Battle of the Drives: FWD vs RWD vs AWD

[zner2525]

I have used the search tool but I was not able to find a specific thread for wheel drives.. I just want to know more about these.. what's good and what's bad.. Understeer and oversteer.. Actually, dapat FWD vs RWD lang eh.. madaya kasi AWD.. all-around.. pero isama na natin para madaming choices.. so which is better for you?

[alwayz_yummy]

i own a xtrail 250x. with fwd, auto and 4wd-lock mode.

pag FWD mode and pinitik ko ung throttle, tire screaches, lalo na kung turning or making a u-turn.. worst kung wet ang road, lumalaban ang manibela kapag dumudulas ang gulong during abrupt acceleration kasi nga FWD..but kung nasa "auto" mode, all of it are virtually eliminated, plus mas-ok mag high-speed cornering, if only mabawasan ko lang ang "body roll" ng xtrail..

in the case of RWD, not much to say, i only had experiece with my former delica and liteace...

as i know may thread na regarding this..paki find nalang..

nga pala, 4wd-lock mode is the mode i use the least... pang light offroading where muds involve.

ps: medo madulas na shoes ng xtrail ko.. 1/2 na ang thread kasi,e... ipon muna ng pamalit shoes.. 17 or 18....

[basti08]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYUWIcw8_xg&p=0F7EF3F8D9ABC805&playnext=1& index=79"]YouTube - FIFTH GEAR FWD vs RWD vs AWD audi bmw alfa[/ame]

This should explain it.

[basti08]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydva0Ce3brk&feature=related"]YouTube - AWD vs RWD vs RWD[/ame]

another side... on a nasty weather conditions.

[foresterx]

to me
FWD= good fc
RWD= fun, not to bad fc
AWD= fun and grip, fc really bad

[my_BMW]

I advise you to watch Top Gear sa youtube you will definitely gain some insights. Generally speaking drive system talks about the drive characteristics and AWD should be the superb but in all things said and done it will go down to the maker of the car. In the video above the AWD Audi is inferior to the RWD BMW. In my experience BMW's are sharper compare to Audi's. My friend also told me Benz's are sharper than BMW on the corners (both RWD). So my take is that, definitely RWD is better than FWD but with regards to AWD depende sa car maker.

PS - Evo and Subaru STi both are AWD but the Evo is sharper to drive.

[foresterx]

awd isn't just about handling, it also gives you better grip on wet, slippery, icy, mud and dirt roads compared to rwd and fwd. yes there are lots of rwd and fwd cars that will out handle an awd car, but when i'm going up a mountain or going trough slippery roads i'd rather have an awd. but it also depends on the car's awd system, there are lots of cars equipped with an awd system that is no better than a rwd or fwd. example of that is the cr-v's awd system, no offense to crv owners.

and i agree the evo will give you better handling and the STi will give you better traction on slippery roads.

[renzo_d10]

i own a xtrail 250x. with fwd, auto and 4wd-lock mode.

pag FWD mode and pinitik ko ung throttle, tire screaches, lalo na kung turning or making a u-turn.. worst kung wet ang road, lumalaban ang manibela kapag dumudulas ang gulong during abrupt acceleration kasi nga FWD..but kung nasa "auto" mode, all of it are virtually eliminated, plus mas-ok mag high-speed cornering, if only mabawasan ko lang ang "body roll" ng xtrail..

in the case of RWD, not much to say, i only had experiece with my former delica and liteace...

as i know may thread na regarding this..paki find nalang..

nga pala, 4wd-lock mode is the mode i use the least... pang light offroading where muds involve.

ps: medo madulas na shoes ng xtrail ko.. 1/2 na ang thread kasi,e... ipon muna ng pamalit shoes.. 17 or 18....

Bro, wont stabilizer bars help to lessen the body roll ?

And

Get mo yung shoes ng murano. 18's naman ata yun. Hehe. The wider the wheels the more grip you get. Kaya mas okay. Downside, mahal lang talaga tires ng 18's.

