Team-BHP - Front Wheel Drive v/s Rear Wheel Drive

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rtech

True. But a race track will ALWAYS have cambered corners.

Hmmm.....never knew that...need to confirm. I've been on many tracks where I felt no camber well as negative camber too. heard of the famous corkscrew at Laguna Seca. A good race circuit designer will try to make things more challenging for the racer.

I know a lot of the feeway exit/entry ramps are positive camber to help unsuspecting motorists. Job of a road designer is the make things less challenging for the layman.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancer_mania

so the mercs , beemers are they FWd or RWD ??

RWD

though in recent years Mercedes-Benz has AWD available on certain models in it's range and BMW has introduced an AWD option on it's 3-Series.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancer_mania

so the mercs , beemers are they FWd or RWD ??

Merc - RWD (AWD model's are called "4Matic" available in all classes - atleast here in US)
BMW - RWD (AWD model's have a "x" - example 325xi = AWD, & 325i = RWD)

Merc has one of the best AWD systems... its electronic traction system monitors each wheel for excess wheel spin and reduce excess torque (by applying brakes on that particular wheel). A merc will run even if only one wheel has traction :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2fast4u

can ABS control drifting in a car, if yes to what extent.

ABS is mainly designed to give directional stability and more control over steering during an emergency braking situvation... it simply keeps your base brakes from locking up. In this sence it will prevent your car from drifting (as you have more control)... the extent would depend on individual driver and his/her driving skills.

In car's without ABS you can manually pump the brakes to prevent wheel lockup (almost the same results as ABS if you do it right)

Also all anti-lock breaking systems are not the same... most cars have ABS for all 4 wheels but some have Rearwheel ABS... RW ABS will keep your vehicle from spinning out of control, but you will not have steering control if the front wheels lock up

I Hope this helps...

what is the advantage of FWD & RWD? seems in india we virtually have almost all as FWD whereas most of the foreign carmakers make RWD or AWD cars.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Staff : Threads Merged. Continue Discussion here. Thank you, kpzen

Well, from my limited point of view, heres the deal:

Rear wheel drive gives better traction, better handling, and was the naturally preffered method in the early years of the motor car. The problem is the presence of a driveshaft, which hinders rear seat space.

Front wheel drive offers better packaging (there is no need for a driveshaft to run all the way to the rear wheels). So it liberates more space in the rear seats of cars.

However, in front wheel drive cars, there is heavy pressure on the front tyres, which have to do the steering, the accelrating, and a majority of the braking, which leads to poorer handling, extra tire wear on the front wheels.

And one more thing:

To my knowledge, the worlds first front wheel drive car was the Citroen Traction Avant (1932?). Can someone please correct me if I am wrong?

I do know that the worlds first 4wd car was the Spyker 16hp though.

islero got most of it covered exept the traction. it depends on the situation. if you are doing performance driving then as islero said the rwd will be better off because in fwd the front wheels have to do both the steering and pulling the car forward but in snowy or slipery situations fwd comes out on top because most of the weight is on the front wheels hence better traction.

even i read somewhere that the citroen traction avant is the first fwd car.

Anyways i'l add another thing...RWD will oversteer in most cases while FWD will understeer. RWD is therefore preffered by most enthusiasts. Handling wise its almost always better to have a RWD.

A FWD is cheaper to manufacture and easier to build...thats the main reason why most cars in India are FWDs.
Its about time we had a decent RWD sedan which people can afford.

Drifter

Quote:

Originally Posted by drifter

Its about time we had a decent RWD sedan which people can afford.

Then there will be many idiots who will be spinning all over the place.