Opening a can of worms - FWD vs RWD

if you can't make a FWD car slide, you just need more rear bar!

As a personal preference, I like RWD, but there are some very fun FWD cars out there.

dumb sod's........

an opinion was asked.... I posted my reasoning why I chose the way I did and people pop off

"Try again" - I'm guessing you are just a rude SOB whom also give your wife(g/f) her opinions as well

FWD worse in the snow than RWD, what planet are you from ? Nothing compares to a FWD car in the snow except 4wd.
Just look at stock class cars in ice racing on Blizzaks. I learned to drive rwd cars in the winter without snow tires.weight in the trunk, second gear starts. then I drove my first fwd car, never looked back. My ZX2SR handles great on the track, steer it with the throttle. It does have a few tweaks. Our local police dept has been driving fwd Impalas for quite awile. They were looking at the Chargers but the all said they preferred the fwd Impala in the winter time. My Jeep in 2wd sucks when it gets slippery.

oldeskewltoy wrote: dumb sod's........ an opinion was asked.... I posted my reasoning why I chose the way I did and people pop off "Try again" - I'm guessing you are just a rude SOB whom also give your wife(g/f) her opinions as well

You posted yours, others posted theirs.

I think someone needs to grow a bit thicker skin. Geez.

I care more about having fun than necessarily being the fastest. Just ask anyone who has seen me autocross. Regardless I still manage to run competitive times. To me hanging the tail out, sliding around and power oversteer fun than plowing into turns and dealing with the front end pushing when I get back on the power.

I drove the Rallycross Neon ACR project and on the roadcourse it was the first time I truly enjoyed driving a front wheel drive car in anger. I still think running one of my RX-7s would have been more fun. For me RWD wins out every time.

i've had fun in both.

You see more FWD rally cars than rwd.. But you see more rwd on track cars than fwd...

I like both.

Unless I'm driving a honda ridgeline then I just loathe myself like a teenage girl with acne.

oldeskewltoy wrote: As with statisitics... anything is possible but I know of..... 1) NO supercar that is fwd 2) NO F1 car that is fwd 3) NO Top Fuel car that is fwd 4) NO Funny Car that is fwd 5) No Indy car that is fwd Please tell me how many recognized professional racing series are dominated by fwd???

first off... FWD cars tend to be lower in hp than the NO's you list above... the higher the hp the more rear drive you want... but in the right setting FWD is as much fun as RWD... and they're actually easier to drive fast (if set up correctly) right off the bat than most RWD's of equal hp (equal set up)

I find that the worse the weather is the more I like my FWD. However, I also like RWD in the dry. Down here it rarely snows but it does ice over almost every winter and then it doesn't really matter much either way. I have also tended toward lower hp cars in both forms. I find them both equally fun to drive and as said before it is all about setup no matter which end propels the car forward.

the best snow car I ever owned was a 1988 Hyundai Excel GS. A lightweight, lightly powered, two door hatch with 185/70/13 tyres at all four corners. Wide for an Excel, narrow by all other standards.. I used to pass AWD cars and 4x4 trucks in the snow in that car.

I vote RWD for all situations. (with proper prep of course). Handling is more predictable and with the engine not stuck in sideways, they are easier to work on! Yes, my DD is FWD, but there is so little RWD left on the maket I had no choice.(ie: cheap, diposable, good on gas) "Fun" car is RWD.

oldeskewltoy wrote: dumb sod's........ an opinion was asked.... I posted my reasoning why I chose the way I did and people pop off "Try again" - I'm guessing you are just a rude SOB whom also give your wife(g/f) her opinions as well

Taken in "context" the OP was asking for opinions for street-driven vehicles. For maximum potential, RWD will prevail over FWD. But, your response was to list a number of series where the design-criteria is maximum performance.

For the record, I have a couple decades experience in autocrossing; half have in been in FWD, the other half in RWD and both are damn FUN! Each requires a discipline to maximize performance and both are very entertaining - if you have an open mind.........

I've driven some enjoyable FWD cars, but my favorite is a properly-prepped B13 SE-R...

I my case I have had tons of fun flogging fwd and rwd cars. My NA miata was a blast in the twisties, and I was hanging right with my buddies integra gs-r. A ford probe was quite fun while being a lot more spacious than a miata. The focus svt stuck to corners great but lacked power and the gearing sucked some fun out of it.

