Tesla Model 3 vs. Audi A4 - AWD vs. Qauttro traction control tests.

Tesla Model 3 AWD vs. Audi A4 Quattro traction control tests (video)

We have seen Tesla Model 3 compared in drag and circuit races against traditional sports cars fitted with a pollution contributor either in the front or in the back, yes I am talking about the internal combustion engine (ICE) — now a YouTube channel named ‘4×4 tests on rollers’ tested the Tesla All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) system vs. Audi’s Quattro.

Tesla’s traction control system is entirely different from a classical 4×4 or AWD — the basic difference is Tesla AWD cars be it Model 3, S, or X has two separate drive-units installed in the front on back, both of these motors are independently controlled by the on-board Supercomputer for traction and stability.

Tesla Model 3 Dual-Motor AWD Drivetrain.
Tesla Model 3 Dual-Motor AWD Drivetrain.
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As we can see in the Tesla Model 3 AWD chassis + drivetrain diagram above, there is no physical link between the rear and front motors — on the other hand, Audi Quattro All-Wheel-Drive system has one engine in the front and the rear wheels are connected via a drive shaft, therefore the 4×4 AWD system in ICE vehicles has limitations due to the complex mechanism and engineering involved.

Audi Quattro Drivetrain.
Audi Quattro Drivetrain.

A Tesla or electric vehicle dual-motor drivetrain also has instant torque available at the start and the quantity of power needed to front and rear can be controlled with much more precision than a vehicle with single-engine transferring power to the rear wheels, it certainly will have lag time — also if the engine fails, a traditional 4×4 car is as good as a dead horse, but in a Tesla/EV dual-motors we have redundancy, also low maintenance cost of the AWD system in a Tesla is one more edge over the rivals.

The method of testing in the following video is that the cars are put on different type of rollers with different settings each time, e.g. in the first test, they test both the Tesla Model 3 AWD and Audi A4 Allroad 2.0 TFSI Quattro with rollers only under the front wheels, likewise each time they put the rollers in different positions and one or two rollers are absent from a certain wheel, the combination of rollers is displayed in the top-left corner of the video with the icon showing current test’s roller setting.

Tesla on rollers icons (Source: YouTube.com/duszaniespokojna).
Tesla on rollers icons (Source: YouTube.com/duszaniespokojna).

Of course Tesla Model 3 AWD performed better in these tests as expected from an electric dual-motor drivetrain’s traction, in the 2nd test where the rollers were placed under the driver-side front and rear wheel, the Audi struggled a bit and almost slipped over the rollers, the rear roller also moved away from its place while the Model 3 passed all tests with grace.

Electric vehicles are the future and Tesla is leading the way with cutting edge technology, old school automakers should catch up fast to be part of the amazing future of mobility or they might just face the fate of Kodak or Nokia.

Iqtidar Ali
[email protected]

Iqtidar Ali reports on the latest happenings at Tesla and Electric Vehicle forefront. With over 1 decade of experience in website development, he's our IT resource as well.


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