On 1/7/11 10:16 AM, JustWaitAFrekinMinute! wrote:
On Jan 7, 9:27 am, wrote:
On 1/7/11 9:14 AM, I am Tosk wrote:

And anybody who has raced knows if you are going off the road, hit the
gas and get that back end between you and the guardrail. I did this
without even thinking about it a few years back when I hit the ice in my
Wrangler... I slid long enough to know I wasn't catching it, so as I
came around I stayed in the throttle t

There are advantages of front wheel drive which include

Lower cost - you have reduced the cost of the driveshaft and additional
hardware. The has an advantage of providing better fuel economy due to
weight reduction.

Cabin Space You have increased the space inside of the car, by removing
the drivetrain


Back to this one... Show me the Money!!! ??? When was the last time
you saw a front wheel drive that had more room? The Spyder is FWD but
with the bucket seats and huge console glove box, it has less room
than my old CJ... The last FWD car I saw that actually gained room
was my buddies old Ford Torino and that was in the 70's iirc...

Traction - with the weight of the engine over the drive wheels you can
have better traction in slippery conditions

That being said, there are many automotive enthusiasts and engineers
who agree with you that front wheel drive sucks. Auto design like boat
design is a series of compromises.


If you took any of the cars you are talking about and compared the leg
room and actually cabin space using front wheel drive vs rear wheel
drive, all of the cars would have more cabin / leg room space with front
wheel drive.

If I was to guess, I would say cost savings and increase mileage (no
matter how little) were the driving force to convert the majority of
cars to front wheel drive. Traction and cabin space were just added
benefits.

One item that was not included in the "Google" list of the rear wheel
drive advantages is dependability. According to many fleet owners (ie
Cab Companies, Police Depts etc.) rear wheel drive is more dependable
and less expensive to repair than front wheel drive autos. This
advantage is becoming less as front wheel dependability is improving.