I tend to bounce back and forth from fwd to rwd cars and my latest driver is a LS1 camaro. The biggest difference I notice with the camaro is I don't know how to have the same amount of fun without keeping my foot glued to the floor so I find my fwd vs rwd debate becoming a fast car slow versus slow car fast debate. My mind is all programmed on how to drive a slow car fast, but not a fast car fast.

Driven them both in anger. I don't mind FWD on the street, like it well enough, especially my SAAB. Don't like FWD in anger on an autocross course. It seems way too foreign to me, but I learned to drive in RWD in snow.

I won't say that I'm not going to own a FWD car (thats not shared with my siblings), but I don't see it happening. My dad is the same way, in his 40+ years of driving he's only had 1 FWD car, and only for 9 months.

For lack of a better explanation, they just feel inferior to me.

Call me a hooligan, but I still wish my Mazda 3 was rwd just for the fun factor. Every once in a while I think to myself, "sure would be fun to kick the tail out right about now".

I know you can make a FWD car oversteer and a RWD understeer and you can make a FWD lap fast. But honestly, would you stand in line to buy a FWD Corvette?

In an autocross setting, you don't really drive them any differently, IMO. Corner entry is the same. How the car reacts to corner exit is different, but the inputs are basically the same.

oldsaw wrote: - if you have an open mind.........

fwd owned: 82 Audi 4000, 84 VW GTi, 86 SAAB 900S, 94 Sentra SE-R

rwd owned: 86, and 87 AE86, 83 AE71(custom), 69 TVR Vixen S2, 1971 Alfa GTV 2000, 66, and 67 Shelby, 68 GTO, 70 Mach 1 428SCJ

awd owned: 92 Subaru Legacy, 1989 Corolla All-Trac

I've owned all types and kinds... Between rwd and fwd it comes down to one thing really... rwd can get steering input from either end(with control) fwd can't.

I tend to drive faster on a auto-x course with a well balanced low power FWD. But I am not all that competitive no mater what I drive. So I just have fun, and nothing puts a huge grin on my face like a sideways pickup. as far as a DD what will it matter. at the end or the day I think that anything is fun to drive at the limit.

I enjoy acting like a baffoon occasionally (donuts, powerslides, bootleg 180s) and RWD is clearly the answer for these type of shenanigans. ( don't talk to me about reverse donuts, or putting the rears on dining trays.....it isn't the same) For me power-on oversteer is bliss. FWD can't do this.

I grew up in Illinois though, and FWD or 4wd is clearly the answer when the roads get all white and slippery. (I've gone through winters with RWD and while fun, it isn't as safe or effective)

Different strokes for different folks. I've driven (and owned) plenty of ridiculously fun FWD cars. (Mk 1 Scirocco/ GTI , MINI, Integra type R, etc)

That said, all of my machines currently are RWD....or 4wd.

Not to throw more worms into the fire, but not only are the rear wheels doing the driving more fun, but having the engine in the middle of the car is even better! Proper engine location driving the proper set of wheels! There is nothing like a good mid engine car on track to really feel alive!

That said, my all-time favorite World Challenge cars are old Integras. Those things were awesome to watch!

Joe Gearin wrote: That said, all of my machines currently are RWD....or 4wd.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned 4wd in this debate.

RWD is theoretically superior but a good-handling car is a good-handling car.

iceracer wrote: FWD worse in the snow than RWD, what planet are you from ?

I hear that every time I bring it up, lol. Like I said, I wouldn't put grandma in a RWD when the snow flew, but I can't stand the way FWD behaves in the slick. Heck, my '87 Mustang 2.3 'vert was a better snow car for me than any of my FWDs. I never spun out in my RWDs, I did several times in my FWDs.

Driver error? Probably. But there's nothing anyone can say that will ever make me go FWD in snow country ever again.

jstein77 wrote: I'm surprised no one else has mentioned 4wd in this debate.

How many cheap, fun, AWD cars do you know of that don't require an engine swap to get there?

oldsaw wrote: You haven't paid much attention to "production-based" professional series.

DaveEstey wrote: BTCC and World Challenge are full of FWD cars...

Now, I have nothing against FWD cars (even split at my house - 2 FWD, 2 RWD, 1 AWD). There are pros and cons to both, BUT:

In the BTCC and WC races, at least, there are typically lower minimum weights granted to FWD cars in order to let them keep closer pace to their RWD brethren. It makes for fun racing to watch but it is not precisely a level playing field.