What FWD car would you make RWD?

[GT03ROB]

GravelBen said:

FA57REN said:

Phunk said:

( M100 Elan )
They did tests comparing FWD vs RWD and found that FWD was faster in the majority of situations. It

Which makes a great deal of sense, since "getting the tail out" or at least having to worry about keeping the back under control is actually anathematic to making progress on public roads.

Really not an issue with 130-160bhp in a 1000-1100kg car.

The Fwd chassis may have got around their test course faster than their Rwd test mules but reviews suggest it wasn't that much fun to drive, and the public obviously weren't that interested if you look at the sale figures. You might have noticed they went back to Rwd with the Elise, which sold much better.

The M100 Elan & Elise are like chalk & cheese. The 2 cars are completely different in every respect even leaving aside the FWD/RWD difference. They could exist in a manufacturers line up together & not compete. The M100 is quick.... though doesn't have the feel many would like. It is a very good car & very reliable.

The M100 didn't sell well. There were a number of reasons, but prime amongst these were it hit the market at the wrong time & it was too damn expensive compared to the competition. When Mx-5s were going for 12k....Elans were 20k

Production costs were horrific, something like 30k. The US market, which was supposed to be key, required a different front end for federal impact requirements. It was great idea but too expensive.

[shirt]

Triumph Man said:

Well, you can thank those crazy Iranians - not the Mi16, but they’ve sorted the base car for you



I give you the Paykan Peugeot RD squiggly writing special edition, complete with RWD

Although it may or may not be able to trace the rootes of its underpinnings to the Hillman Hunter...

Edited by Triumph Man on Tuesday 9th June 07:40

that may well explain what i saw for sale locally a while back [Dubai] - advertised as a 2005 MY 405.

[anonymous-user]

I saw the thread topic and immediately thought "All larger Volvos since 1999". That HPT I5 engine never, ever had a chassis worthy of it and the D5 would have benefitted from RWD too.

Also every Alfa that wasn't RWD.

[Sofa]

MC Bodge said:

Are there any cars that people would prefer to be front wheel drive?

The Reliant Robin?

[greenarrow]

I think most of the current gen of large hatches and saloons would be better RWD. Imagine a RWD current gen Vauxhall Insignia. I reckon that would be a nice thing. A comfy motorway express with the propensity to understeer removed and a successor to the Carltons, Senators and Omegas of old which always handled very well. The Omega in particular was considered by one cop i spoke to as his favourite police car of them all

[BrassMan]

I read somewhere that the Rover 25 had very good proportions (wheelbase to track) for a rally car, but it might be tricky to get the engine back far enough wrt the front axle.

[Triumph Man]

Pegscratch said:

MC Bodge said:

Are there any cars that people would prefer to be front wheel drive?

Most of the 1 series in all previous generations?

The sort of people that usually bought them couldn't tell you which wheels were driven; as a result the entire fleet of 1 series was immobilised by inclement weather. Completely unnecessary as the majority of them were 2 litres or less of miserable diesel clatter.

I drove our office pool car for the first time in a while the other day, it's a 116i Auto - on paper it is disgusting, and hateful, but even that has a well balanced neutral chassis - and believe me I drove it hard. Steering feel does let it down somewhat though. That slight essence that it has about it would likely be lost if it was front wheel drive.

[Triumph Man]

greenarrow said:

I think most of the current gen of large hatches and saloons would be better RWD. Imagine a RWD current gen Vauxhall Insignia. I reckon that would be a nice thing. A comfy motorway express with the propensity to understeer removed and a successor to the Carltons, Senators and Omegas of old which always handled very well. The Omega in particular was considered by one cop i spoke to as his favourite police car of them all

It's a shame that large RWD saloons without "premium" badges were killed off here. The Aussies stuck with the formula, with good results. If only the Commodore was imported here rather than Europe exporting the Insignia to be the new Commodore... (I know the HSV came here, but as the halo VXR8, I'm talking more of the lower down models).

[Pegscratch]

Triumph Man said:

I drove our office pool car for the first time in a while the other day, it's a 116i Auto - on paper it is disgusting, and hateful, but even that has a well balanced neutral chassis - and believe me I drove it hard. Steering feel does let it down somewhat though. That slight essence that it has about it would likely be lost if it was front wheel drive.

A redeeming feature on a st car doesn't mean that the st car should keep the redeeming feature; 99% of those driving a 116i wouldn't even notice if it was the front wheels going round

[sideways man]

MC Bodge said:

The Sunbeam Lotus was an example of this arrangement. I've never driven one, although a former colleague had one in the oast and said it was great fun.

