Understeer is for pussy faggots

[thorne]

I love drving my RWD in the snow. As long as you have good snow tires! RWD FTW!

It still is not as good as AWD. WE had a G35 with Blizzaks on it and it sucked compred to the G35X with regular tires

[El Karacho1647545492]

I just like fucking driving a car. I don't care what drive train it is.

 

Lets just all get it over it and make out.

sounds like an FWD excuse to me

[87GT]

sounds like an FWD excuse to me

 

 

I don't remember asking for your opinion on my previous post.

[spoolin_s14]

i say rwd for the win

fwd sucks in the winter i think because of the drive wheels also steer so if those start to slip then you're sol where as rwd you can usually power out

[Guest TriangleMan]

where as rwd you can usually power out

 

If you have any power lol.

[TTQ B4U]

StabiliTrak & all speed traction control FTW

 

http://www.pbase.com/pdqgp/image/74090803.jpg

 

i say rwd for the win

fwd sucks in the winter i think because of the drive wheels also steer so if those start to slip then you're sol

[Draco-REX]

i say rwd for the win

fwd sucks in the winter i think because of the drive wheels also steer so if those start to slip then you're sol where as rwd you can usually power out

 

FWD has its good points in the winter. WIth most FWD cars, you've got 60% of the car's weight over the drive wheels. This helps grip. Also, remember that the majority of drivers out there don't know how to drive, let along control a car's rotation. So the understeer from FWD is preferable because the car will move in a predictable manner (for them.)

 

The problem all boils down to Static Friction. The tires of your car have only a finite amount of grip. This grip is used to hold your car on the road in a turn, to accelerate it, and to slow it down. That's why you can't put down as much power in the middle of a turn as you can on a straightaway.

 

In a FWD car, the front tires not only have to slow and steer the car as with other cars, but also accellerate it. The have a lot of work to do so the static grip can be used up very quickly. One problem that limits the amount of grip available is that there is *always* either driveline drag or torque for accelleration being applied to the tires (This problem is even worse in an auto where there is no clutch to disengage the driveline from the engine.)

 

But that's not the only issue with FWD. The other problem is with the rear tires. Unless braking, the rears always have the maximum amount of grip available to them. At first glance, this sounds like a good thing. But in the snow, the problems with this become evident. First, this means that the front will break loose WAY before the rears, resulting in severe understeer. But it also means that in the occaision where the rears break loose first, you have already exceeded the maximum grip of the tires. Once the back end goes, it's gone; you cannot recover any grip.

 

RWD in the snow is trickier to drive, but allows for much more control as compared to FWD. The front tires are not burdeend by driveline drag or torque from the engine, allowing them to concentrate on steering the car. With the rear wheels being driven, the use of static grip across all four tires is more even than in a FWD car. Additionally, the driver now has MUCH greater control on the amount of grip the rear end has. With the front wheels to steer, and a variable amount of grip in the rear, the driver can control the rotation of the car.

 

In the event of Oversteer, where the rear wheels lose traction before the fronts, the driver can let off on the gas, or push in the clutch (on a manual) to reclaim the static grip used by the engine's torque. This can often be enough to stop the rotation of the car. In the event of understeer, the grip of the rear wheels can reduced by applying power, therefore inducing rotation and changing the balance of grip to let the fronts regain control.

 

In low traction conditions it all boils down to proper management of your tires' grip. RWD offers the experienced driver greater control in this manner.

 

I haven't talked about AWD as I have no personal experience with the drivetrain so I don't want to comment on it. But my next car will be AWD because I want to experience it.

[copperhead]

StabiliTrak & all speed traction control FTW

 

Using electronics to make up for a lack of driving skill FTL. My WRX is the first vehicle I've owned in my life with ABS or a driveline setup that's not RWD, and I hate it. And I've managed to never wreck in the snow, although I have come close a few times. Having a fullsize truck completely sideways on 161 on the bridge over 270 in Westerville in that narrow ass lane was kinda scary, but I managed to recover it.

