How is front wheel driving different?

Question

Getting a new-to-me vehicle (Odyssey). Family members imply that I should practice in parking lots when it isn't busy rather than just taking it out on the road. I think they are just putting me down. How is front-wheel drive driving different from regular driving?

BTW, I have driven a full-sized van before, so it has nothing to do with it being a mini-van.

I live in MN, so I do appreciate the snow and ice tips.

Vehicles I have regularly driven include two models of Mercury Marquis, Escort Wagon, Camry (couple models), Ford Zephyr, Chevy van and Oldsmobile station wagon.

Answer 1

all the weight of the engine and transmission are over the drive wheels, which are your front wheels vs your old full size rear wheel drive van. In snow and rain you have much better traction and steering control because of the weight displacement. In a front wheel drive vehicle, tire rotation is very important in order to get even wear out of your tires and get the best traction, also!

Answer 2

The most significant difference between FWD and RWD, that at FWD cars the wheels you are steering are also driven, thus these two things have an impact to each other. When the engine makes the driven (front) wheels spin, you will loose the traction AND the ability to steer at the same time, the car simply straightens the corner. This phenomenon is called torque steer, and can only be avoided by taking the throttle enough to regain the grip of the front tyres. Since the rear wheels aren't driven or steered, they do not take part in controlling the vehicle much, they can only be braked. Another behaviour of FWD cars is that they may respond dramtically to throttle when the wheels are steered in. That's bacuase the FWD cars have the differential at the front driven wheels. During steering, the difference between the speeds of the front wheels can be large. Any changes in the grip of the road surface (eg. reaching tarmac after dirt) can cause a sudden grip of the spinning wheels, making the car shoot out while turning.
Another aspect of FWD cars is that they have they are not so well balanced, because all the engine and drivetrain components are in the front, resulting in a typical 60:40 ratio.

When you blow a front tyre, you loose all control of the front wheels: 1. you cannot brake, or you may start to spin to the direction of the intact front wheel; 2. you cannot steer, because you have only one tyre and the vehice will pull to side where the blown tyre is; 3. you cannot apply engine brake, becuase the blown tyre can't transfer torque to the road and thus the differential will make it spin ineffectively.

RWD cars have the driven wheels in the rear, thus the role of steering and driving goes to different wheels, which uses more tyre surface to control the car. RWD cars have a closer-to-ideal weight distribution, the transmission and drivetrain being arranged fairly proportionally throughout the car to give a 55:45 ratio for sedans. For caravans, an ideal 50:50 weight distribution is easily possible. RWD cars are trickier to drive in swon and on surfaces with low amounts of grip. RWD cars introduce a tendency to oversteer, but they are maintaining their curve while cornering rather to starightening it out.

In the everyday driving conditions, one can barely feel the difference between FWD and RWD cars, it's on the edge of handling and during wintertime when the differences become obvious. FWD cars tend to have a larger turn radius, because the driven wheels are steered and they are driven by CV (Constant velocity) joints, this construction limits the maximum steering angle.
During a high speed tyre defect, in, with RWD cars: 1. For a front defect, you can engine brake with the rear wheels; 2. For a rear defect, you can brake, since the front brakes will keep the car straight.

BTW, FWD car doen't shoot out from stand so well, because the car's weight center moves toward the rear wheels, which will decrease the grip to the front (driven) wheels, making them spin but the car doesn't accelerate. For RWD cars, the same happens, but in this case the rear, driven wheels are pushed to the road, providing extra grip. That's why most built race cars are RWD.

Regards

Answer 3

A front wheel drive vehicle uses the front wheels to move the vehicle. A rear wheel drive vehicle uses the back wheels to move the vehicle (as in a pickup truck, and most full size vans).

Front wheel drive is supposed to be better in snow, although a lot of understeer occurs due to the fact that the front wheels are pulling and also steer the vehicle, so care must be taken not to over-correct and run off the road in a front wheel drive vehicle.

Rear wheel drive vehicles have been around since the beginning of the automotive industry. They are less wanted in snow situations because since the rear wheels are propelling the vehicle if your in deep snow the front wheels not having any power will most likely cause the rear wheels to spin because the front wheels have to push and/or compact the snow in front of the wheels in order for the vehicle to move.

All wheel drive, is a system that allows different amounts of torque to be sent to either the front or rear drive wheels to keep the vehicle moving in snow, sand, ice, etc. Most of these vehicles are full time all wheel drive and do not have a 2wd option. There are no levers or buttons for this system, and no low range either.

A full time four wheel drive system is kind of like an all wheel drive system, but usually includes a low range position. This type of system uses clutch packs in the transfer case to sense differences in wheel speeds and axle speeds and transfers the torque to the wheels with traction. This system is engaged all the time, the driver doesn't have to pull a lever or push a button for the system to work.

A part time 4wd system is the best system to have which is only to be used in situations where low traction exists such as snow, mud, ice, sand, etc. This system will be damaged if used on dry pavement. Most heavy duty full size trucks use this type of system. To engage this system you either have to pull a lever or push a button and some models you also have to get out and lock in the front hubs to engage the wheels to the drivetrain.

Driving a full size van is different than a mini-van. Your full size van was either rear wheel drive or all wheel drive, so you got used to the size of the vehicle. The Honda Odyssey is front wheel drive only, so you will have to get used to how they operate, as far as under hard acceleration front wheel drive vehicles will pull left or right due to torque differences in the tire/axle combination.

A mini-van is also smaller than a full size van and normally has a narrower wheel base, so be careful going around corners too quickly or you will roll it.

Answer 4

well for dry roads you will be fine unless you are really pushing the limits of the car (which is not likely in a minivan. but i alway's recoment you get used to a new car in a parking lot when it comes to winter driving and a different drive vehicle. if you are used to a rear drive car you will find driving a front drive car is easier and more forgiving until its limits once you go beyond the limits a front drive car is the worst type of car for regaining control a rear drive car is easier to regain control in once you have lost traction. It is hear that i would recommend an empty parking lot take the car on a snowy icy night and purposely drive the car beyond its limits to the point of loosing traction and even putting it into a controlled spin to see how the car handles and what you need to do to recover. if you dont live where it snows allot or where you get icy roads then you dont really need to go to a parking lot for an everyday driver in good weather you probably wont see the difference.

Answer 5

Thats a pretty dumb statement - and i dont mean yours - i mean the family . It is likely that most vehicles you have driven are front wheel drive as the vast majority are , could you elaborate on what you have driven in the past?

The difference is mostly marked in when the vehicle is at the limit of control, you may feel more of a sensation that the vehicle is being pushed in a RWD as opposed to pulled round a corner in a fwd , so its often safer to accelerate moderately whilst cornering in a FWD but better to wait until straighter in a RWD.
For more advanced drivers (racers etc) rwd gives more finnese as the drive and steering are seperated and they can exploit this to travel faster than in a FWD vehicle.

Answer 6

The only negative thing is "Torque steer" which means if you step hard on the go pedal while turning a corner, the front wheels try to straighten back to the straight ahead position.

Newer car designs have reduced this significantly, so you may not even notice it.

Another problem is one you will definitely never notice, which has to do with understeer during high speed cornering.

The positive is better traction in snow etc.

Answer 7

In normal everyday driving, there is virtually no difference in the way a front-wheel drive car handles from a rear-wheel (RWD), or even all-wheel (AWD) drive car. But in slippery conditions the handling characteristics differ considerably.

Please take the time to search on emergency driving. It's a life saver!

Answer 8

Will not notice any different,unless you are a hot shot driver.