My Sunbeam Lotus was the most predictable, oversteery, car. I had an lsd in mine and in the wet it really was my dream car. A very damp lotus owners club castle combe track day is probably my driving career highlight, showing those Elise owners how to drive properly

[donkmeister]

Triumph Man said:

greenarrow said:

I think most of the current gen of large hatches and saloons would be better RWD. Imagine a RWD current gen Vauxhall Insignia. I reckon that would be a nice thing. A comfy motorway express with the propensity to understeer removed and a successor to the Carltons, Senators and Omegas of old which always handled very well. The Omega in particular was considered by one cop i spoke to as his favourite police car of them all

It's a shame that large RWD saloons without "premium" badges were killed off here. The Aussies stuck with the formula, with good results. If only the Commodore was imported here rather than Europe exporting the Insignia to be the new Commodore... (I know the HSV came here, but as the halo VXR8, I'm talking more of the lower down models).

You two have basically said what I came here to say except I was going to say estates.

I would have preferred my old Vectra wagon to be like a smaller RWD cousin to the VXR8 Tourer. Perhaps a Mondeo V6 could be a slightly smaller RWD Falcon?

The non-premium manufacturers have all killed off anything with 6 or more cylinders too...

[DaveyBoyWonder]

First one that springs to mind would be the EP3 Type R but is what part of what makes them so good, the fact that they're FWD? If we're being silly then one of my old 6N2 Polo GTIs with a 1.8T conversion and RWD. Would it be better? Dunno...

[cerb4.5lee]

donkmeister said:

Perhaps a Mondeo V6 could be a slightly smaller RWD Falcon?

I will always remember almost understeering into someones front garden going around a corner in my Mondeo V6! It made me question why I like more cylinders/more capacity so much(it always equals a heavy engine).

A RWD V6 Mondeo would hit the spot for me for sure!

[s m]

cerb4.5lee said:

I will always remember almost understeering into someones front garden going around a corner in my Mondeo V6! It made me question why I like more cylinders/more capacity so much(it always equals a heavy engine).

A RWD V6 Mondeo would hit the spot for me for sure!

Older 4i or SA XR6 Lee?

[cerb4.5lee]

s m said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I will always remember almost understeering into someones front garden going around a corner in my Mondeo V6! It made me question why I like more cylinders/more capacity so much(it always equals a heavy engine).

A RWD V6 Mondeo would hit the spot for me for sure!

Older 4i or SA XR6 Lee?

Yes please s m!

My uncle had a 4i and I always used to really enjoy driving it.

[njw1]

cerb4.5lee said:

A RWD V6 Mondeo would hit the spot for me for sure!

Yep, if Ford had carried on with rwd in the Mondeo I probably would have never bought my first e39.

[s m]

cerb4.5lee said:

s m said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I will always remember almost understeering into someones front garden going around a corner in my Mondeo V6! It made me question why I like more cylinders/more capacity so much(it always equals a heavy engine).

A RWD V6 Mondeo would hit the spot for me for sure!

Older 4i or SA XR6 Lee?

Yes please s m!

My uncle had a 4i and I always used to really enjoy driving it.

When Pentti Airikkala ran his driving courses he had a Mondeo V6 and Sapphire RS for people to learn in. He said people always wanted to drive the Sapphire but they were nearly always faster in the V6 Mondeo

[C7 JFW]

Focus RS mk1&2, Civic Type-R

The Foci needs a serious diet too.

[aeropilot]

sideways man said:

MC Bodge said:

The Sunbeam Lotus was an example of this arrangement. I've never driven one, although a former colleague had one in the oast and said it was great fun.

My Sunbeam Lotus was the most predictable, oversteery, car. I had an lsd in mine and in the wet it really was my dream car. A very damp lotus owners club castle combe track day is probably my driving career highlight, showing those Elise owners how to drive properly

I did at least one Club Lotus track day at Castle Combe in my Sunbeam-Lotus....probably 1989 I think, or was it 1990?
Did a Club Lotus track day at Donington Park in it as well....

[greenarrow]

I think a number of iconic smaller hatches, such as Focus Mk1, Civic EP3, Clio 182 and so on would lose a big part of their appeal if they were made RWD. For me, its the larger cars with big BHP that really shouldnt be FWD. Stuff like the V6 Alfa Romeos of the 1990s/2000s and maybe the big Mondeos and the like.

Slight diversion, but about 4WD cars that should be RWD? How about a RWD Audi RS4?