How does FWD affect handling?

[monkeybear]

Since the Versa is my first car and I had only a few hours driving experience from the week before I know very little about how different cars handle.

How dose the FWD of the Versa differ from a RWD? Dose it even matter at all?

Thanks

[Ever Victorious]

http://searchwarp.com/swa51377.htmhttp: ... de...1.htm

A couple articles on the topic, both worthwhile reads. The whiteline one is a little more technical.

FWD is generally better in inclement driving conditions (rain, snow, etc), as well as eliminating the need for a driveshaft tunnel, allowing more interior room. If you come into a turn too fast or with too much power, your car will understeer, causing the car to slide towards the outside of the turn.

RWD is generally better in optimal driving conditions (clear and dry, performance driving). RWD makes a car more balanced weight wise. If you come into a turn too fast or with too much power, your car will oversteer, or spin, with the back end passing the front end on the outside of the turn.

[NY.AD.MAN]

EV is dead on,

A big thing to remember is that rear wheel drive cars suffer from power loss (needs more power to get the same brake horsepower- power to the wheels), and that it tends to oversteer.

We have a front wheel drive because it keeps the car safer in EVERY type of weather and it makes it so that we can have a 1.8 and still get 30+ mpg without sacrificing horsepower. However, with the chassis as it is, the car probably handles better due to the short wheel span and the heavy back end. Would I prefer rear wheel, yeah, but front wheel just keeps the engine more efficient.

[Great White Versa]

I would much rather drive a RWD car, but that's just cause I like being able to spin the back tires around corners (especially in the snow - and only when there are no other cars, of course) But, I don't think that anyone could build a RWD car that drives as well as the V (and is as comfortable for all passengers) without it costing significantly more money.

[kc5f]

I've always owned FWD vehicles, mainly for the handling in snow and on curves. (I grew up in Chicago and went to school in Connecticut.) The Versa held up great in the snow last winter, although we don't get too much here and I'd just as soon we not get any this winter at all!

[nissantech06]

I've always owned FWD vehicles, mainly for the handling in snow and on curves. (I grew up in Chicago and went to school in Connecticut.) The Versa held up great in the snow last winter, although we don't get too much here and I'd just as soon we not get any this winter at all!

Same here, but I worked on mostly RWD cars for a while and got accustomed to driving them in the snow.

[WDRacing]

EV is dead on,

A big thing to remember is that rear wheel drive cars suffer from power loss (needs more power to get the same brake horsepower- power to the wheels), and that it tends to oversteer.

We have a front wheel drive because it keeps the car safer in EVERY type of weather and it makes it so that we can have a 1.8 and still get 30+ mpg without sacrificing horsepower. However, with the chassis as it is, the car probably handles better due to the short wheel span and the heavy back end. Would I prefer rear wheel, yeah, but front wheel just keeps the engine more efficient.

The difference in power loss is negligible at best. Since the power still gets transferred to a transmission and drive shafts the parasitic loss isn't that much worse with a RWD platform. FWD isn't what enables the Versa to get 30+ MPG. If that were the case, how can the Lincoln MK VIII with a RWD setup and a 4.6 liter V8 get 28 MPG? It's all about gearing and motor design, not motor placement.

One thing that comes to mind when considering a new driver in a FWD platform is what to do when you lose traction in the rain, snow or even after driving through a puddle. If the wheels break traction and begin to spin, the car is going to continue in a straight line, not the direction you have the wheel turned. If you aren't aware, you'll over correct by steering to far in the direction you want to travel. Be careful in this instance because when the front wheels do regain traction, the car will immediately go in the direction you have the wheel turned to. If it's to far, you may find yourself in on coming traffic. The best thing to do is simply let off of the throttle and if need be feather it to gain traction. By feathering I mean to modulate the gas pedal with your foot slowly until you are sure you have traction again. The best way to learn is lots of practice. I used to mess around in parking lots losing traction on purpose, but it turned out that it was better to experiment there, then driving down the road

Hope this helps...

WD

[Great White Versa]

The best way to learn is lots of practice. I used to mess around in parking lots losing traction on purpose, but it turned out that it was better to experiment there, then driving down the road

Exactly. My beemer was the first and only RWD car that I've owned so far. A few months after I first got it I spun out and almost went into a ditch. I am just glad that there weren't any other cars in the area.

Anyway, as soon as it started snowing, I would go out and 'practice' spinning and regaining control of the car. I spun my back end around so many corners and parking lots that later on when I did lose traction I didn't even have to think about what I needed to do to regain control of the car. I had done it on purpose so many times that my hands did what they needed to do before i even fully realized that I was slipping.

Besides the practical benefit, it was a TON of fun learning

[WDRacing]

Anyway, as soon as it started snowing, I would go out and 'practice' spinning and regaining control of the car.

Educational AND fun...lol.

[Great White Versa]

Educational AND fun...lol.

its true. It got even better when my little sis (15 still with her permit) came out to visit. I had been teaching her how to drive (stick) on my 01 prelude and wanted to show her the difference in how front/rear handles, so I had her drive in a nearby parking lot with a fresh coat of snow. haha, THAT was fun.

[kc5f]

Where I grew up near Chicago, our high school parking lot was where we'd practice snow driving every year, and front wheel drive was quite rare. It's almost boring, now, driving the Versa in snow!

[WDRacing]

I grew up just north of Boston and owned nothing but RWD platforms my whole life. I remember my first winter, I was driving a 79 Monte Carlo. That thing was a beast. I literally drifted every turn, total blast to drive. Worse case I'd eat a snow bank and have to back up. I had meaty snow tires all around and 4 cinder blocks in the trunk so I was rarely stuck. Now I have a 89 full size Blazer, so bad weather really isn't a concern

WD

[audtatious]

Not like you have to deal with snow in TX

[WDRacing]

North TX fruitcake...we have ice and snow right now

[lain]

I would really have no idea how to regain the control in my Versa if I were to lose it. I was so used to my old 240sx where I wouldn't care about losing control or sliding on the freeway because i know I can regain control the car. If I could I would turn the Versa into a RWD car I would...but that would cost too much money.

[WDRacing]

But you'd have a one of kind thats for sure...