FWD vs RWD vs AWD cars. Which do you prefer & why?

[dencio1976]

Actually, it's the rear suspension that helps create oversteer. I sort of oversimplified...

An aggressive front LSD helps cure understeer while under throttle, which leads to a sort of neutral steer in corners.

What the LSD does is lock up the diff when your inside front wheel starts spinning. On the track, in a tight corner, you can't accelerate out of said corner easily because when you step on the gas, the unloaded inside front wheel spins away all the power, leading to a slow exit and excessive understeer. With an aggressive LSD, that power goes to the outside front wheel instead. Heck, if it's aggressive enough, it can technically be used to produce oversteer by sending all the power to the outside front wheel, but that might take an electronic diff, and it'd probably be too aggressive for street use (konting kabig lang... BAM!.. spin ka na! ).

An LSD would be great for track, but they're hard to find and/or expensive. Surplus ones are available for some cars (Hondas, Nissans), but durability of surplus items is questionable). The cheapest brand new LSD for my car is about 30,000 pesos. The best... Quaife, costs about 80,000. For that much money, you could have a full suspension set-up already. If you want to track your car, first thing you get is good tires (like Advan Neovas or Falken Azenis), then better brake pads (plus DOT4 fluid, to keep temps under control), then a better suspension. Once you've exhausted all of that, then you get the LSD. (Off-topic off)

Follow up thought lang sir: When i think about it this way, in going circles, since the distance of the inside radius is less than the outside radius, I would assume that the outer tires would have to spin more than the inner tires. but with an LSD, any axle spinning more than the other would be compensated. Meaning if the outside spun more, the inner tire would compensate so that it would spin almost as much as the outside tire. My thought would be that it would give an understeer under acceleration. (how stuff works LSD).

What about a stiffness of rear stabilizers? Rear toe angle? How would it help in steering? dami tanong... I plan on using the Toyo Proxes T1R. It's cheaper.

Oh, thanks for the input pala!

To topic! Id go for an AWD. It's an all around car. IMO, offers best handling on track as far as I've seen/watched. Never tried though.

[niky]

What happens in a turn is usually this:

You turn into the corner, the weight transfers to the outside tire.

If you get on the gas too early in a FWD (or even in a RWD car with an open differential), the inside wheel, which is unladen, spins faster than the outside wheel. The open differential sends the power to the unladen inside wheel.

This leads to excessive wheelspin... which leads to understeer... whether FWD or RWD.

With an LSD, once the inside tire starts spinning faster than the outside tire, the differential shifts torque to the outside tire. In a RWD car, this leads to lairy oversteer (fun oversteer, actually)... in a FWD car, this counters the natural power-understeer, allowing the car to turn in sharper.... up to a point... a completely locked differential should theoretically force the inside wheel to spin just as fast, which is why Howstuffworks says it should create understeer, but as long as the inside tire is unladen (i.e.: the car is cornering), this isn't a big factor... but yes, overly aggressive LSDs (so-called two-way LSDs) are known to cause understeer.

[empy]

stabilizers (i assume you mean things like sway bars and strut bars) are important on the track. i would do what niky suggests and invest in tires and the right braking first, though. why? because the performance-to-cost ratio for these mods on the track is the highest. sway bars to me are a close third. with those three mods, you can learn to drive faster and faster (the most important mod on the track after all, is the driver) on your track of choice before going on to the more expensive modifications.

imo, LSD's are a good choice for more advanced drivers that have already made substantial modifications to their rides. i would prioritize tires, braking and suspension over them.

[chr1smj_15]

i'll go with awd.

[Forester_STi]

Nothing beats "ONALL4RS" boosted all wheel drive is the way to go...
Track,Tarmac,Dirt & Snow

EVERY DAY IS A WINDING ROAD.........

[augustus]

Part time AWD, as I live in a winter state.

[blue1108]

ano ba advantage/dis-advantage ng fwd sa rwd and the other way around?

correct me if i'm wrong, diba mga racing car e rwd?kung yes and sagot ano naman epekto kung fwd sila?

FWD disadvantage is understeer during tight cornering at may torque steer if you accelarate too fast. Ang advantage naman eh maybe fuel economy?.

RWD disadvantage is oversteer during tight cornering dahil madudulas ang rear tires mo trying to get ahead of your front tires.

