RWD vs AWD vs FWD - One person's perspective

[Mike1]

How many of you guys have actually driven a 2012 modern day FWD? I see a lot of reference to old FWD cars, the new cars are years ahead.

 

[moranor@axis]

2009 audi A4 2.0T count :fencelook:

 

[Mike1]

But seriously, there has been major progress on the FWD Platform, go drive a 2012 Cooper S, it does not torque steer, yet the original 2007 models do very badly.

Take the Golf 5 GTI and then drive the Golf 6 GTI with the electronic Diff. Major difference!

Its far easier to bash FWD when actually they are very good, the other issue I have with FWD bashing is that 9/10 times a Factory Produced FWD is an excellent car, then you slap some mods on it and people complain that a GTI cant get its power down compared to a RWD car, but it was not designed for that increased power to begin with and people seem to conveniently forget this when slating a FWD car.

Mike

 

[Carbon]

But seriously, there has been major progress on the FWD Platform, go drive a 2012 Cooper S, it does not torque steer, yet the original 2007 models do very badly.

Take the Golf 5 GTI and then drive the Golf 6 GTI with the electronic Diff. Major difference!

Its far easier to bash FWD when actually they are very good, the other issue I have with FWD bashing is that 9/10 times a Factory Produced FWD is an excellent car, then you slap some mods on it and people complain that a GTI cant get its power down compared to a RWD car, but it was not designed for that increased power to begin with and people seem to conveniently forget this when slating a FWD car.

Mike

Actually, I have have driven the R26, cooper s(supercharged though), GTI 6, and many others, but my friend's Integra has te be the best Front hooker I have ever driven! It has more steering feel, better poise and adjustability than any of the modern stuff. I have heard the same goes for the Peugeot 106 Rallye, but I have never driven one.

FWD has not moved on much tbh. Same dull steering, same balance.

 

[peanut125i]

lol.. i personally prefer rwd.. once owned a turbocharged ford XR3 (remember those? my first turbo effort ) can you spell torque steer, aka changing lanes with the use of throttle.. cured me for life..

:roflol:

i test drove a mazda 3 MPS. what a hopeless car, if it wasnt FWD, it would have been ok. anytime you punch the throttle it would also change lanes. in this one they carry on about trick drivetrain goodies to keep it on the road, all they really did was limit the power in 1-3rd gear, so what was the point of all the power then?

 

[m0lt3n]

rwd ftw!
fwd can be made befter as much as they want, get on a gravel or dirty road and its still useless and no fun.

 

[Sankekur]

Well my biggest problem with FWD is that it is a cheaper solution, and if the manufacturer was cheap with the drivetrain they will more that likely be cheap with the other things as well, the one key thing here is the rear suspension, the route they usually tend to go is to fit the cheap and nasty favourite of the motor industry, trailing arms with a torsion bar, does the minimum that suspension should do, and that is about it.

lol I also find it funny people saying that the RWD feels better and gives better balance etc, who here with with more a more modern BMW (e46 and on) with standard suspension and tyre setup has actually driven their car to the limit of grip (without deliberately upsetting the balance of the car)? And if you have tell me what does the car do?

 

[Rommies]

to say it simple....all the best cars is RWD!

Had a spin in Legacy's M3 e46...holy shit that car is awesome around the corners...we took some off ramps at about 100km/h+ all the way through and he was still accelerating raise:

 

[328ii]

FWD is for city (slower) driving where the driver's ability (usually idiots) is not a concern
AWD best for wet or dirty driving (slippery conditions)
RWD is for real men

8?>

 

[moranor@axis]

Well my biggest problem with FWD is that it is a cheaper solution, and if the manufacturer was cheap with the drivetrain they will more that likely be cheap with the other things as well, the one key thing here is the rear suspension, the route they usually tend to go is to fit the cheap and nasty favourite of the motor industry, trailing arms with a torsion bar, does the minimum that suspension should do, and that is about it.

lol I also find it funny people saying that the RWD feels better and gives better balance etc, who here with with more a more modern BMW (e46 and on) with standard suspension and tyre setup has actually driven their car to the limit of grip (without deliberately upsetting the balance of the car)? And if you have tell me what does the car do?

