Is RWD over hyped?

[Efbe]

1WD ftw every time. much more fun at any point.

[thinfourth2]

Efbe said:

thinfourth2 said:

Blah blah blah, troll troll troll

The only person with an irrational attitude towards low powered rwd cars is you. Most people with such rwd cars actually have no idea what rwd means, let alone even realise the drive could change the handling.

Its not the cars that bother me.

Its the REAL MEN who will say that a BMW will immediately slice your head off while propelling you backwards (on fire) through a brickwall if you even look at the throttle the wrong way. Women and anyone who isn't a REAL MAN should be banned from driving the dangerous monster that is a BMW 318i.

If 80% of 1 series owners don't even know they are RWD then one would say that the RWD bit hasn't had the huge amount of difference to the whole experience.

Basically RWD is over hyped by the macho fkwits.

[Monty Python]

philoldsmobile said:

Horns said:

Monty Python said:

Torque-steer is inevitable...

No, it isn't. My car has close to 200bhp through the front wheels and no torque-steer.

plus 1 - I have absolutely NO torque steer with a 190 BHP V6. the Caddy STS also had no torque steer at all with over 300 bhp.

Edited by philoldsmobile on Monday 3rd January 00:53

Point 1 - the Cadillac STS is rear-wheel drive (or 4-wheel drive) (http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/top-2005-Cadillac-STS.htm)

Point 2 - 190BHP isn't enough - try the last Focus RS, or even the new one. Accelerate hard through the gears with your hands off the steering and it'll pull to the right - that's torque steer and it's unavoidable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec3rFWm1Who - from 1min 40sec

Edited by Monty Python on Monday 3rd January 09:34

[AnotherClarkey]

What is so bad about torque steer?

[Harji]

Can't beleive this is still going on! I'm not going to become a fanboy, my current car (RWD) gives me much more joy than my last (FWD) but that is also due to other factors as well. My main gripe against FWD is as you plant your foot the front rises, struggles for grip and then goes, it just feels unnatural, so much more natural in a RWD.

And understeer, I mentioned earlier a roundabout, my RX8 takes it with one half turn of the wheel on exiting at the 4th exit. An 2008 Audi A3 took one and a half turns on the same roundabout. Although I would never discount a car on FWD/RWD basis, if I was going to get another sporty car I would more likely look at a RWD.

And you can't do proper donuts in the snow in a FWD.

[RWD cossie wil]

thinfourth2 said:

Efbe said:

thinfourth2 said:

Blah blah blah, troll troll troll

The only person with an irrational attitude towards low powered rwd cars is you. Most people with such rwd cars actually have no idea what rwd means, let alone even realise the drive could change the handling.

Its not the cars that bother me.

Its the REAL MEN who will say that a BMW will immediately slice your head off while propelling you backwards (on fire) through a brickwall if you even look at the throttle the wrong way. Women and anyone who isn't a REAL MAN should be banned from driving the dangerous monster that is a BMW 318i.

If 80% of 1 series owners don't even know they are RWD then one would say that the RWD bit hasn't had the huge amount of difference to the whole experience.

Basically RWD is over hyped by the macho fkwits.

I don't see a single post in 9 pages of this topic where anyone has said driving a RWD car makes them more of a man? It is simply a case of them being far more rewarding & fun!

[young_bairn]

Never driven a rwd. Am I missing out?

[young_bairn]

Never driven a rwd. Am I missing out?

[thinfourth2]

RWD cossie wil said:

thinfourth2 said:

Efbe said:

thinfourth2 said:

Blah blah blah, troll troll troll

The only person with an irrational attitude towards low powered rwd cars is you. Most people with such rwd cars actually have no idea what rwd means, let alone even realise the drive could change the handling.

Its not the cars that bother me.

Its the REAL MEN who will say that a BMW will immediately slice your head off while propelling you backwards (on fire) through a brickwall if you even look at the throttle the wrong way. Women and anyone who isn't a REAL MAN should be banned from driving the dangerous monster that is a BMW 318i.

If 80% of 1 series owners don't even know they are RWD then one would say that the RWD bit hasn't had the huge amount of difference to the whole experience.

Basically RWD is over hyped by the macho fkwits.

I don't see a single post in 9 pages of this topic where anyone has said driving a RWD car makes them more of a man? It is simply a case of them being far more rewarding & fun!

In this thread nope

In many other threads

Yep

[RWD cossie wil]

young_bairn said:

Never driven a rwd. Am I missing out?

Massivly

[ewenm]

RWD cossie wil said:

young_bairn said:

Never driven a rwd. Am I missing out?

Massivly

Although his Focus RS is meant to be a great car... It would need to be a good rwd to be better than that, not just any rwd car.

As before, a good car is a good car regardless of which wheels are driven. Likewise a crap car is a crap car regardless.

[RWD cossie wil]

thinfourth2 said:

RWD cossie wil said:

thinfourth2 said:

Efbe said:

thinfourth2 said:

Blah blah blah, troll troll troll

The only person with an irrational attitude towards low powered rwd cars is you. Most people with such rwd cars actually have no idea what rwd means, let alone even realise the drive could change the handling.

