.