understeer, but still less understeer than a Fwd :rollsmile: there are ways to fix this on a Rwd but not so much on a Fwd

 

[Rolla]

AWD without a doubt is the best in the following areas:

-General grip, fast take off (launching)
-Acceleration (initial acc <mid rage acc on high HP cars>)
-Corner exit speed (all terrain and weather condition)
-Daily use (consider a taxi forcing you off the Rd, you can overtake on the grass)
-Confidence inspiring (for the "non-men" as the RWD supports refer to novices)


Besides, don’t take my word for it, ask Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Bugatti, Jaguar, Bentley, Audi........I am sure these dudes know what they are talking about :rollsmile:

 

[Rascal69]

AWD without a doubt is the best in the following areas:

-General grip, fast take off (launching)
-Acceleration (initial acc <mid rage acc on high HP cars>)
-Corner exit speed (all terrain and weather condition)
-Daily use (consider a taxi forcing you off the Rd, you can overtake on the grass)
-Confidence inspiring (for the "non-men" as the RWD supports refer to novices)

plus tyres last longer :rollsmile:

 

[Carbon]

lol I also find it funny people saying that the RWD feels better and gives better balance etc, who here with with more a more modern BMW (e46 and on) with standard suspension and tyre setup has actually driven their car to the limit of grip (without deliberately upsetting the balance of the car)? And if you have tell me what does the car do?

Uhm, E90 320i stock. N1/N4 clover push it right up to the limit and a smidge of acc will push it into oversteer. If you punch the throttle and try and turn(like most noobs do to test "handling" of a car) you will get understeer in any car that does not break rear traction first.

 

[CocoPops]

Well none of you seem to have driven a Renault RS and on this point I side with those FWD have made major advances forward, the rear suspnsion on the R26 is magic, and is the same as the new RS CUP.

The R26 is brilliant and is quicker on many tracks than the audi s3(remember audi is 4wd with more power).. and on some tracks quicker than the 135i coupe and an E46 M3 (with far less power)

I think its a tad unfair to comment on FWD if your havent been in one of late.. particularly the Renault Sports.. the grip is phenomenal.. and you can actually get the back end moving around at the limit.. not oversteering, but moving.

I have taken my car plenty to the tracks and pushed it to the limits on the road and it behaves brilliantly.

Am i saying its better than performance RWD's from the likes of the //M division, No, but aside from the true performance derivatives it will hold its own against the others and im sure come out ahead comfortably if performance is all you look at.

Its actually a big factor why I bought the R26 over a non M car (only ones i could afford at the time).. that and I have a an E30

 

[Legacy]

lol I also find it funny people saying that the RWD feels better and gives better balance etc, who here with with more a more modern BMW (e46 and on) with standard suspension and tyre setup has actually driven their car to the limit of grip (without deliberately upsetting the balance of the car)? And if you have tell me what does the car do?

Uhm, E90 320i stock. N1/N4 clover push it right up to the limit and a smidge of acc will push it into oversteer. If you punch the throttle and try and turn(like most noobs do to test "handling" of a car) you will get understeer in any car that does not break rear traction first.

Let's have a video of this :rollsmile:

 

[Fordkoppie]

The great debate!:rollsmile:
A controlled power slide is still the fastest way to corner!!

Actually its not. Its the most fun, but most definitely not the fastest.

Out of the 24 cars I have owned all were RWD. I think it is obvious which layout i prefer :rollsmile:
However, I get to drive more FWD cars than what I care to remember of various outputs on a daily basis (All Mazdas and Fords that ever existed post 2002). They have really advanced a lot in recent times and if all FWD cars behaved like the RS Focus, I would have been happy to own a FWD myself. Sadly they don’t and even as brilliant as the RS is in terms of handling and everything else, it still cant powerslide. Nuff said! :rollsmile:
Another car I would like to highlight is the brand new ST Focus that will go as fast around any corner (with the right approach obviously) as any non M std BMW on its OEM suspension and tyres.

