I was reading an article not too long ago that says modern RWD cars are almost as safe in slippery conditions as FWD cars due to safety features like traction control, stability control, etc. Is this true?
YACT: Question about RWD
- Thread starter tontod
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I have a 01 Chevy Astro. Its the RWD version. Great car, has great abilty only WHEN the rear is balanced. Most of the weight is towards the fron of the car. If the back is empty (no seats) the car did a fish tail (rear went left, right, left, right) But once I put the seats back in I had no trouble. But I only used it in good weather. No snow, rain, ice etc... only on good days. But thats what I'd expect from GM.....Kraaap.
On the other hand my uncles 540i handles ANYTHING..... man I'd want one... with manual though
On the other hand my uncles 540i handles ANYTHING..... man I'd want one... with manual though
Zenmervolt
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- Oct 22, 2000
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Well, in the hands of your average Joe Shmoe everyday driver they are as good. But put a real driver behind the wheel and he will want all that fancy electronic crap disabled.
ZV
ZV
In most cases yes... however electronic wizardry can't overcome physics and massive stupidity. Paraphrasing Scott Adams, if we discovered a way to harness stupidity as an energy source... we wouldn't need to worry about energy problems.
Understeering FWDs "feel" safe... most manufacturers tune in understeer for their production cars. RWD oversteer tendencies feel much more dangerous and most drivers out there do not know the proper driving experience or instincts to recover from oversteer in a RWD car.
I drove a Z3 in light rain with ESP on and did stupid things in an open area with no cars... still managed to get the car dangerously loose... of course I know how to correct for it but others might just panic and spinspinspin. In fact, some reviewers mentioned that very occurence under testing. But then overconfidence in young drivers from FWD is just as dangerous... pushing right into the telephone pole on the corner.
Understeering FWDs "feel" safe... most manufacturers tune in understeer for their production cars. RWD oversteer tendencies feel much more dangerous and most drivers out there do not know the proper driving experience or instincts to recover from oversteer in a RWD car.
I drove a Z3 in light rain with ESP on and did stupid things in an open area with no cars... still managed to get the car dangerously loose... of course I know how to correct for it but others might just panic and spinspinspin. In fact, some reviewers mentioned that very occurence under testing. But then overconfidence in young drivers from FWD is just as dangerous... pushing right into the telephone pole on the corner.
Zenmervolt
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- Oct 22, 2000
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Reminds me of a guy a couple of years ago, it hardly snows here but twhen it does it it ususally with a combo of ice/freezing rain. I was home and heard the unmistakeable sound of a car stuck in the snow, I went outside and a guy in an almost new BMW 750 had managed to get his car stuck competely across the intersection of 2 neighborhood streets.By the time I got out there the poor guy was so damn frustrated, he just got out of his car and walked home (about 2 blocks) muttering something about POS BMWs.
And needless to say, about 3 minutes later, some guy comes flying down the street and sees the Bimmer parked across the intersection. Guy slams on his brakes, slides, goes over the curb nails a mailbox, comes back into the street and careens into the BMW.
Mrs. Sluggo and myself were just standing there like deer in the headlights watching it all happen. Guy inspects the damage to his car and the BMW, and asks who the dumbass is that left his car in the middle of the intersection. I point down the street and say its the guy you probably just passed that was walking and cussing.
Guy hops back in his car and takes off "thatta way" about 30 minutes later a cop car and the other car and a tow truck ( the Bimmer was now undriveable because the fender was crushed into the tire) all show up on the scene, and 2 really pissed off guys that the cop was almost having to restrain from getting into a fistfight. I tell the cop how it all went down and ask him who is going to get the ticket. The cop replies with a deadpan cop attitude, " if they dont both shut-up, they are going to jail and they can settle it there."
I never did learn the outcome after the tow truck left with the BMW.
WINTER TIRES WINTER TIRES AND WINTER TIRES!
You can have all the CPUs you want looking over your ass, but you NEED winter tires to keep those rear wheels planted in the snow. In the rain, well you don't need TCS or anything like that, just drive sensibly. My car is RWD with a near 50/50 weight distribution and it drives fine in teh rain as long as I drive carefully. No need to floor it or corner at high speeds (but then you wouldn't be doing that in a FWD car unless your an idiot or that guy who totalled his IS300 by putting tire polish ON THE TREAD, turned off TCS, and proceeded to drive recklessly in the rain)..
I use Nokian Hak1s in the snow and they are great. I drove thru a snow storm already, and while I was shitting bricks, I was fine. Just drove slow and carefully with lots of distance with the car in front of me.
You can have all the CPUs you want looking over your ass, but you NEED winter tires to keep those rear wheels planted in the snow. In the rain, well you don't need TCS or anything like that, just drive sensibly. My car is RWD with a near 50/50 weight distribution and it drives fine in teh rain as long as I drive carefully. No need to floor it or corner at high speeds (but then you wouldn't be doing that in a FWD car unless your an idiot or that guy who totalled his IS300 by putting tire polish ON THE TREAD, turned off TCS, and proceeded to drive recklessly in the rain)..
I use Nokian Hak1s in the snow and they are great. I drove thru a snow storm already, and while I was shitting bricks, I was fine. Just drove slow and carefully with lots of distance with the car in front of me.
dude...the other day when it had just rained quite a bit, after a LAN party at like 3 am, my friend decided to go drifting (I was in another friends car) around this corner....nobody was there at all, except me, friend in car I was in, and other friend. He went, turned hard, *screech* but when he was correcting, it was like left, right, left, right, left, right and really hard each time too.....oh, and I forgot to mention, IN A VW BUS! It was like wow, that's neato, but from my point of view of the correcting, it was like damn...that looks pretty damn uncontrollable...(RWD, of course, just made me think of it)
Wow... someone actually remembers me! LOL
Just to add some more input into the discussion... I recently drove the new E-class Benz... veryvery smart car... perfect for rich idiots. The systems are very fast and car feels very safe. I felt safer than any other car that I've driven... definitely more than any Acura sedan (can't think of any other FWD upscale luxury cars at the moment).
Snow tires are always better than all-seasons... no question. But then if your tires are wider than Cartman's butt (ie if you have a ZO6 with 315s) there isn't anything that's going to help you get grip in the snow.
- Oct 10, 1999
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Saturday night we got snow dumped on us (about 4-6 inches) and the roads were getting bad. Anyway as I was comming home, one intersection had a large drift of snow piled up blocking my lane. And what did I see? A black Precidia (sp?) stuck in the snow spinning his tires trying to go through the intersection. I am driving my 1987 Crown Vic and see this as I stopped about 6 feet behind him. I got fed up with this crap because the light was going to change and leave me stuck behind this bozo. Going no more than 5 km/h i easily went around him and through the snow/slush drift without any spinning and waved at him as I crossed the intersection.
Moral of the story: RWD is great in the snow.
Of course I know how to drive in the snow. That's the key. I went to vacant parking lots and learned how to control a car in the snow by putting it into spins and donuts and drifting without hitting any light standards. This will teach anyone how to drive in snow.
Moral of the story: RWD is great in the snow.
Of course I know how to drive in the snow. That's the key. I went to vacant parking lots and learned how to control a car in the snow by putting it into spins and donuts and drifting without hitting any light standards. This will teach anyone how to drive in snow.
Originally posted by: KGB
On the other hand my uncles 540i handles ANYTHING..... man I'd want one... with manual though
Go for the M-5. the only way it comes is manual.
www.bmwfilms.com (or something like that)
Not saying the article was inaccurate, just wasnt sure technology was enough to make a RWD as safe as a FWD in the snow/slippery conditions.
Rwd got a bad rap in the late 70's early 80's. The manufacturers were pushing front wheel drive very hard in order to gain acceptance from the public.
The car makers could build fwd cars cheaper, and they weighed less, too. They really were building them for cost reasons rather than safety concerns.
All cars sucked in the snow before all season radial tires came out. Bias ply tires could be very scary. My old toyota corolla (82 rwd) was great in the snow, never a problem. It's all about weight distribution, and quality tires.
The car makers could build fwd cars cheaper, and they weighed less, too. They really were building them for cost reasons rather than safety concerns.
All cars sucked in the snow before all season radial tires came out. Bias ply tires could be very scary. My old toyota corolla (82 rwd) was great in the snow, never a problem. It's all about weight distribution, and quality tires.
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