Battle of the Drives: FWD vs RWD vs AWD

**zner2525** · November 2nd, 2010 09:41 AM

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** · November 2nd, 2010 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by 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?

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.

**zner2525** · November 2nd, 2010 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by foresterx

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.

I know that.. but what i mean, for FWD and RWD only..

**foresterx** · November 2nd, 2010 10:54 AM

i'd go with the rwd then, fwd is only good for giving you good fc.

**hilldweller** · November 2nd, 2010 11:46 AM

Ang scenario provincial road (dirt road) na bagong grader. Umulan ng kaunti, tamang tama para dumulas ang daan. May dumaang FWD (Sedan), diretso ang takbo. Sumunod sa trail ng sedan ang RWD vehicle, biglang nagspin ang rear wheel, 3 times na nag 90 degrees turn pakaliwa at pakanan bago nahulog sa kanal. 50m siguro away ako nakatingin hawak ang manibela ng bike ko.

**shadow3616931** · November 2nd, 2010 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by hilldweller

Ang scenario provincial road (dirt road) na bagong grader. Umulan ng kaunti, tamang tama para dumulas ang daan. May dumaang FWD (Sedan), diretso ang takbo. Sumunod sa trail ng sedan ang RWD vehicle, biglang nagspin ang rear wheel, 3 times na nag 90 degrees turn pakaliwa at pakanan bago nahulog sa kanal. 50m siguro away ako nakatingin hawak ang manibela ng bike ko.

Mukang di marunong yung driver sa slippery road lalo nya tinapakan yung accelerator kaya umikot or di nya binalanse using steering wheel or baka kalbo na goma nya. For me better ang RWD than FWD when it comes to traction, of course AWD is better kaya lang very seldom lang ang needs not unless sa baguio ka or country ka nakatira or if a dirt road is part of your route. Kung sa city ka lang sayang yung gas kasi mabigat yung tires kasi medyo nag lalaban yan at AWD mode or if naka 2WD mode ka yung 4x4 mechanism (trasfer case) kasama parin pinapa ikot ng engine so mabigat pa din sya

**niky** · November 2nd, 2010 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by 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?

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.

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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.

**basti08** · November 2nd, 2010 02:05 PM

For everyday driving a front drive car with a nicely tuned suspension like say, a Mazda 3 or Focus is fine for me. These are forgiving machines you can use in its 9/10ths of its limits without much risk of sending you to the cemetery.

(In motorsports)Rear drive and all wheel drives main advantage is lesser degree of understeer compared to front drive cars as well as better launching speeds. But a nicely modified front drive could still keep up with either of the transmission layout albeit with some degree of torque steer.