Front-Wheel Drive...
10-03-11, 11:49 PM
#1
Front-Wheel Drive...
What reasons do people (Especially younger folks) have to get all defensive and/or offended just because you point out or remind them of the fact that their car is front-wheel drive? I mean do some of these folks have some sort of inferiority complex and wished that they had a car that wasn't FWD? I don't know, What do you guys think?
10-04-11, 01:01 AM
#6
Well, that's what I mean...You do anything that reminds them that their car is FWD (i.e Questioning 'em as to why they put a rear spoiler on their FWD car or are putting wider rear wheels that put out colored smoke during burnouts on their FWD cars,etc...) It seems that they get butt-hurt about being reminded of the fact their car isn't in the drivetrain that they desired and can't do donuts...Like as if they wished they could've gotten a car that was RWD/AWD instead. You know what I'm saying?
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10-04-11, 05:07 AM
#8
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FWD is actually best suited to the needs of most people.
Let's face it. Most people could care less about burnouts and performance driving. They want spacial efficiency, low costs and improved fuel economy. In short: they don't need a RWD car.
FWD offers better usage of interior space due to the absence of a space-consuming rear transmission tunnel, less weight, less costs for the manufacturer (cheaper for the consumer), improved gas mileage, better traction during the winter and so much more.
It's horrible to read so many ignorant comments from people on the Internet regarding FWD automobiles. You'll find them all over: Edmunds, Autoblog, Autospies etc. People (more like morons) insisting that small economy / mainstream family cars need to be RWD so burnouts and drag races and balanced track driving can be performed in them.
Yes, because we all know the people buying these cars care about those aspects.
Right.
Why Toyota hasn't made the Camry RWD when clearly 90% of buyers spend their weekends driving them on a track is beyond me.
*Sarcasm*
Let's face it. Most people could care less about burnouts and performance driving. They want spacial efficiency, low costs and improved fuel economy. In short: they don't need a RWD car.
FWD offers better usage of interior space due to the absence of a space-consuming rear transmission tunnel, less weight, less costs for the manufacturer (cheaper for the consumer), improved gas mileage, better traction during the winter and so much more.
It's horrible to read so many ignorant comments from people on the Internet regarding FWD automobiles. You'll find them all over: Edmunds, Autoblog, Autospies etc. People (more like morons) insisting that small economy / mainstream family cars need to be RWD so burnouts and drag races and balanced track driving can be performed in them.
Yes, because we all know the people buying these cars care about those aspects.
Right.
Why Toyota hasn't made the Camry RWD when clearly 90% of buyers spend their weekends driving them on a track is beyond me.
*Sarcasm*
10-04-11, 05:55 AM
#10
What reasons do people (Especially younger folks) have to get all defensive and/or offended just because you point out or remind them of the fact that their car is front-wheel drive? I mean do some of these folks have some sort of inferiority complex and wished that they had a car that wasn't FWD? I don't know, What do you guys think?
10-04-11, 07:11 AM
#12
Out of Warranty
FWD is cheaper, more efficient, and more effective than RWD. It allows the "power package" to be totally installed in a sub-frame and bolted up to the rest of the car making manufacturing much simpler. It is more efficient because it is a single package (and somewhat more difficult to service than RWD that breaks out the drive axle into a separate package), and generally produces less frictional loss than a FWD system, therefore it is usually more fuel efficient. Finally, by placing the drive wheels under the heavy end of the car, FWD produces more traction, particularly in slippery conditions than RWD and pulling the car rather than pushing it makes it easier to control, particularly for novice drivers.
There is one big disadvantage to FWD that only appears when exchanging bravado for competence. Here you are asking a pair of tires to simultaneously provide tractive and cornering power at once. Pointing the wheels in the direction you want to go would seem to be intuitively correct, but at or near the limit, also applying power to these wheels can overpower the grip of the tire on the road, producing significant understeer . . . just when you don't need it. Rather than look cool, hanging out the tail in great gouts of tire smoke as you power through the corner (while being passed on the inside by faster drivers who understand dynamic balance), you look like an idiot, plowing off the road into the bushes.
Bottom line:
There is one big disadvantage to FWD that only appears when exchanging bravado for competence. Here you are asking a pair of tires to simultaneously provide tractive and cornering power at once. Pointing the wheels in the direction you want to go would seem to be intuitively correct, but at or near the limit, also applying power to these wheels can overpower the grip of the tire on the road, producing significant understeer . . . just when you don't need it. Rather than look cool, hanging out the tail in great gouts of tire smoke as you power through the corner (while being passed on the inside by faster drivers who understand dynamic balance), you look like an idiot, plowing off the road into the bushes.
Bottom line:
- FWD for the 95% of drivers who never push the limits and actually pay reasonable insurance premiums.
- RWD for the 4% of us who want to play Speed Racer.
- AWD for the remaining 1% who know and can use driving force on ALL FOUR contact patches.
