Whats the advantage of having front wheel drive?

Question

I know rear wheel drive cars have better performance, so what is the advantage of front wheel drive.

Answer 1

Front Wheel Drive. Many people are familiar with this setup. Most modern cars are front wheel drive. This means that the engine is turning the front wheels propel the vehicle.
* This happens to be more efficient in terms of gas mileage. Shorter half-shafts coming out from the transaxle means less moving parts and less inertia and less weight, which means better mileage.
* In terms of driving in snow or ice, the FWD vehicle can easily pull itself away from a stop sign or stop light. It will tend to pull itself straight and forward, even if you are turning the steering wheel.
* In terms of stopping on snow or ice, this type of vehicle can be potentially dangerous. If you quickly let up on the gas pedal, the balance of the car shifts toward the front. The engine slows down, consequently engine braking slows the front wheels. Now, physics says that the faster turning wheels tend to move foward. Those would be the rear wheels at this point in time. This means that the vehicle will tend to fishtail. Trust me, I've done it. Not fun.
* Not good for towing heavy trailers, especially in snow and ice. There is a high potential for jackknifing the vehicle with an attached trailer that does not have a seperate trailer brake system.
* Most modern cars are FWD, and some of the small SUV's are FWD

Answer 2

Having the weight over the drive wheels really helps in the snow. For acceleration the weight transfer to the rear is a real good thing for rear wheel drive and bad for front wheel drive.

Answer 3

The advantage is the weight of the engine on the drive wheels, plus the ability to turn the drive wheels. There is also the advantage of no center hump in the interior, which will give you a little extra room. good luck.

Answer 4

In some instances it can give you better traction.
Since you have the weight of the engine directly above the wheels, which is good in non-4 wheel drive cars.

Answer 5

It massively reduces the cost per unit during the construction stage of car manufacturing, without raising the price anywhere else (ie the engine, transmission and steering can be put in as one unit, not three or four).

It also reduces the length the engine bay (and therefore bonnet) due to the different orientation of the engine, clutch and gearbox.

All the other reasons are just companies trying to tell potential customers that it's not as bad as it sounds.

Answer 6

Like the previous poster said bettor traction in wet and snow.
No transmission hump taking up space.
But there is a downside,if your transmission or clutch needs overhauling step 1 is remove engine. So add $500 or so to the job.

Answer 7

They're harder to lose control of in snow and rain..... for people who don't know how to handle a rear car.