Wrong wheel drive

[aka_kerrly]

Where did this notion that anything front wheel drive is automatically inferior to a RWD even if there particular FWD car is widely acknowledged to be a great handling car come from? There seem to be almost daily example of “what car” threads where a really good FWD set up car is overlooked or dismissed purely because of its driven wheels.

I understand that having the front wheels do the steering and rear wheels do the pushing has its advantages but since manufactures are aware that the vast majority of drivers couldn’t tell the difference until they end up over or under steering why is there so much emphasis on wrong wheel drive? There are certainly examples of front wheel drive cars eg the Corrado, Integra, clio sports, Mini Cooper , focus that handle incredibly well and with the right driver can be provoked into over/under steer and can certainly be driven in a FUN way to the extent that id sooner choose any of those cars over a mx5 or e36 bmw (non m3)

So in less you think you are a drift king do most average drivers get to experience the real benefits/joy of RWD? How often do you see the wrecked S2000, 200SX, 328i where had the driver been in a FWD they would be less likely to get it so wrong.

[hornetrider]

I think the entire point is we are not most average drivers, now are we? I think I speak for everybody when I say "we are driving gods" and its RWD only please.

Begone with you!

Some of the above may be tongue in cheek

[daz4m]

hornetrider said:

I think the entire point is we are not most average drivers, now are we? I think I speak for everybody when I say "we are driving gods" and its RWD only please.

Begone with you!

Some of the above may be tongue in cheek

Lol.

RWD is just more fun, end of

[Rawwr]

hornetrider said:

I think the entire point is we are not most average drivers, now are we?

I agree there's a lot of people on here who think they're good drivers

[hornetrider]

Rawwr said:

hornetrider said:

I think the entire point is we are not most average drivers, now are we?

I agree there's a lot of people on here who think they're good drivers

Wait what? *shakes fist*

[jamieboy]

daz4m said:

RWD is just more fun, end of

A lot of people genuinely think that's true. Which is a shame for them.

[otolith]

Why do people who don't understand why other people prefer rear wheel drive always assume that it's just about oversteer?

[GravelBen]

I'm sorry, did you just say a Focus is more fun than an MX5?

[ewenm]

It's an area of huge PH-snobbery. People tend to over-estimate how much of their mileage they do while "pushing on" or in situations where FWD/RWD makes any appreciable difference.

For me, unless it is a weekend/toy/track car, the driven wheels don't register as a criteria in my choice of vehicle.

[anonymous-user]

I went from a focus to a e46 bmw in January. Front wheel drive was adequate on the focus and it did the job reasonably well, but saying that I do prefer the rear wheel drive of my e46. It just feels safer when taking a corner at speed, I found the focus would under steer with too much speed. The fwds ive had would also have the problems of when you are accelerating from stationary straight into a turn it would lose traction quite easily.

On a larger engined car I would prefer rwd, but on small engined cars I dont think there is any thing wrong with fwd.

Saying that it may just be because i've gone from one compleatly differant class of car to another and all the other improvements are making me imagin rwd is better

[Jayho]

so RWD VS FWD thread....

Lets go by a couple of assumptions here...

FWD, more prone to understeer (can be fixed by lift off oversteer with the correct driver)

RWD, more prone to oversteer (but many will argue that it is actually "perfect" balance, although IMO no such thing exists)

May i ask you 1 question? During a misjudgement of a corner, would you rather be going in face first into a tree or tail first?

I know my answer...

True that possibly most normal drivers aren't able to use RWD cars for drifting ect, but doesnt stop them from enjoying a more neutral balance of a car...

another question, what would you rather have? a 300BHP FWD Car or 300BHP RWD car? I'd chose the RWD, even though i see benefits of both, because i just wont trust all 300BHP feeding out of the front wheels with heavy wheel spin, torque steer and understeer... anything more than 230BHP in a FWD car IMO is just silly.

[hornetrider]

ewenm said:

For me, unless it is a weekend/toy/track car, the driven wheels don't register as a criteria in my choice of vehicle.

And when it is? I'm guessing RWD?