RWD is still the best format for racing. mas simple design and parts. front is only concerned with steering and rear tires for drive, they have separate jobs. results in better tire wear and overall weight distribution. usually a little heavier bcoz they have more parts. prone to oversteer dahil yng rear tires tend to slide sideways, lalo na if on power sa tight corners. dito nauso yng powersliding and drifting.

FWD are usually lighter, lahat ng major components nasa harap kaya medyo mas mahirap din ibalance. originally designed for economic cars and allow more space sa likod. mabilis magubos ng gulong and brakes dahil double duty ang front tires. the back of the car tend to be bouncy dahil konti lng bigat dun. FWD race cars usually have counter balance weights sa likod para makontra to. prone sa understeer FWD kse yng bigat nung nguso tend to overpower the grip of the front tires and continue pushing the car forward

head to head, mas mabilis sa arangkada FWD but loses sa long straights
RWD may not be as fast off the line but will usually reach higher top speeds.

ano ba advantage/dis-advantage ng fwd sa rwd and the other way around?

correct me if i'm wrong, diba mga racing car e rwd?kung yes and sagot ano naman epekto kung fwd sila?

One critical difference lies when cornering at high speed.

If you are cornering using a FWD car, and you let off the pedal, the front will regain grip so you will still continue on. The rear wheels just follow along.

If you are cornering using a RWD car, and you let off the pedal, the rear might lose traction and you could oversteer or worse, lose control.

We already have a thread about this, don't we?

FWD was designed for two things: Economy and safety. A FWD car is more economical because the drivetrain is lighter (no driveshaft travelling the length of the car). It's safer in slippery situations because a prod of the gas pedal will not send the car spinning (a danger on rear wheel drive vehicles). Also, since the weight of the engine is over the drive wheels, it has more traction than a traditional front-engine rear-wheel drive car.

RWD is technically better for racing, as, blue says, since they distribute the workload of the tires evenly. But this all depends on the design of the vehicle.

As for the other assertions... it all depends. All front-engined cars, whether front, rear or four-wheel drive tend to "push" or understeer on corner entry because the weight of the engine is over the front axle.

Some rear wheel drive cars get around this by being designed for a 50:50 or even 45:55 weight balance. With any rear wheel drive car with good grip and/or an LSD (preferably both), you can counter understeer in some corners with oversteer. But this is never the fastest way through a corner.

Some front wheel drive cars get around this by rear suspension design and the use of an LSD. The LSD reduces understeer under acceleration out of a corner, while a stiffer rear suspension helps the car rotate faster (in some cases, inducing oversteer).

And whether front or rear wheel drive, the car will snap sideways if you let off the throttle or hit the brakes mid-corner. How badly it will snap, or if it will snap at all, depends on specific design and weight distribution.

The advantage of front-wheel drive cars on track is that throttle-understeer can be used to counter snap-oversteer, and they're inherently more stable due to the front-heavy weight distribution, allowing you to push harder. The advantage of rear-wheel drive in these cornering situations is that throttle-oversteer gives you more options in tighter corners. And, over multiple laps, the aforementioned distribution of load makes for more even tire wear.

For beginner or intermediate drivers, front-wheel drive will often be as fast or faster. For experts, rear-drive usually wins.

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But in the end, the argument is moot, since it ignores the most important factor... engine placement. A front-engined rear-wheel drive car is no match for a mid-engined sportscar or supercar. A mid-engined car has optimum weight balance and a lower polar moment than a front-engined car (in other words, with the weight concentrated near the center of the car, it can spin faster). But again, the actual handling abilities of the vehicle depend a lot on specific design.

We already have a thread about this, don't we?

Indeed we do. Here's the link:

http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...light=AWD+cars

Please bear with me, this is my first action to merge.

[jazcker]

may natutunan na naman ako...
i've been wondering about this...

[grid]

RWD nothing beats the performance of a RWD cars + an experienced driver.
Sana yung mga compact SUVS sa atin(CR-V and the like) is RWD ang platform; utility vehicle sila eh, dapat they tend to push the load instead of pulling it.

[-=Henderson=-]

HTH, Top Gear tests the difference between FWD vs RWD vs AWD.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxG2M2PcM8c"]YouTube - Top Gear - FWD vs RWD vs AWD with Vicki[/ame]