Why do people prefer FWD?

[courrey]

What are some factors that play into why you guys prefer driving FWD over RWD, and AWD? Especially when it comes to touge (mountain runs) I hear a lot of epople spout about how they'd rather have FWD cars for that sort of thing rather than RWD. They spat all types of nonsense although I always thought RWD, AND AWD were superior when it comes to tracking and auto cross.

Give me your opinions ! I'm quite curious.

Sponsored

 

[SDAlexander8]

-Lighter car
-More predictable when traction is lost
-Have to replace all tires on AWD or you risk damaging your differentials
-Cheaper to manufacture, more affordable to the consumer
-FWD is good in snow, even better with snow tires
-Better fuel economy, less drivetrain power loss
-Easier to work on and maintain long term

 

[TheCanadian]

Real, honest reason?

I can't afford RWD cars that have a similar ethos to the Type R.

 

[SmokeGhost]

Fwd best for fuel mileage and cheap running cost.

Rwd most fun hooning around and more likely to break stuff.

Awd good for bad weather or off road but more stuff that can fail. Highest running cost.

My 2 pennies

 

[courrey]

Real, honest reason?

I can't afford RWD cars that have a similar ethos to the Type R.

completely relate on this one lol. If budget was unlimited I would've gone for a n54 335i

 

[TheCanadian]

completely relate on this one lol. If budget was unlimited I would've gone for a n54 335i

I was thinking more of a Porsche 911 or a new M3, but that works too.

 

[Jwolf]

-Lighter car
-More predictable when traction is lost
-Have to replace all tires on AWD or you screw up your difs
-Cheaper
-FWD is good in snow
-Better fuel economy
-Easier to work on

Let me add to this:

Drive train power loss typically will be lower than FR RWD layouts, same thing for AWD.

@courrey I think a lot of people prefer FWD because of it being usually cheaper to run and maintain (sad Type R tax noises). Whether or not any are quicker than the others depends heavily on the car and how it is set up.

A great example of this would be the WRX vs BRZ(pre 2022) vs Si.

Out of the box, the WRX sucks. Lightly modded, the WRX sucks.
Out of the box, the BRZ is good. Lightly modded, the BRZ is great+++.
Out of the box, the Si is okay. Lightly modded, the Si is great.

BRZ is going to be quickest of the 3, Si will be most reliable of the 3, WRX is the most suckiest of the 3.

In the weekend warrior class of racers, FWD and RWD are going to be better, usually because of cost to benefit ratio, quicker for less, less to run, and lightness, lightweight is key the to speed... Kachow. AWD IS better, IF you have a bottomless wallet and you're in a racecar built for it.

 

[Hasdrubal]

FWD cars are more common in the economy car space than RWD, because the packaging for a transverse engine/transmission is easier. Whole thing fits in one compartment, no need to package a driveshaft to the rear, or a differential, or strengthening the rear of the chassis against the forces involved.

Rear suspension can be really simple, since the rear wheels only bear cornering forces, no acceleration and barely any braking with average soft springs on a passenger car. My old Fit, and many VWs (had a Jetta TDI years ago) have a twist beam with trailing arms. Very cheap, not so good for performance. But not necessarily the limiting factor either, since many FWD cars are quite front heavy.

There's really only two benefits for FWD and spirited driving. First, if you lose traction accelerating out of a corner, you understeer, where a RWD car will oversteer and maybe spin. Much easier to recover from understeer. FWD spins from throttle lift oversteer are rare because the factories give us very understeer biased suspension tuning.

Second, as TheCanadian said, the RWD cars tend to be more expensive- if I could get a manual with RWD and suspension/steering about as good as the Si and still have four doors, I'd jump on it. But that's pretty much BMW, and even if I give up on a manual, that brings Infiniti and Lexus into the picture, with heavier cars and softer suspension, at double the price.

RWD doesn't have to be expensive, the 240sx was affordable and the already mentioned BRZ isn't too bad. Just not too many people really want to drive fun cars anymore, and the factories won't go to extra trouble to give consumers what they're not asking for.

 

[bigbacon]

People thimk the brz is good? Terrible car. Sooooo slow. We looked at one a few yesrs ago. It was terrible. Our honda fit seem zippier than ths brz

 

[AlphaDigital]

Depends on what the BRZ is being used for. The boxer engine gives the car a lower center of gravity, lower than say an S2000. Yes the BRZ is underpowered, but so are most Hondas anyways. The layout of the car makes it a great vehicle for autocross and road racing. Not so much stoplight or drag fun though.

 

[haltamer]

Embrace the understeer

Doesn't matter the weather or conditions, you can plant your foot and go in the direction you're pointing, Whilst using lift of oversteer and late braking to leverage your front-heavy nature.

It's more involving than AWD, as there's still some traction limitations, and you've got a predictable drive (No difference between AWD Systems and worrying about how / when they'll kick in) allowing you to tickle the limits nicely:- I generally disfavour AWD for encouraging truly overzealous driving for the conditions ("Every car comes with all wheel stop")

Fundamentally, they're just quite thrashable without worries; Easy to start, but hard to master.

 

[Civic_EU]

Modern and practical {no coupe} RWD cars are expensive and higly limited to few models, and if you are enthusiast and want manual you can forget it, here in EU you have M3 aaaand thats it, there is no other RWD 4 door car with manual which you can buy new right now. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[BriteBlue]

In the USA there is the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing RWD and CT5-V Blackwing RWD, both available with a 6-speed manual transmission.

 

[Hasdrubal]

I'm thinking about buying an early Boxster next year, there's something special about mid engine balance for driver feeling.

For OP, RWD is better for race cars/autocross/twisty roads because you're using the front tires for cornering loads and steering, and the rear tires for cornering loads and acceleration. This gives an advantage in corner exit, as you're not limited by overloading the front tires while the rear tires don't do too much more than hold the back end of the car up. More even use of the available traction. There's even a slight benefit from weight transfer to the rear on acceleration, meaning your drive wheels are getting a little more grip where a FWD car would be losing grip on the drive wheels.

AWD only helps if you're exceeding the traction limit on your drive wheels- something that happens more on rally cars than on say, touring or GT cars. A slower car like the Civic might be able to accelerate faster with AWD, except the extra weight and drivetrain loss might hurt acceleration even more.

 

[86salmon]

In the USA there is the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing RWD and CT5-V Blackwing RWD, both available with a 6-speed manual transmission.

Not any more

Sponsored