FWD vs. RWD

Living in the Midwest snow belt, i can tell you putting the weight over the drive wheels in FWD makes a world of difference for traction on the snow. Its the difference between going somewhere or being stuck and wheels spinning.

Yea, there is some adjustment in habits involved. spinning wheels do not steer well. so you do have to be more aware. on black ice having the front end break loose is a little scary too.

bob

I own both a FWD car and a RWD van.. The car handles much better in the snow. With FWD you don't have to worry about the rear of the vehicle swinging around as much especially when starting off, and going up hills.

I *prefer* RWD, but that said, in a truly heavy snow, there's no substitute for weight over the drive wheels. That is one advantage of FWD in bad weather, "poor" weight distribution providing more mass over the front wheels.

One can get the same advantages, however, by finding a RWD car that has decent weight distribution to begin with (older American RWD passenger cars were still often nose heavy, which is why they often weren't so good in snow) and putting some sandbags in the trunk to help add weight to the rear. At the *FRONT* of the trunk, that is, not the very rear - you don't want to increase your polar moment of inertia too much otherwise if the rear does get out of shape it'll be hard to bring it back around.

The other option would be something like a VW Beetle or Porsche 911 which will have most of the weight over the drive wheels, while still being RWD.

Of course, if you live somewhere that regularly gets heavy snow, nothing beats an AWD car like an Audi or Subaru, assuming that you equip it with good tires.

nate

I think all in all it depends on the road conditions. I really prefer the feel of the RWD systems, but I agree that when there is snow and ice and traction becomes a problem that having the weight of the engine over top of the driving wheels can improve things a lot.

That said that in snow and ice conditions, the tires make more of a difference than which wheels are driven.

And there is something to be said for AWD in slush and mud.

--scott

It is a much more complex issue than any simple answer. For instance, there is rearward weight transfer due to acceleration. That only occurs when you have sufficient traction to generate a sufficient G force. So answer on snow and ice is different than answer on dry pavement.

Percentage of weight on each axle depends on vehicle loading, so that is an issue. Is car generating any lateral acceleration (cornering?) Going up hill changes the rearward weight shift.

And of course the rearward weight shift due to acceleration or hill depends on CG height, so differences in CG height affect how much weight transfer you get anyway.

Differences in tire sizes front to rear, and even differences in tire pressure, can vary the effect of which axle is driving.

Can't be emphasized enough. Snow driving requires narrow tires with a deep, semi-open tread pattern, exactly the opposite of what you want for dry weather handling, hence the use of dedicated snow tires by people who live in areas that get lots of snow regularly.

nate

Four wheel drive is best, in snow country.Front wheel drive is better than rear wheel drive, in snow country.The right tires make a difference too.We don't get much snow around here, sometimes a few years go by, no snow at all.I prefer rear wheel drive.

I drove Army combat all wheel drive two and a half ton ammo trucks in Vietnam in 1964.There were two levers sticking out under the drivers seat in those trucks.One of the levers put the truck in all wheel drive.The other lever put the truck in Grandmaw gear.Those trucks could go anywhere! cuhulin, the Truck

They are different. A Corvair suits me fine in snow but I am not competent to drive a FWD in slippery conditions. Wrong driver software.

You could always get a VW or Corvair and have the best of both worlds.

A VW Dune Buggy with big wide low air pressure sand grabber tires on all four wheels.I know where there is a red VW Dune Buggy, about two something miles from me.Last year, I checked on that VW Dune Buggy, the elderly guy who owns it said it isn't for sale.He doesn't ever drive it anywhere.It looks like it is in good shape too. cuhulin

Yes it is more complicated. My boss in Sweden drove a RWD Volvo, saying that the balance in ice and snow made it a delightful and safe car to drive in the winter. My FWD SAAB was also excellent under all conditions.

I am comfortable and secure with a well balanced FWD, but that is not to say that a RWD cannot be excellent as well.

Nate sums up my feelings exactly. What he leaves out is that in slippery conditions RWD is just plain more fun.

In message , Silent Stone writes

The french found that by using front wheel drive all the engine, transmission and axle components could be pre-assembled before being offered up to the chassis, thus with a volume run huge savings could be made, but I think you'll find that the traction is something like

In message , N8N writes

Both the Beetle and Porsche have their engines behind the back wheel.

I agree.

In my experience, FWD is superior to RWD, and I am a RWD fan! Think of this: It is often easier to PULL something than to PUSH it!

I have an upgrade for that!!!

One thing, though: it is easier to control an out of control front than rear!

I disagree... if the front pushes out all you can do is lift off and pray.

nate

I have never driven (drove) a front wheel car before, so I don't really know.I am sticking with rear wheel drive. cuhulin

Don't have a lot of choices left...