[alwayz_yummy]

*renz:

prob ko sa 18s is manipis na rubber, baka malimitahan ang road option ko lalo na pag umuuwi sa province..

si din ako pwede mag-drop for the same reason

balik sa thread....

fwd cars cant handle too much power... kaya nga and evo and wrx-sti ay AWD para ma-distribute ang power ng maayos..

rwd - can take power, kaya nga preferred itong set-up na it ng americans and sports car models.

[zner2525]

for the people that shared a video, thanks! but I also want to know your side.. like which do you prefer in a certain situation or condition, for city driving, for high ways, etc.. what is best for you for an everyday car..? and so on.. I also want to know which has better grip or which can go with ease in an incline with same car, same driver, same weight, same tires, same all, FWD or RWD?

[foresterx]

for the people that shared a video, thanks! but I also want to know your side.. like which do you prefer in a certain situation or condition, for city driving, for high ways, etc.. what is best for you for an everyday car..? and so on.. I also want to know which has better grip or which can go with ease in an incline with same car, same driver, same weight, same tires, same all, FWD or RWD?

for city driving any of the 3 is good but if you want the best fc of course the fwd will win. better grip, going up an incline that's where the awd will show it's advantage. but for me a good rwd sports car is a lot more fun than an awd evo or sti.

i prefer awd because it's easier to drive and you can drive it any where and in any road condition. yon nga lang fc is really bad but hey i'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

[niky]

for the people that shared a video, thanks! but I also want to know your side.. like which do you prefer in a certain situation or condition, for city driving, for high ways, etc.. what is best for you for an everyday car..? and so on.. I also want to know which has better grip or which can go with ease in an incline with same car, same driver, same weight, same tires, same all, FWD or RWD?

The car that will go up an incline with ease or which will have more traction in slippery conditions is the car that has the most weight over the driving wheels. doesn't matter whether that's FWD or RWD. Rear engined Porsches have excellent traction in the snow. Powerful RWD pickups have sucky traction on inclines.

FWD generally have an advantage in that the engines are almost always on top of the drive wheels (few exceptions, such as old Indy racers and the Toyota iQ), which gives them more grip on inclines, as the weight pushes down on the front tires.

There is no big advantage or disadvantage in terms of driving dynamics between FWD, AWD and RWD until you get to a certain level of power, where on a rear wheel drive vehicle, the power is enough to unstick the rear wheels... and that's dependent on how stupid the driver is. If you're in a rear driver in slippery or bumpy conditions, you obviously don't want to get on the gas pedal too hard.

-

For an everyday car for an unskilled/semi-skilled driver in all conditions, a front-wheel drive car will do just fine.

For a car to enjoy blasting in a straight line... same.

For a car to enjoy on mountain passes or the racetrack, assuming you are still semi-skilled... a good FWD will do. Typically, you'll want something predictable with good balance, like a Civic hatchback or even a Mazda2 hatchback or a Jazz.

A RWD Miata is also good for the semi-skilled and even skilled drivers. It's a light, predictable car. In fact, that's the reason it's good... it's light. Just like a Civic hatch, a Mazda2 or a Jazz. Bigger RWDs are cumbersome and are harder to recover from slides. Most AWD cars are stable, but heavy, which makes them understeer much more.

Start going for more powerful and bigger cars, and you'll want that AWD or some good traction control. Most big FWD cars are not well balanced, except maybe for the Mazda6. Bigger RWD cars are more fun than bigger FWD cars, but it'll depend on the specific car we're talking about.

I've driven dogs in all three camps, and in general, whether a car is FWD/RWD/AWD doesn't play as big a role in whether I like it or not as does the question of how well it drives, regardless.

[GTi]

AWD syempre... Pero I'd like one that can fully transfer power to make it either fully FWD or fully RWD, and it must have the ability to run with all fours at the highway and have low range capability. That way I get to enjoy the best of both worlds combined. But then that will have to be coupled to a very good diesel engine for best performance and fuel efficiency combo. 3.0V6 ReVGT twin turbo with cylinder shutoff tech, anyone?