[copperhead]

FWD has its good points in the winter. WIth most FWD cars, you've got 60% of the car's weight over the drive wheels. This helps grip.

 

A FWD can't climb a hill in the snow like a RWD can, due to weight transfer. I got up hills in my 2WD Tacoma that nobody could get up in any FWD car. It was fun being the only person in my family that was able to get up the driveway in the winter.

[TTQ B4U]

FTL when it comes to one's own ego perhaps, but let's face it, no one on this board is perfect or a pro driver and we don't live on a closed track, so my BS flag goes up when folks claim to be the best in adverse situations and get out of anything without the need for safety systems or when they say that can AWD power themselves out of a spin on public roads. My ego is in check and I could care less if folks diss the electronic systems that abound. They can always be turned off at the track, but if you don't have them, you can't benefit from them in the real world.

 

Often times it's not the car or the driver, but the poor conditions of the roads and the actions of other drivers that cause accidents. So while we may all think the great driving skills we believe to have mastered in any drive train platform may save us, they aren't going to do anything for you once the chain reaction of events that happen in an instance begin. Surprises do happen.

 

If you have a chance, I'd suggest you try out a Stabilitrak equipped vehicle regardless of platform. It's an excellent electronically controlled means of braking that can't be duplicated by a driver. Each wheel is independent and it works in tandum with the all speed traction control.

 

AWD is nice, but it's not going to do as much in helping you control a slide or spin once you loose control. It's great for rally racing and some instances of greater control around town in heavy snow, but it's very unlikely in the event of an emergency maneuver on I-270 you're going to "power" your way out of a spin among 200 other cars during rush hour.

 

However it is nice to know that a safety system on a vehicle monitors your steering wheel and angle the car is facing and moving and uses the brakes to control each wheel separately and moderate engine power to keep the car pointed where you direct it and slow it down to a stop without so much as a flinch and minimal if any wheel slip. IMO, most accidents in poor weather happen during lane changes and during breaking.

 

Even under severe acceleration around a curve, I've kept her perfectly in line with simply a wider arc due to the force of momentum. Pushed to the extremes of course I could just slide laterally off the road, but that would take a lot. I practiced all winter for the past two winters on Fiesta drive / Nicholas drive off 161...that nice sharp 90 degree turn. It's very difficult and near impossible to under or over steer the damn thing. Simply amazing....and I've yet to even clip a curb. It's not impossible mind you, but in a real world situation where there's a fast lane change or a turn to one side, you can't beat it.

 

Using electronics to make up for a lack of driving skill FTL.

[Guest TriangleMan]

A FWD can't climb a hill in the snow like a RWD can, due to weight transfer. I got up hills in my 2WD Tacoma that nobody could get up in any FWD car. It was fun being the only person in my family that was able to get up the driveway in the winter.

 

This is what I think of FWD:

 

http://www.informationblast.com/images/4_49_Triangle-pink.png

[TTQ B4U]

couldn't they just back in?

 

It was fun being the only person in my family that was able to get up the driveway in the winter.

[copperhead]

couldn't they just back in?

 

My mom's house is located on the side of a giant hill. Her driveway branches off the neighbors driveway, making a 90 degree turn and going vertical. You have to have momentum to even have a chance of making it up in the snow, but it's hard to carry any speed through the turn without going into the bank on the side of the driveway. I was always able to get enough speed before the turn that once I got onto the steep part, the back end was slid around to the other side, and I would climb up the whole way at a 45 degree angle, with the pedal to the floor. That meant I got to take over the garage, while my mom had to park at the neighbors.

 

As for driving the WRX in the snow - it NEVER went where I wanted it to. Whenever I tried to make a turn it would plow. When I went to tap the brakes to get the ass to slide around, the ABS would kick in, and I definitely wasn't making the turn then. I spun that thing in a situation where my tacoma would have done some nice dorifto action, and I would have easily been able to recover it.