With more and more vehicles switching to rear wheel drive, is it better than front?
wheel drive? We’ll see.
Front-wheel drive
Present since the 1920s, front-wheel drive did not catch on with American consumers.
until the gas crisis in the 1970s. As Americans struggled with high fuel prices,
Automakers began looking for new ways to increase fuel efficiency. the best way to
The course was to reduce the size (and therefore the weight) of most vehicles. detroit aces
intended to make cars smaller, they needed a more efficient design that would yield
more interior space in a smaller package. Front wheel drive was the solution. By
placing the engine and transaxle in the front, there is no large transmission housing
o driveshaft tunnel through the passenger compartment. Also,
The engines were placed transversely to reduce the size of the engine compartment. And there
It was another plus too. With 60% of its weight in the front, 40% in the rear,
fwd has an advantage in slippery conditions such as ice or snow as more weight is needed
on the drive wheels reducing slippage during acceleration. But most of the advantages
end there. Since most of the weight is in the front, a front-wheel drive car is not as well balanced.
therefore, it does not handle as well. Additionally, as vehicles continue to become more
powerful, front-wheel drive becomes more of a liability. Twist direction (when the
steering wheel pulls to one side during acceleration) is a serious problem with many
Cars with front-wheel drive that exceed 250 hp. As such, we have seen a resurgence in the
popularity of rear-wheel drive in more powerful vehicles.
rear wheel drive
Before the fuel crisis in the 1970s, rear-wheel drive was king. almost every
vehicle, from economy to luxury, cam with rear wheel drive. The change from behind
front-wheel drive took about a decade. Since the mid-1980s, almost every
economy car, family sedan, minivan and even many sports coupes with front camera
wheel drive. Luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz continued with the rear
wheel drive, but Cadillac eventually switched all vehicles to front-wheel drive. Ounce
again, times have changed. In recent years we have seen more and more
Vehicles (re)introduce rear-wheel drive. Why? Well, it’s simple. As cars become more
powerful it’s hard to have a set of wheels doing the steering and the
throttle. By making the front wheels do the steering and the rear wheels do the driving
the car, you get a better balanced vehicle. This removes the pair address and
improves acceleration. Rear-wheel drive offers better weight distribution (much
closer to 50/50 than forward), which in turn offers more predictable handling. Finally,
With the advent of traction control and stability management systems, the front end
The advantage of wheel traction in slippery conditions has been significantly reduced. Plus
and most rear-wheel drive vehicles also have the option of AWD. If nothing else, this is a
great way for automakers to hedge their bets. Still, some consumers are skeptical
rear wheel drive Maybe they are victims of savvy marketing on Madison Ave.
who was trying to get people to accept the fwd and forget about the virtues of the rear wheel
ride. They did a great job. Perhaps too good.
Cars today are more powerful but offer better fuel economy. As such, we can look
fwd and rwd more objectively. Is one better than the other? fwd still have a
advantage in terms of packaging efficiency, offering more interior space in a
smaller package. Rear wheel drive provides better handling and acceleration and
with the addition of traction control, it virtually eliminates the forward edge on the
snow. In the end, it depends on what you want from your car. If it’s performance,
you are looking at rwd. If you are indifferent, perhaps you are looking for a small car with
more interior volume, it’s front-wheel drive for you. In the last 20 years,
Technology has improved both designs, reducing fwd’s advantages to a point
where rwd is a viable option for most people. Ultimately, you have more options,
and when more options are offered, we all win.