This whole debate about what is better is actually stupid, because 80% of BMW/Merc drivers doesn’t even know which wheels propel their cars, and in the hands of these ignorant people, FWD is best (read safest).

 

[Josh-ZN]

The great debate!:rollsmile:
A controlled power slide is still the fastest way to corner!!

Actually its not. Its the most fun, but most definitely not the fastest.

Out of the 24 cars I have owned all were RWD. I think it is obvious which layout i prefer :rollsmile:
However, I get to drive more FWD cars than what I care to remember of various outputs on a daily basis (All Mazdas and Fords that ever existed post 2002). They have really advanced a lot in recent times and if all FWD cars behaved like the RS Focus, I would have been happy to own a FWD myself. Sadly they don’t and even as brilliant as the RS is in terms of handling and everything else, it still cant powerslide. Nuff said! :rollsmile:
Another car I would like to highlight is the brand new ST Focus that will go as fast around any corner (with the right approach obviously) as any non M std BMW on its OEM suspension and tyres.

This whole debate about what is better is actually stupid, because 80% of BMW/Merc drivers doesn’t even know which wheels propel their cars, and in the hands of these ignorant people, FWD is best (read safest).

stupid? you know how the saying goes, "opinions are like ..."

80%? and this figure is based on some sort of fact i assume?

i would say awd is safer than fwd. in the hands of a professional, i am pretty sure 100% of them would say a well set up rwd car (like a bmw) beats all (I got that percentage figure from the same place you did - the thumb)

:roflol:

 

[ver328i]

My first car was a 325i box...RWD FTW.

Those were my wreckless teen years and i learned to drive it hard and had full on confidence even when its rear let go:thumbs: I could not have asked for a better first car...still the best car ive owned to date:=):

Then got my first and only FWD:yuck: Honda Prelude 2.2. Looked sweet but was terrible to drive. The steering was horrible and I could not corner the way I wanted to. It felt very unstable at speed - Sold it after 6 months and bought nothing but RWD BMW's up untill my 4WD Scoob.

The 4wd has lots of understeer but also lots of grip so its kind of predictable. The overall feel of the car is great and eventhough it lacks the BMW comforts, its still a fantastic drivers car. I hated it at first but once I got use to the launching and cornering, I fell in love with the ugly bug faced scoob:thumbs:

My Take on it, RWD is best :joy:. Those who say its unsafe and prefer FWD cars must have bigger balls than I do coz FWD, to me, felt unsafe:fencelook:
4WD is somewhere in between

 

[Fordkoppie]

stupid? you know how the saying goes, "opinions are like ..."

80%? and this figure is based on some sort of fact i assume?

i would say awd is safer than fwd. in the hands of a professional, i am pretty sure 100% of them would say a well set up rwd car (like a bmw) beats all (I got that percentage figure from the same place you did - the thumb)

:roflol:

You just proved my point on how stupid it is:thumbdo:
Each situation is different. Professionals you say hmmm?? I suppose this excludes rally drivers?

Now in public - who do you see most often?

I can go nowhere without seeing at least 1 woman in a black e90 320i. I can guarantee you that if you asked any of them some specifics of the car they are driving the response will be something like this:
"Eish, i dont know serr. I just drive this black BMW the government gave me....."

 

[Josh-ZN]

stupid? you know how the saying goes, "opinions are like ..."

80%? and this figure is based on some sort of fact i assume?

i would say awd is safer than fwd. in the hands of a professional, i am pretty sure 100% of them would say a well set up rwd car (like a bmw) beats all (I got that percentage figure from the same place you did - the thumb)

:roflol:

You just proved my point on how stupid it is:thumbdo:
Each situation is different. Professionals you say hmmm?? I suppose this excludes rally drivers?

Now in public - who do you see most often?

I can go nowhere without seeing at least 1 woman in a black e90 320i. I can guarantee you that if you asked any of them some specifics of the car they are driving the response will be something like this:
"Eish, i dont know serr. I just drive this black BMW the government gave me....."

:roflol: aint that the truth.

still dont think its a stupid debate. especially when the debate is aimed at the "20%" of us who know our cars rally drivers usually go awd not fwd.

:thumbs: