vector_1979

Front or rear wheel drive?

What do you prefer?

Rear wheel drive cars can get a bit dangerous in the wet but can be a lot more fun. A lot of mainstream vehicle manufactures are front wheel drive (European) but DCX are moving back to rear wheel drive?

I drive a front wheel drive. I do like it cos I can power out of a corner and not be afraid of the back steeping out.

Over to you

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Peryn

Well, as for the back sliding out, it all depends on how well you know your car.

I absolutely prefer RWD. Better balance, better on the brakes, easier to work on, better handling (goes with balance) easier on the tires, no torque steer, less or no understeer, and the joy of being able to kick out the ass end if i so desire

Most vehicles are front wheel drive for "safety" reasonson. Such as the fact that the average person is stupid and couldn't figure out how to handle their WWD one, let alone RWD. Also, i believe their is less drivetrain power loss on a front wheel setup. I dont live in an area with snow, and pretty much no rain either, but in my jeep i can have very serious problems getting started when their is anything on the ground (water, leaves, loose dirt), especially if i am going uphill. I imagine if i lived in the snow, i might prefer a WWD car just for the huge amount of weight on the drive wheels...but i dunno. A lot of it is personal preference though. There are certainly a few cars i wouldn't ind driving/owning if they were just rear wheel drive though....

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irseg

Peryn nailed it. FWD just doesn't feel right at all with the torque steer and the way it tends to plow into turns. They've gotten better, but it still can't compare to RWD. Plus I like doing a 4-wheel slide in the rain or kicking the rear out a little in turns.

Ease of repairs is a biggie as well. Basic things like changing the spark plugs can be an absolute nightmare on a transverse-mount V6 or V8.

I've owned nothing but rear-wheel drive cars in the 5 years I've been driving. FWD is unquestionably better for winter weather, but the only time I ever got completely stuck was in 6 inches of slushy snow on top of wet leaves on top of mud. And I'd be amazed if FWD would have gotten me out of that one.

Knoweffects

it depends what you want it for? normal driveing? it dosnt matter, if it does then maby fwd.

If your going to race it around corners, RWD, if its not raining out and you dont just blindly floor it (or if you dont have a large ammount of horsepower, it takes a good ammount to kick the rear end out on a dry well paved road). FWD cars generaly handle worse on turns than RWD cars, and FWD cars have huge problems with handling+big horsepower.

If your going to try to Drag race it depends what you plan on doing. Not going to have a whole lot of horsepower? want something light? plan on gutting EVERYTHING you can behind the engine bay? go FWD. Plan on getting a decent ammount of horsepower, an auto tranny, and useing slicks? go RWD. plan on going faster than 11seconts? prolly go RWD. Without a large ammount of horsepower useualy FWD is slightly better for the strip because all your weight is on your drive wheels, BUT everything behind them is totaly dead weight, with RWD the weight of the car slightly helps traction, but once you get some power on launch your weight shifts and provides traction, in fact if you get enough to get the front tiers off the ground 100% of the weight of the car is adding to traction.

anyways, sorry to give you a page of text rather than a simple awnser, but hope i helped some.

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stingc

RWD

I think my total time driving FWD vehicles is less than two hours though Everything I learned on, my parents' cars, and my own cars have all been RWD.

Gassing a RWD car through a corner feels great. Also, FWD doesn't get any traction if the car has decent power.

Pragma

I currently own a FWD car, and am not a fan of it -- all of my future purchases will be RWD cars, because I love the ability to kick out the rear end, as said so many times above, and slide around turns. I definitely push my car as far as I can, and it's not as much fun with FWD.

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ghezzo

rear wheel drive all the way, the only thing rear wheels lack is the ability to tray-slide!

Moonduck

RWD. Torque-steer sucks. Just make sure that you learn to drive the car instead of just driving it. There is a difference.

