why were front wheel drives put into production?
- Thread starter Robin2
- 72 comments
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- 10,081
- WFG9
ff is considered safer because a majority of motorists are more capable of controlling understeer and ffs behavior in snow than they are of throttle manipulating rw cars. easier to correct and harder to brake traction. they are also limited in the power they can handle, so overwhelming the tires seems less likely. understeer is better for most drivers than oversteer. last, if ff cars are less likely to spin, while a sudden stops do make them a danger, they would hopefully be in a more confined area than would a spinning rw car which not all can correct.
well, vat and hooligan, am i right?
well, vat and hooligan, am i right?
- 10,081
- WFG9
you can also blame it on the fun police.
'evening!
Talentless nailed part A on the handling - it's much easier for Joe Punter to handle understeer than oversteer.
Front drive has two advantages for manufacturers - it is cheaper to manufacture - I forget the detail, but remember rear suspension is much simpler as it doesn't have to cope with the actions of a wheel under drive load. I think they're also simpler to set up.
The major advantage, though, is packaging - it's much easier to package a large interior in a small car for a front drive car, mainly due to the transverse mounted engine (why Audi would then go and mount the engine longtitudely in a front drive car is beyond me, especially with five cylinders.
You have an engine that doesn't go as far back into the car, likewise with the gearbox, plus you don't have to mount a drive shaft up the middle of the floorpan and find room for a diff.
Talentless nailed part A on the handling - it's much easier for Joe Punter to handle understeer than oversteer.
Front drive has two advantages for manufacturers - it is cheaper to manufacture - I forget the detail, but remember rear suspension is much simpler as it doesn't have to cope with the actions of a wheel under drive load. I think they're also simpler to set up.
The major advantage, though, is packaging - it's much easier to package a large interior in a small car for a front drive car, mainly due to the transverse mounted engine (why Audi would then go and mount the engine longtitudely in a front drive car is beyond me, especially with five cylinders.
You have an engine that doesn't go as far back into the car, likewise with the gearbox, plus you don't have to mount a drive shaft up the middle of the floorpan and find room for a diff.
GilesGuthrie
Staff Emeritus
- 11,038
- Edinburgh, UK
- CMDRTheDarkLord
Hmmm. Almost there Vat!
The principal safety advantage of a front-driver comes from instinct. The human instinct when losing control of a car is to stop doing whatever it was that caused the slide. Therefore, when accelerating too hard and sliding, the instinct is to release the throttle. This will cause a front-driver to stop sliding, whereas a rear-driver may continue the slide if the lift is too severe. Similarly under braking, where an FF car is much more likely to experience lift-off oversteer than an FR car, the reaction to stop braking will save the car.
The floorpan issue isn't really all that significant, since a lot of FF cars still have centre-floor 'humps', where things such as the exhaust run.
No, the real thing with the packaging is that in an FF car you can pre-build all of the drivetrain, and then simply bolt it complete into the chassis. This is much faster and much cheaper for the manufacturers.
Audi put their engines in longitudinally because they're build for the quattro option, which requires the engine to be longitudinal. Expect this tendency to decline as they perfect the Haldex clutch, which allows for a four-wheel drive setup from a transverse engine. Currently all the quattros based on the Golf chassis are using this Haldex setup.
The principal safety advantage of a front-driver comes from instinct. The human instinct when losing control of a car is to stop doing whatever it was that caused the slide. Therefore, when accelerating too hard and sliding, the instinct is to release the throttle. This will cause a front-driver to stop sliding, whereas a rear-driver may continue the slide if the lift is too severe. Similarly under braking, where an FF car is much more likely to experience lift-off oversteer than an FR car, the reaction to stop braking will save the car.
The floorpan issue isn't really all that significant, since a lot of FF cars still have centre-floor 'humps', where things such as the exhaust run.
No, the real thing with the packaging is that in an FF car you can pre-build all of the drivetrain, and then simply bolt it complete into the chassis. This is much faster and much cheaper for the manufacturers.
Audi put their engines in longitudinally because they're build for the quattro option, which requires the engine to be longitudinal. Expect this tendency to decline as they perfect the Haldex clutch, which allows for a four-wheel drive setup from a transverse engine. Currently all the quattros based on the Golf chassis are using this Haldex setup.
- 24,344
- Midlantic Area
- GTP_Duke
Having owned and driven numerous cars of both platforms, I find this statement to be bordering on the idiotic.
I don't understand the deep hatred, fear, and distrust some people have for the FWD platform. Can you explain it?
Sure, for absolute performance machines, RWD or AWD is better. But that doesn't mean that FWD sucks, by any stretch. FWD cars are more stable and are far easier to drive under adverse conditions. It is also true, as stated above, the FWD cars are more forgiving because the average driver's knee-jerk response - to brake or lift throttle - will restore control as the car slows. With a RWD car, which oversteers by tendency, this reaction will further destabilize the car. And once an oversteer skid is started, it must be carefully corrected or the car will spin. This is not the case with an understeering FWD car.
No matter how good a driver you may think you are, not everybody on the road is Bob Bondurant. If I had a dollar for every idiot who bought a high-performance RWD car and totalled it because he didn't know how to drive at the limits (or even what limits are), I could buy myself a high-performance RWD car.
In fact, my FWD Neon ACR (1995) outhandles my RWD Supra (1984) by a big margin. It's much crisper in handling and thanks to a little suspension tweaking, I can get trail-braking or lift-throttle oversteer any time I want. In addition, the car handles twisty road driving much better than the Supra ever did, since pavement irregularities and odd cambers in the road would make the Supra's rear skitter all over.
Agreed, FWD is not the ideal choice for a race car or performance machine. But it is not inherently evil.
- 10,081
- WFG9
neon, take an fto out on r11; gt2 if you have it. that or the prelude.
- 9,209
- DerAlta
I'd like to throw my two cents in here and note that winter driving is a great example. And FF car with average Joe driving, will be a safer vehicle than an FR vehicle with Average Joe driving.
A Mantra that my parents always stated was "It's not your driving that I worry about, it's the other guy"
Case in point. My sister in law. She's been driving for 3 years. All FF cars. She trades in her Camry for a Boss Mustang. 2 weeks later, she tries to take a left turn as soon as the light turned green. She had no knowledge of the vehicle behavior, nor a conception of the power associated.
She'd owe Neon_Duke a few bucks. Spun it hard enough to slam it into the far guard rail, and total it.
In regards to Average Joe, FF cars are safer, more stable, and easier for the manufacturer to turn out.
AO
A Mantra that my parents always stated was "It's not your driving that I worry about, it's the other guy"
Case in point. My sister in law. She's been driving for 3 years. All FF cars. She trades in her Camry for a Boss Mustang. 2 weeks later, she tries to take a left turn as soon as the light turned green. She had no knowledge of the vehicle behavior, nor a conception of the power associated.
She'd owe Neon_Duke a few bucks. Spun it hard enough to slam it into the far guard rail, and total it.
In regards to Average Joe, FF cars are safer, more stable, and easier for the manufacturer to turn out.
AO
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