Front Wheel Drive VS Rear Wheel Drive VS All Wheel Drive

Gear Car

In the car world there are lots of choices as to the best handling cars, but what drive layout makes for the best handling car. While lots of other factors like the type steeringpower racks and power steering pumps used can make all the difference, for the sake of this we will stick to chassis.

Front wheel drive offers a stability that is unmatched for a light car and will create stable handing under most conditions. Front wheel drive will also allow for a lot of grip since the motor is located over the drive tires and creating high traction levels and quick maneuverability at lower speeds. On the cons side for FWD the fact that the front wheel s have to do everything from steering to delivering the power and handling most of the braking too. Front wheel drive is a great way to make a light car handle very well on a quick tight course and it is great for average driving.

Rear wheel drive is just the opposite of FWD it pushes all the power to the rear wheels which means the front tires are free to steer. RWD means that the power is in the rear and this can make the car handle better at higher speed but can also cause twitchy movement. RWD cars are more prone to spin over FWD due to the nature of the set up. Rear drive cars is a great option for higher speed track cars and performance street cars due to its ability to quickly handle direction changes and weight shifts.

All wheel drive would seem to be the choice for any performance enthusiast, with the power at all the wheels you get the best of both worlds. Well this may not be true, with added traction comes added weight. More weight means acceleration and more difficult handling. No matter how good the tires are one thousand extra lbs of weight is a lot to handle. AWD had some great benefits too, increased traction off the line and control on all surfaces. AWD also offers a control in the corners that cannot be matched…as Lamborghini has shown us time and time again. Mitsubishi has also proved the quality of AWD with a 4 door car that can keep up with a Murcielago around the track.

The choice of which drive train is best is one that has been going on for years and will continue well into the reign of the electric car. As the new technologies push the world to smarter cleaner cars the auto performance enthusiasts will not die out but just change. With this change many elements will shift but the drive line argument will keep raging on.