Rear Wheel Drive
Discussion
Looking at getting a van for general use and some I have seen are rear wheel drive.
Now, the only rear wheel drive car I have ever driven was a 1986 BMW 318i about a million years ago and never had any trouble with it from what I can remember!
So being an auto van with very little weight over the rear wheels, any practical tips for driving without ending up facing the wrong way?
It’s a mixture of A and B roads so will probably experience nearly all types of road surface, good and bad!
Now, the only rear wheel drive car I have ever driven was a 1986 BMW 318i about a million years ago and never had any trouble with it from what I can remember!
So being an auto van with very little weight over the rear wheels, any practical tips for driving without ending up facing the wrong way?
It’s a mixture of A and B roads so will probably experience nearly all types of road surface, good and bad!
Wavering off topic slightly, I have wondered in the past why some vans are FWD and some RWD. Obvs car based vans would mostly be FWD, but dedicated models like the ubiquitous Transit seem to be offered in both (with occasional 4WD option?)
Seems to be over a certain weight they switch driven wheels. Is this a packaging thing? Are they two completely separate chassis made to look like a single model by common bodywork? Do RWD vans have longitudinal engines and FWD transverse?
So many questions, so little inclination to google it myself...
Seems to be over a certain weight they switch driven wheels. Is this a packaging thing? Are they two completely separate chassis made to look like a single model by common bodywork? Do RWD vans have longitudinal engines and FWD transverse?
So many questions, so little inclination to google it myself...
The spinner of plates said:
As a teenager I spun a van.
Lift off oversteer on a fast sweeping bend with 500kgs of stuff in the back.
Ended up backwards in a hedge / ditch.
And it was FWD.
My only advice is to make sure your life insurance premiums are on direct debit and your will is up to date.
I was given the dubious privilege of testing van tyres on a range of vans in the early 2000‘s. Holy sh!t, some of them had unbelievably vicious lift off oversteer. Some of them would move from stable/benign understeer to oversteer and then back into understeer on a constant radius with constant throttle. Wild sh!t. My mind was blown.Lift off oversteer on a fast sweeping bend with 500kgs of stuff in the back.
Ended up backwards in a hedge / ditch.
And it was FWD.
My only advice is to make sure your life insurance premiums are on direct debit and your will is up to date.
Grumps. said:
Looking at getting a van for general use and some I have seen are rear wheel drive.
Now, the only rear wheel drive car I have ever driven was a 1986 BMW 318i about a million years ago and never had any trouble with it from what I can remember!
So being an auto van with very little weight over the rear wheels, any practical tips for driving without ending up facing the wrong way?
It’s a mixture of A and B roads so will probably experience nearly all types of road surface, good and bad!
With no load in the back and on snow it'll will be fun. Other than that it'll be fine.Now, the only rear wheel drive car I have ever driven was a 1986 BMW 318i about a million years ago and never had any trouble with it from what I can remember!
So being an auto van with very little weight over the rear wheels, any practical tips for driving without ending up facing the wrong way?
It’s a mixture of A and B roads so will probably experience nearly all types of road surface, good and bad!
Kawasicki said:
The spinner of plates said:
As a teenager I spun a van.
Lift off oversteer on a fast sweeping bend with 500kgs of stuff in the back.
Ended up backwards in a hedge / ditch.
And it was FWD.
My only advice is to make sure your life insurance premiums are on direct debit and your will is up to date.
I was given the dubious privilege of testing van tyres on a range of vans in the early 2000‘s. Holy sh!t, some of them had unbelievably vicious lift off oversteer. Some of them would move from stable/benign understeer to oversteer and then back into understeer on a constant radius with constant throttle. Wild sh!t. My mind was blown.Lift off oversteer on a fast sweeping bend with 500kgs of stuff in the back.
Ended up backwards in a hedge / ditch.
And it was FWD.
My only advice is to make sure your life insurance premiums are on direct debit and your will is up to date.
Both just called me an utter t
t. Thank you Kawasicki for your comment.
I feel that 20+ years later I can finally be at peace with the incident.
In my old job I found it was comically easy to drift a Mk7 transit flatbed on wet roundabouts when it was unloaded. Tried it with a large cement mixer in the back once and it flew of the side. My manager wasn't impressed.
Ah, simpler times.
Ah, simpler times.
Edited by Pebbles167 on Thursday 23 February 11:07
CraigyMc said:
With no load in the back and on snow it'll will be fun. Other than that it'll be fine.
Fun is one way to describe it. Back in the snowy winter of 2010, I had to drive an empty XLWB Sprinter from Yorkshire up to Aberdeen. Roads were white over almost the whole way. It was by far the most technically challenging drive I've ever done and required huge amounts of concentration to keep the van under control even though I rarely did much over 30mph! The slightest curve, bump or change of camber would set the rear end off, and with the back wheels being about 5 metres behind the front ones everything was magnified compared to what would happen in a car.The return trip a couple of days later was in even more snow but the van was fully loaded. That was probably the easiest drive in snow I've ever done - we were getting through parts where even 4x4s were getting stuck. Shows what a difference the load makes - With hindsight I should have filled a few bin bags with snow and put them in the back on the way up to get a bit of weight over the rear axle on the way up.
Mave said:
I always assumed it was for traction ie if you're expecting to carry heavy loads, you want the weight over the driven wheels.
Had an amusing moment with a traction problem in a RWD transit once.Years ago a few of us went to the lakes for mountain biking and one of the group took us in his van as the bikes went in so easily.
Driving up the Hardknott pass the van stopped on a hairpin. Engine turning but it wouldn't move. I got out to see that the wheels (hard van tyres) were just spinning on the steep corner. There was only the weight of 3 bikes in the back. He had to go back and have a decent run up at it, and 2 of us made the front lighter by getting out.
I imagine that van wouldn't be fun on a slippy corner whilst unloaded. In terms of power it had none, just the very low first gear.
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