Rear wheel drive vs. Front wheel drive??

Question

what are the advantages & disadvantages to a rear wheel drive & front wheel drive car? Speed? acceleration? mileage? performance? Everything... ?

Answer 1

Mostly alot of bad information here in these early answers. Though some good info here at the end, though I thought I'd add a couple observations. As has been stated, the main advantage in FWD is from a production stand point... though not exaclty "easier" to produce, it's less expensive. The other advantage it is, is that an unskilled driver's "panic" reaction to something unexpected is more likely to be a good response (since this is likely to be lifting the throttle and hitting the brakes, which will cause weight transfer to the drive wheels).

RWD has an advantage in performance applications for the same reason... when you accelerate you cause weight transfer to the rear wheels. In the case of these being the drive wheels, you are increasing traction, allowing for greater application of power. In FWD, accellerating actually decreases the amount of grip - the more you accellerate the less you can accellerate.

As for FWD being better in snow? It often is, though not because it's FWD. FWD is the result of controlling production costs. As such, these tend to be inexpensive vehicles. Another hallmark of inexpensive vehicles are skinny tires. A FWD vehicle will have the engine over the front tires. The greater weight will give them better traction, and the skinny tires will concentrate that weight better over the contact patch. This maximizes the possible traction. Though, you could get a similar result using a RWD Porsche 911 which has the engine over the rear wheels, While it would have much wider tires, it would also transfer more weight over the back. Ideally though, AWD for these kind of conditions.

Also... ALL cars can oversteer or understeer depending on what you do (though in stock setup, cars tend to understeer as this is considered somehow safer by manufacturers). These are characteristics of balance and traction and independent of which wheels drive the car (with the exception of power on oversteer which would require RWD, I suppose you could also have power on understeer with FWD, though I've never experienced that).

Answer 2

If all the points you listed fell solidly to front wheel drive why are dragsters rear wheel drive, why was Chevrolet allowed to alter a car to make it rear wheel drive by Nascar, why are Indy cars rear wheel or all wheel drive. The answer is simple, real performance requires rear wheel or all wheel drive.

Front wheel drive is less labor intensive to assemble in the factory. That is the only advantage.

For the young man and the snow theory. Snow driving is about traction, nothing else. Drag racing is about traction, nothing else. Physics say very simply, when accelerating weight transfer is to the rear wheels. Not the front. Fact that the front wheels are under power and turning eliminates snow piling up in front of the tires. Poor drives will do better in snow with front wheel drive, good drivers (snow proficient) do as well or better with rear wheel drive. Remember Weight Transfer.

Like I said, front wheel drive is easier to produce. It has NOTHING to do with better, safer or any other "er" you can think of save cheaper.

I will give the manufacturers credit, they have managed to put a few horsepower in a front wheel drive car. Apparently they have finally gotten a handle on the torque steering that plagued all the little bitty bite size stuff that used to come in from Japan.

Answer 3

ok i grew up in the 70s-80s so i have experience with both types.as far as performance the rearwheel drive is excellent especially ondirt roads . the front wheel drive may lose control(had this happen on a racetrack when i tried racing a rear wheel drive chevy chevelle with a front wheel drive cavalier spun out on the corners. you can use the ebake to drift on corners but rearwheel you just slide the rear end much easier.acceleration rearwheel better as most had bigger motors especially the older muscle cars.mileage front wheel better as most have v6 and smaller.over all though if you are going for a real driving experience nothing compares to the older rearwheel drive cars. my first car was a rearwheel drive v6 four door ford maverick. i raced a guy on a quartermile track and he ahad an buick225 and i beat him for the first 1/8th mile. i used the auto as a standard by manually shifting from first to second then drive.once his four barrel kicked in i was toast! he gave me props for the takeoff and aoverall performance. i used to win all the time off the start but with the stock v6 it topped out a little over 100. i wrecked it when i hit a tree headon at 100.walked away.youd never do that with todays pos cars. the maverick grabber came with a v8 302 inch motor. they were animals. so if you are looking for an economy car(mileage driving in snow etc). go fwd. remember the hydroplane in water as well as spin and lose control in slush.where as a rearwheel drive with proper weight(two 80 lb bags of calcite-barn dry)over the raer axle seldom loses control.and is easier to regain control. punch the gas and slide the raerend away from the skid whilr steering the front away as well. fwd do the opposite drive into the spin and accelerate and steer into it before powering(lol) out of the skid. i used to do stunts(180s 360s rockfordfile- probably too long ago for you to have seen this show ) where you whip the car around and headthe other way it looks cool. be sure the road is wide enough though.i ran out of raod once and almost got stuck.those wre the good old days!you can also do fishtails with a rearwheel drive. on ice and asnow you can do a reverse 360 or more with fwd as long a s the wheels dont catch traction and brake the cv shafts. theya re way weaker tahn a standars rwd drive shaft and u joints. think about why arent there fwd trucks ?except for the old subaru brat as well as vw truck. those were just cars converted.the brat was awesome especially with4wd.hope this helps ask more questions and i will be glad to help before i lose my knowledge. i have been teaching my kids as my dad taught me.about older as well as newer and fwd and rwd vehicles.

Answer 4

Rear Wheel drive gives better cornering control than a front wheel drive. front wheel drive cars oversteer. front wheel drive is better on acceleration. rear wheel drive cars are fun. burnouts, drifting, powerslides, doughnuts etc. front wheel drive cars are cheapers than rear wheeled cars. rear wheel cars look better with the staggered stance. they also have better braking and have nno torque steer. and the best Porshes and Lambos are AWD

check this out

Answer 5

FWD is great sometimes for bad weather. It's great for the manufacturer because it's cheaper to build. It sucks for performance and there expensive to fix can cost two or three times more than an RWD.. Rwd cars are extremely better for high performance and handling. There a lot cheaper to repair and usually last longer.. When the last time you have seen a FWD race car at Indy Nascar etc? Does Ferrari,Lamborghini, Porsche the Corvette etc use FWD??

Answer 6

For practical reasons, front wheel drive- for stylish reasons, rear

Answer 7

all i know is front wheel is better for driving in snow.