[shankar.balan]

I think it would be incorrect to make a general assumption that the below statement is correct and true in all respects. My reasons for this statement can be found in my earlier post.

Originally Posted by DicKy

Agreed that in FWD one can change the direction of the wheels when powering out of a stuck situation,but it stops there.
....... as @alexpaul has said in slushy/sandy/mussy trails FWD would work better.

[Guna]

If you bring 'incline' in to the equation, I think RWD has clear advantage.
I had an experience of driving Fusion on a dusty 'incline' road and in the middle of the climb the front wheels started spinning. If it was a RWD, the additional load would not have let the drive wheels to spin so easily. But this probably applies to dusty/loose surface and not slippery conditions.

[dhanushs]

The main factor in getting out of slush is weight ON the wheels. More weight = More upwards reaction = More Grip.

As for RWD being better, have you ever tried driving an unloaded OMNI over slush?. I wouldn't even move an inch. The FWD, front engined 800 performs much better. Reason - The OMNI's rear has 'little' weight with no engine, transmission et al..

As for going over a slope, if you look at it, the weight bias is towards the rear and hence the rear wheel has more upward reaction than front wheels and hence more grip. Well, if the FWD loses grip in those circumstances, he could just go up, in reverse. , thereby sending more weight(Read: Grip) to the drive wheels.

Well, FWD has one more benefit, and that is steerability of drive wheels. If you are going through slush, one technique, only for FWD's, is do not keep the steering dead straight. Instead, go on nudging it left - right - left. This is because, it slightly improves the contact patch of the drive wheels and hence more grip.

Also, if you are 'stuck' and cant move, keeping the drive wheels dead straight wouldn't help, and steering it would give more grip, or atleast some new 'land' to spin for the tyres. Hence, slightly improving the probability of gaining grip.

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

The main factor in getting out of slush is weight ON the wheels...

Totally agree with FWD to be favorable as the weight bias & steering inputs providing more traction. Also with a RWD, fishtailing may come into picture.

[shankar.balan]

frankly at this time I would solicit the views of some of our highly accomplished off roaders on this aspect.
Arka, 4x4addict and others please step in and help resolve this interesting question.
cheers

[fine69]

Aren't we comparing apples to oranges here? Cars compared here have different weight/engine/power, even different tyres. May be I've had a good experience getting an RWD out of slush and my FWD got stuck in a similar terrain, does that mean RWD is better? And vice versa.

I agree I'm too lazy to dig this out by myself but would really appreciate if someone could share any comparative tests being done to prove things like these.

EDIT: As per

this video

RWD makes more sense but may be only till the time Audi doesn't come up with a similar video.