Ashton

pocon1

I have front, rear, and all wheel drive on three cars. Newer cars are so well-balanced and fwd can be made to handle. My acura integra has no problem in the handling dept. Newer rear-wheel drive cars are starting to handle better in bad conditions with good traction control programs. Anyways, it often depends on how the car is built to handle. My Acura is probably the best handler, my WRX wagon does ok, but certainly has more power, and my 1987 RX7 has little power and original struts and bushings, and no limited slip. I spun it out autocrossing for the first time a few weeks ago (my fifth autox in that car). Sorry I am rambling, but so much depends on design, not the layout of the drivetrain. For instance, try trailbraking into a corner with RWD.

WarWagon

I prefer RWD over FWD in all conditions, even the wet. I'd much rather be steering with the wheels that have traction, than to try and steer with the tires that are spinning.

never

rear wheel drive for me. nothing beats going sideways at 50mph through the apex of a turn.

MSD

I feel your pain. At my size, there's no way I can wiggle my hands in to change the rear plugs on my car, therefore I would have to pull the manifold off, and that's just a pian in the ass.

As for driving it, RWD just feels right to me. Being able to slide around a corner with just a bit of extra gas, no torque steer, that's all I need. In the snow, I've never had a problem with a Town Car, but I came close to killing my Buick.

Did I mention that I think FWD burnouts just don't look right?

Elitegibson

FWD was made because it's safer for dumbasses (not safe enough for some of the real meatheads), and it removes the "hump" in the passenger compartment for the driveshaft. How is this even a question worth asking? Maybe AWD vs RWD, but FWD has no chance. From a performance standpoint RWD is just better, the front tires just steer and brake, and don't have to worry about accelerating. Of course suspension setups have a good deal to do with the handling characteristics of the car, but RWD and AWD cars have more to work with. RWD has better use of overall traction than a FWD, but not as good as a AWD. I believe that AWD in similar powered cars would be better than RWD, but FWD doesn't stand a chance. For normal driving in good weather, obeying the law and such, I believe they're all equal.

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thadon

I'm all for RWD or AWD ... FWD is not as fun to DRIVE

queieck

it's all about rwd.. unless of course i'm fighting along a snowy road.. then fwd is the better choice.. but of course awd takes the cake

iwishiwascool

AWD

The end

bad30th

That wasnt the question.

I perfer RWD. There are very few advantages to FWD except, like Peryn said, for stupid people who probably shouldnt be driving anyway.

matt_mll

If your going for a sports car, get a RWD or AWD. If you want to mitigate the safety issue between RWD and FWD buy a RWD car with traction control, or electronic stability control, or vehicle dynamic control. I have this on my car (350z) and it prevents all fishtailing, overstear, and BS that ocurs on wet pavement. Best of all, you can turn it off and cut 360's all night long, or push it's limits at the track. If you want....

madsenj37

Rear whell drive is better unless you drive a lot in the snow or rain. As for sports feel and control, front wheel will never feel right. Smaller cars can get away with front wheel drive easier than big cars. Ive never believed in the front having to both drive and steer the car, it just does not seem like a good idea when the back can be used for something.

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Scorps

I like Rear Wheel Drive better but thats me....

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geeza

I used to think it was all about RWD until I got a FWD Ford Focus. It's only a 1.6 zetec, but that thing is hilarious to slide round corners.

The rest of the time its just plain easier, especially cutting in and out of traffic and in urban situations. Far quicker than an RWD in such situations, from A to B.

It's obviously harder to effect managed power slides in a FWD, but well worth the effort of figuring it out.

Throw it in, get the wheels spinning, and then steer it on the throttle. The same principles apply.


Any damn fool can get the back out on a RWD, though it takes quite a fella to manage it gracefully, and figuring it out on FWD is even more fun because now nothing is off limits.

And power has little to do with it actually, if the technique is there.

There's only one last thing I would add on the RWD issue: big turbos with a lot of lag make it a lot more... ....interesting.

Snakebyt

i drive a 93 eclipse, its FWD, but i really prefer more powerful RWD cars