[aeropilot]

jamieboy said:

daz4m said:

RWD is just more fun, end of

A lot of people genuinely think that's true.

That's because it is

[aka_kerrly]

jamieboy said:

daz4m said:

RWD is just more fun, end of

A lot of people genuinely think that's true. Which is a shame for them.

exactly my point, for 90% of driving i fail to see how FWD is any less fun, i can provoke my car into lift off oversteer if i feel the need. A lot of it is down to the driver so in that case i must also consider myself to be a far better driver than most. It always surprises me how many of my friends have RWD 200SX, E46 bmws, supras and yet cant drive them any faster around twisty corners than i can in a fwd and those who think they can handle RWD have been through more hedges and walls and totalled more cars than i ever had.

[Don]

RWD manual for fun.

FWD auto for going places

4WD for going places in less than ideal conditions.

THere's a case for all of them. But if it's fun we are talking about...I'd prefer RWD.

But everyone is different.

[nonuts]

jamieboy said:

daz4m said:

RWD is just more fun, end of

A lot of people genuinely think that's true. Which is a shame for them.

In my experience it is.

I've come from mainly front wheel drive cars / front biased 4WD cars and the M3 is night and day, from initial turn in to pretty much everything else it wins. I'm not talking about oversteer or anything else, I'm talking about my daily drive too and from work being more enjoyable due to having a genuinely better balanace car, which I'm starting to think can only come from good weight distribution and rear wheel drive.

[Hugo a Gogo]

supposedly many autobahn cops, paramedics etc who do big speeds regularly prefer the stability of FWD Audis over RWD BMWs and Mercs

FWD is 'safer' in some situations, too fast into a corner, understeering - argh! lift off - your line tightens, you get round the corner


(one of each btw)

[300bhp/ton]

aka_kerrly said:

Where did this notion that anything front wheel drive is automatically inferior to a RWD even if there particular FWD car is widely acknowledged to be a great handling car come from? There seem to be almost daily example of “what car” threads where a really good FWD set up car is overlooked or dismissed purely because of its driven wheels.

I understand that having the front wheels do the steering and rear wheels do the pushing has its advantages but since manufactures are aware that the vast majority of drivers couldn’t tell the difference until they end up over or under steering why is there so much emphasis on wrong wheel drive? There are certainly examples of front wheel drive cars eg the Corrado, Integra, clio sports, Mini Cooper , focus that handle incredibly well and with the right driver can be provoked into over/under steer and can certainly be driven in a FUN way to the extent that id sooner choose any of those cars over a mx5 or e36 bmw (non m3)

So in less you think you are a drift king do most average drivers get to experience the real benefits/joy of RWD? How often do you see the wrecked S2000, 200SX, 328i where had the driver been in a FWD they would be less likely to get it so wrong.

I don't think they are over looked at all on here and frequently get mention. That said some fwd evangelists do seem to be a bIt precious.

There are many fwd cars I like and would recommend. But the simple fact is that on the whole rwd cars are more fun and less annoying. Wheelspin becomes a joy rather than a burden.

As for your claims of accidents, well how do you know they wouldn't have bummed a CTR?

[kambites]

jamieboy said:

daz4m said:

RWD is just more fun, end of

A lot of people genuinely think that's true. Which is a shame for them.

I certainly do. For a given... quality of car, I suppose, RWD will be more fun. Obviously there are bad RWD cars which are worse than good FWD cars, but that's beside the point.

[ewenm]

hornetrider said:

ewenm said:

For me, unless it is a weekend/toy/track car, the driven wheels don't register as a criteria in my choice of vehicle.

And when it is? I'm guessing RWD?

Depends on usage and budget. For example, on a very wet (old) Anglesey circuit a stripped out Metro ran rings around the Caterhams that were there because he could brake later and accelerate earlier than the "balanced" and much more costly Caterhams as he had far more traction. An Impreza or Evo would have been even better I suspect.

My fun car is RWD. However, when threads come up about "what new daily driver" many people will reject anything FWD and I think that attitude eliminates many very good cars. My own experience is deciding that a Volvo C30 was better for our needs than a BMW 1-Series - the RWD-istas wouldn't have considered the Volvo.