AWD VS RWD - Which Drivetrain Is REALLY Faster?

AWD vs RWD has been argued since the start of the internet, but never before have we had the opportunity to compare the two drivetrains the same vehicle, on the same tires, on the same track, with the same driver to find out how much faster AWD is compared to RWD, if at all.

Thanks to the F90 BMW M5 Competition, we can now do exactly that, as the car comes with three different settings.

4WD is a normal all wheel drive setup.
4WD Sport is a rear bias all wheel drive system
RWD is full rear wheel drive with no driver aids such as traction control.

To find out which system is best, I do 0-60 mph (with no roll out, similar to 0-62 and 0-100 kph) and lap times in the dry and wet, in two wheel drive, four wheel drive sport and full four wheel drive.

A hue thank you to Pirelli for helping me with track time and tires, and BMW for lending me the M5.

For more information on the tires used, please follow the below links.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:21 Test Vehicle BMW M5 Competition
1:30 WET 0 to 60 and lap time
7:29 DRY 0 to 60 and lap time
14:51 Overall Results and Summary

[tyrereviews]

YES, this car is pulling around extra weight in RWD mode, however while there's no RWD only version of this car, the xDrive version of the G80 M3 will be around 55 kgs heavier so it's potentially not a huge amount of weight.

That said, I will still do the Porsche version of this, so subscribe if you'd like to be the first see that 🥳

[jmhofmeyr]

Id love to see this test with something like a Carrera 2 and 4. Just because you wont have the extra weight over the front in the 2wd model and its set up to be a rwd car from day one where as the M5 I think is designed to use the awd to get the most out of it. Great test none the less.

[katchaontheflipside]

Problem with this car is that in 2wd mode its still carrying around all that 4wd weight.

[douglasshouganai]

such an underrated car channel! you deserve many more subscribers

[Sivertsen]

I hope you get the chance to redo this test with a regular M3/M4 Vs M3/M4 xdrive when they're available! Would be interesting to see the same cars go up against eachother, where the standard one doesn't suffer from the extra weight and parasitic loss of the AWD and whatever other variables involved! Loving your work!

[JoeAchilles]

Another top shelf video mate, SUPER interesting, especially loved your face expressions 😉 Keep up the mega work bro ❤️

[alexanderradetsky]

Jonathan knocking it out of the park as usual. Love the focus on car AND tyre as a package - not just one or the other. Thank you for running this test!

[tonycook]

Absolutely brilliant video with genuine excitement from you, so excited you called it an m3 at the end, thanks for the great content 🔥🔥

[Johnacles]

Another great video Mr consistency! Those lap times were incredible, makes it even easier to trust your verdicts when you're as accurate as that.

[clockner]

2:38 Don't be so hard on yourself mate 😂😂😂. Amazing and very interesting test Johnathan.

[wingedpro]

I love how thoroughly you test, even down to not talking when pure concentration is needed. Thanks for the amazing informative and controlled tests! You are an awesome driver btw, your experience really shows.

[gregbrindley]

Great piece, and obviously one that you really enjoyed and had a lot of fun with!

[diverfrog]

What a great review! I felt the excitement with you as you were driving. And what a great car! Kudos to you… and to BMW.

[iPod]

Such a great video ! Please please do the same video again but with a RWD G80 vs AWD G80 to understand how the added weight of the AWD system impact the performance !!

[champbrady]

Excellent and possibly best demonstration on how to select preference between rwd and awd. Showed the strengths of both systems

[tajo]

I don't understand why you don't have at least 1 million subscribers yet.
Such a great contents you have.

[tanvirhussain]

Yes Johnny boy, another cracking video with facts! Thank u

[ronwilliams]

I must be honest this is one of the best car channels on youtube. Hats off to Jonathan and the production crew :)

[Mucwit]

Supreme driving skills and a really well thought out test....top drawer stuff! 💥

[cloudyharry]

Awesome video, but I feel like the 2WD mode in the M5 is rather limited due to the fact traction control has to be fully off (no 10 stage variation like in the G80). A future repeat of this test using the latest M3 in RWD spec vs the upcoming AWD version would be really interesting, particularly given how well that car seems to get it's power down in RWD form.