What's all this about Rear Wheel Drive making a comeback?

[btimbit]

RWD is better in every way.

/thread.

[ZedMan]

A little bit of RWD vs FWD myth busting

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by Dion

If you drive for the conditions AS works well for Alberta winters. We don't get a lot of snow and a large majority of the winter is being driven on dry pavement.

Now if I lived in a snowbelt, i'd probably fork out the money for snow tires and rims. Right now my m/s tires on my Ford Escape work fine.

All season tires vs winter tires is to do with temperature as much as it has to do with snow and ice.


Edit : and personally I like rwd for 3 seasons and awd or 4wd for winter.

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[Acey]

Originally Posted by annasuave

I'm hearing some buzz lately about RWD making a comeback.

Based on what... vehicle sales? What manufacturers are offering for the Canadian market? I can't think of anything else that would classify as a comeback. If these 2 parameters are the metric, the answer would be no. The only thing really gaining in sales is AWD.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

All season tires vs winter tires is to do with temperature as much as it has to do with snow and ice.


Edit : and personally I like rwd for 3 seasons and awd or 4wd for winter.

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I know what my vehicle can and cannot do during the winter and I drive accordingly. Besides I was driving long before winter tires were invented.

[Chill Cosby]

Originally Posted by Dion

I know what my vehicle can and cannot do during the winter and I drive accordingly. Besides I was driving long before winter tires were invented.

You've been driving since the 1920's?
You should probably stop.

[TorqueDog]

I prefer RWD. I can correct understeer with a touch of the throttle, it's more fun in dry all conditions, and it's better for acceleration than FWD.

Over the past seven years, my daily drivers have been 400+ horsepower rear-wheel-drive torque-monster sedans with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S+ tires. I recall that one really strange day in 2009 when the roads iced over and cars were sliding backwards down Edmonton Trail near Bridgeland. I was going up Centre Street bridge with a little FWD compact beside me unable to get any traction, and there I was with my 3,900 lb RWD car just creeping along like it was any other day in rush hour.

This is the first year I'm running dedicated summer and winter tires on my car, and I only bothered because I got a great deal on them.

But I can actually drive properly, so your mileage may vary. [shrug]

[Dion]

nm

[bossy22]

I grew up in Northern Alberta driving RWD. Nobody owned 4WD back then. All of the dads had 1/2 tons. We just put on winter tires on and put weight in the box. Same with the cars. Everyone had big RWD cars. Just put the winter tires on and it was never an issue. Calgary roads are a 1000 times better than the gravel highways we drove. We just drove for the conditions.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Dion

I know what my vehicle can and cannot do during the winter and I drive accordingly. Besides I was driving long before winter tires were invented.

Have you ever owned a vehicle with winter tires?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

All AWD systems, have a bias, whether it's Front or Rear.

Not true, there are several variants that are 50/50.

Depending on the AWD system, the bias doesn't really matter for anything but performance driving.

In limited traction, for example, a rear biased Torsen system will have already transferred torque front to back to achieved balanced traction on both axles before the care ever actually slips. So as a driver in poor conditions, you are in the same boat whether you are in a front or rear biased Torsen setup.

Generation IV Haldex systems also have the ability to transfer power before slip, so even though they usually operate with near total front bias, you'd never feel that in slippery conditions.

[annasuave]

I was reading an article in Consumer Reports - it noted that a couple of cars I would consider owning now come in RWD models (VW, MiniCooper). And I thought to myself, "why the heck would I even want that?"

As has been demonstrated previously, all of us here on CP earn over $100K a year, and we're all exceptionally good drivers with cat-like reflexes to boot. So I'm sure it doesn't even matter to most of us.

I learned to drive in a crummy little beat up 1970's-era Toyota Corolla 4 speed. It had RWD, all seasons, no antilock brakes, and no shoulder belts. Heck, it didn't even had a radio. My dad insisted that snow-tires were for sissies, 3-point seatbelts would only increase your odds of being hurt in an accident, that snow-tires were a money-grabbing scheme, and that antilock braking systems were for those who didn't have the wit to pump the brakes. He also instilled in me the importance of knowing how to drive standard - because automatic transmissions were for sub-humans who couldn't be bothered to learn to "drive" and that they were woefully inefficient to boot.

Fast forward a few decades, and I can add most of that to "Dumb Sh*t My Dad Said". Antilock brakes, seatbelts, snowtires, traction control and airbags all contribute greatly to the safety of a vehicle.

I came to the realization that the engineers at VW surpassed my personal ability to make good shifting decisions a long time ago. Maybe, just maybe, they know a heck of a lot more about power differentials and traction than I do, too.

And, much as it pains me to say it... I'm an average driver. I have average skills and average reflexes. I'm not a professional driver, I haven't taken any specialized collision avoidance training, and I don't do a lot of driving in truly poor conditions. (Man oh man! I hope saying that doesn't get me banned from CP!!)

For me, I think I'll stick with Front-Wheel-Drive. If only for the reason that's what I have the most experience and comfort with. I feel like I'm better able to adapt and adjust to understeering, and when a dangerous situation crops up - knowing what to do, when to do it, and how your vehicle is going to respond has to count at least as much as the technology built into your car.

That is, until the day someone brings a good and cheap differential to market that brings me exactly the power I need, to the tires I need it at, exactly when I need it, and I don't have to pay extra to get it. And I want a radio, too.

[Erick Estrada]

RWD isn't making a comeback but it's also not going anywhere. It will always be the proper setup for a sports car. I've owned every configuration of car and nothing feels as pure and fun as RWD with a capable chassis. In this day and age with traction control and rubber compounds you can get around pretty well even in a Calgary winter. A few years back I drove a Mustang GT w/Brembo Package (winter tires of course) for an entire winter and only needed to be pushed once when I stopped on an icy side road. That said I wouldn't recommend that for the average driver or taking into the mountains in winter storms as it's not going to be as stable as an AWD or FWD car with inherent understeer.