Essencay....since the pinnacle of motor-racing design is still Formula One...it'd be logical to go with their format....rear drive....mid engine...and provided one's reflexes are up to the task of handling an engine firing at 320 revs per second, with associated torque and power bands...than that's the way to go...

I wonder why an auto maker would choose rear wheel drive cars over front? Chrysler used to love front wheel drive but now seems to be going to rear wheel. Is it only because with rear wheel drive you can 'make a donut'?

I have heard that front wheel drive is better in the snow, but I have always seen cars with front wheel drive with no grip spinning.. although I have seen more rear wheel drive cars stuck in the snow.

What about traveling on the highway? Or in traffic?

Ad doesn't all wheel drive eat up more gas?

AWD? Isn't that just another name for 4-WD?

NO they are different. with AWD all wheels drive and you can NOT unlock the front hubs to turn it off or shift out of it.

With 4 WD you can shift into 2 WD.

AWD and 4WD are just two alternate names for the same concept....though to differentiate switchable from permanent....the latter was also called 'constant four wheel drive'. There is no point in confusing the issue with semantics....the question was to differentiate between front, back, or both....

i live in montana . snow is a way of life in the winter ... i have come to respect the fwd vehicle.most of the newer cars the steering issues of old have been very much eliminated .. yes trying to hold 500 hp in fwd cars at full throttle around corners can be a scary for the faint at heart, dont let the need for a little better driving skill deter you.

i have found more advantages for fwd in inclement weather than rwd cars .. fwd the motor is setting directly above the axle and giving the tires plenty of downward pressure ,adding to icy / wet traction .. where rwd cars the torqe is at the rear of the vehicle where theres significantly less weight for traction...(i have many times drove right past rwd cars spinning tires at a stoplight on ice while my fwd car goes like a champ)...

also another advantage of fwd in snow/ice is a vehicles front brakes do most of the actual brakeing , a rwd automatic transmission car if the rear brakes are not fully adjusted will push most cars even tho the front brakes are locked up on ice. (the rear wheels want to push while the front ones slide thus the car in essence the car will push its self out in to traffic or the guy in front of you) the advantage of fwd is when u apply the brakes the drive axle is being stoped so theres no forward pressure being applied once the front wheels have stoped rolling...

in a lost/looseing control situation on ice or snow for either fwd or rwd cars ,take it out of gear/or put in neutral and brake gently after the vehicle regains traction,once you have regained controll then you may put back in gear /drive, (takeing the car out of gear /drive removes the forward thrust and gives better chance to regain traction)....thrust= the actual push from the drive wheels, im not refering to momentum.


also my lil front wheel drive since it has better grab(more weight on the drive axle than rwd cars), it has better acceleration off the line .. they still spining tires while im half way down the block...


just a few things to add to the aray of good advice given in the above posts ...

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I do however choose manual over automatic transmission

I used to be like you AP-67, and then I moved to El Paso, Texas. When I went to buy a new car I wanted a standard tranny (I love those things). However, the salesman tried his best to convince me to buy an automatic (the lot was full of them). He told me that it's better for when you have to cross over into mexico, and I said, and I quote: "Mexico? I've lived here for 3 years and been to Juarez maybe 5 or 6 times. Nah, standard'll be ok." Two years later, I was going a over to Mexico 2 or 3 times a week to see my girlfriend (who is now my wife). When you come back you're stuck in a line where you constantly have to push the clutch in and let the clutch out. I sometime get cramps in my foot. Oh, and this can go on for up to 2 HOURS!

Moral of the story? When a salesman trys to tell you to take the automatic, take the automatic!

Oh yeah, I like rear wheel drive out here, but if I was back in Oklahoma front wheel drive would be the choice for better traction abilities.

#30 by HG_Eliminator - 4/17/2004 12:05:27 PM

I agree with HG. I like my FWD. I have had both FWD and RWD vehicles over the years, and I think that the FWD handles better in inclement conditions. I have had several 4-WD company vehicles, and they handle well too.

My only issue with 4-WD is that a lot of the owners think that they are invincible. When the snow turns bad, I see more SUV's upside down in the median than anything else. 4-WD gets better traction, but it doesn't stop any better. When someone in a 4-WD passes you like your standing still in a blizzard, you can usually find them in the ditch a few miles down the road.

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For me, I have noticed that AWD is nice but when you don't need it why not be able to shift to 2WD?

Some AWD are different such that they are mainly on the front wheels (or back... can't remember) and then go to the wheels that are needed WHEN needed. Others shift between using more power from wheel to wheel whenever necessary or maybe in some type of 60/40 back/front normal state to a 'when needed' state later on.

Right????


I think its also about gas usage as well. I love 4WD and the ability to switch to 2WD and I wish it was available in a car and not in just SUV's. AWD is fine but doesn't it eat up more gas?

Phil - you're making this much harder then it is....just go get what you want and enjoy it for what short time you'll have it..........

....somebody in Brooklyn will steal it as soon as you get out of it ....






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#34

Get a Rotty or a Pit instead of a car alarm....them would be car thieves will be less likely to take it if they know they're about to become a chewtoy

....oh yeah skip the leather or crushed corinthian velour if you do...

I'll get a Viper car alarm.


It will be years before I get a car. I am not getting one now. I just wanted to understand the whole 'wheel drive' thing.

I really REALLY like the Infiniti FX35... but I am sure if I actually get something it will be a clunker.

And no I won't be in Brooklyn when I get it. I was thinking about moving upstate or out of state like New Mexico or maybe Washington.