Its not the cars that bother me.

Its the REAL MEN who will say that a BMW will immediately slice your head off while propelling you backwards (on fire) through a brickwall if you even look at the throttle the wrong way. Women and anyone who isn't a REAL MAN should be banned from driving the dangerous monster that is a BMW 318i.

If 80% of 1 series owners don't even know they are RWD then one would say that the RWD bit hasn't had the huge amount of difference to the whole experience.

Basically RWD is over hyped by the macho fkwits.

I don't see a single post in 9 pages of this topic where anyone has said driving a RWD car makes them more of a man? It is simply a case of them being far more rewarding & fun!

In this thread nope

In many other threads

Yep

Unfortunatly there are idiots in all walks of life, much like people proclaiming that a Focus RS (Mk1) will rip your arms off with the horrid torque steer.

The only thing I will say is, for average Joe, it is a LOT easier to get yourself into trouble in a decent RWD car than it is in a FWD one.

[Ford 2]

RWD for me too. Alot more fun, rewarding but dangerous at the same time. FWD is just plain and simply boring. Might be faster at time's all the same But just boring imo

[thinfourth2]

RWD cossie wil said:

thinfourth2 said:

RWD cossie wil said:

thinfourth2 said:

Basically RWD is over hyped by the macho fkwits.

I don't see a single post in 9 pages of this topic where anyone has said driving a RWD car makes them more of a man? It is simply a case of them being far more rewarding & fun!

In this thread nope

In many other threads

Yep

The only thing I will say is, for average Joe, it is a LOT easier to get yourself into trouble in a decent RWD car than it is in a FWD one.

Well that proves my point nicely

[interloper]

hotmelt said:

Bmw-s are head and shoulders above the Mondeo not mainly because of Rwd, but because Ford´s are more understeery setup. If they had neutrality of Peugeots(407 front end clings at least as well as 3-series), plus Ford´s steering feel and ride, Bmw would have a reason to be concerned.

Changing the subject but I haven't driven the latest incarnation of the Mondeo but has the halo slipped? I have never heard of an understeery Mondeo and the steering and ride are normally up there too? More often than not the Ford was always best in class for handling?

Edited by interloper on Monday 3rd January 10:35

[stuckmojo]

the main thing for me is the balance around corners.

Typically, in a FWD setup the car is unbalanced towards the front and you, the driver, sit somewhere behind the centre of gravity. Which makes me feel as if the car is turning somewhere in front of you.

In a well-balanced RWD car (say an MX5)you are sitting where the car has its turning pivot.

http://www.slate.com/id/2081194/

[RWD cossie wil]

thinfourth2 said:

RWD cossie wil said:

thinfourth2 said:

RWD cossie wil said:

thinfourth2 said:

Basically RWD is over hyped by the macho fkwits.

I don't see a single post in 9 pages of this topic where anyone has said driving a RWD car makes them more of a man? It is simply a case of them being far more rewarding & fun!

In this thread nope

In many other threads

Yep

The only thing I will say is, for average Joe, it is a LOT easier to get yourself into trouble in a decent RWD car than it is in a FWD one.

Well that proves my point nicely

Bear in mind I am talking DECENT RWD cars here, ie S2000, TVR's, RWD Cosworths etc. Most of them are fairly light, have more power than the average car, and no traction control. It is not a matter of "bigging up" RWD, it is simply a case of understand the dynamics of the platform you are operating. In MOST FWD cars, if you make a mess of it by going into a corner too fast, and either back off hard, or push too hard, with too much throttle, GENERALLY the car will understeer. To collect this, all you have to do is ease off the throttle, and the car will sort its self out when it regains grip.

RWD is a different matter, too much throttle will see the back end overtaking the front, and will continue to do so until you do somthing about it.

[MC Bodge]

thinfourth2 said:

If 80% of 1 series owners don't even know they are RWD then one would say that the RWD bit hasn't had the huge amount of difference to the whole experience.

Basically RWD is over hyped by the macho f*ckwits.

No, like most people driving any car, those 1-Series owners don't drive their cars hard enough to notice which wheels are doing the driving. Most people don't even know where the ESP/TC button is.

Most of the people I know who have owned rwd/fwd/4wd vaguely 'performance cars' didn't drive them very hard and whenever I've suggested that people turn of the traction control they've said things like,
"Ooh no, I'm not going to risk it"

Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 3rd January 10:42

[neil_bolton]

Overhyped you say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mfk58IW8uY

[AnotherClarkey]

RWD cossie wil said:

RWD is a different matter, too much throttle will see the back end overtaking the front, and will continue to do so until you do somthing about it.

Why is this behaviour seen as 'better'?

And if you make a mess of it, go into a corner too fast and back off hard, why is a FWD car more prone to understeer than RWD? On almost every car I have driven if you back off hard going into a corner it will either tighten its line or oversteer. The one exception being a Volvo 340 which would understeer in almost any situation.