Front-wheel drive: advantages and disadvantages

A lot has been experimented over the last century, with different solutions to make cars more efficient. The position of the engine changed several times, sometimes in front, sometimes in back, sometimes in the center. The same happened with the transmission and steering, and the traction part could not be ignored. Nowadays there are cars with front, rear or all-wheel drive. But which is the best?

Traction or propulsion?

It would be easy to give a simple answer to this question, but we think it is more important to first explain what each word means. Apparently, a group of engineers saturated with field correctness decided that the term “wheel drive” should be used only in the case of cars with front-wheel drive engines. The ones with rear-wheel drive actually have…propulsion. So if I said “rear-wheel drive” it would be completely wrong. But since both words come from French, these terms borrowed from Romanians were used for other fields.

Traction is the action of exerting force on a vehicle to set it in motion. In French, the definition of traction refers to the exertion of an external force against a vehicle that is passive with respect to that force. This also applies to propulsion. In other words, if you misinterpret international grammar, it is incorrect to say that a car has front-wheel drive as long as it is not towed, for example, by a horse. Just as it would be wrong to say that a car has propulsion without being pushed by an elephant. But since Romanians are experts at borrowing words, even when they don’t take them in the correct form, the term “rear-wheel drive”, although incorrect, was adopted by the masses and ended up being used without problems. In conclusion, this distinction is an “abuse of language” that has matured and accepted over time and we take it as such. We therefore analyze each option separately, in the hope of reaching a satisfactory conclusion.

Front-wheel drive: advantages

The price is lower
Front-wheel drive cars are the cheapest. A new front-wheel drive car starts at 6,500 euros, while the price of a rear-wheel drive car starts at 30,000 euros. This means only one thing: rear-wheel drive cars are not for every budget. And it means something else. Front-wheel drive dominates the automotive market because it has no obvious disadvantages worthy of consideration when used in normal conditions, in everyday life.

Good behavior on any type of asphalt, under normal driving conditions
Since most drivers are ordinary people, front-wheel drive cars are the most popular. Simple people want their car to perform well in every situation, in every condition. Also, if a driver loses control, it is easier to recover a front-wheel drive car.

Less weight, more space
Since it does not have a driveshaft and differential on the rear axle, an FWD car is lighter than an RWD or AWD. Plus, it’s even more spacious. Rear passengers won’t have to go through that tunnel covering the shaft if the engine is in front. Naturally we are not mentioning rear-wheel drive cars with central or rear engines, they are quite few and are not the subject of a generalist article dedicated to the mass of readers.

Less power loss at the wheels
In the case of FWD cars, the engine’s power is transmitted directly to the wheels through the gearbox and planetary gears. In the case of rear-wheel drive cars, 5% – 10% of engine power is lost along the way. From the engine the energy must go to the box, then to the cardan, from the cardan to the differential and from there to the planetary gear.

Front wheel drive – disadvantages

Tendency to understeer
Because most of the weight is on the front, front-wheel drive cars tend to understeer. What does this mean? Like when you suddenly pull the steering wheel, the car continues its forward direction. The downside is that this type of car will never oversteer and since oversteer is more difficult for normal drivers to control, it is safer in this respect.

Mass distribution rather ineffective
The heavy weight of the front causes the understeer mentioned above. During braking the front becomes much heavier than the rear, but even this cannot be considered an advantage because in normal traffic conditions the differences in weight are not noticeable.

Shocks, vibrations and sudden movements of the steering wheel
If you own a Fwd car, you will have noticed that when starting from the trunk, the rotations of the tire and the obstacles over which the wheel passes are felt directly in the steering wheel. When accelerating suddenly, the steering wheel tends to take it to one side or the other, vibrations due to bumps in the asphalt are felt, and in some cases it seems that the steering wheel simply slips out of hand. All these things happen because the wheels have both a direction function and a movement function. In the case of rear-wheel drive cars you only feel what is related to the direction and not the trepidation at departures.

No drifting and fun in winter
One of the main reasons why many choose RWS cars is that in winter they can drift, go around in circles and have fun with the handbrake. A front-wheel drive car doesn’t allow you these things, but if you’re a good driver this aspect won’t bother you.

Rear-wheel drive: advantages

No planetary gear has changed
Front-wheel drive cars quite often use planetary gearboxes because they have double joints and because starting with the wheels locked forces them. Of course, rear-wheel drive cars also come with planetary gearboxes, but they are not as demanding as those in front-wheel drive cars and can last for the life of a car. But in rear-wheel drive cars there are other parts that change over time, such as differential oil or driveshafts.

Driving pleasure is greater
In the case of rear-wheel drive cars, the front wheels are only responsible for steering, not traction. This means that the direction information transmitted to the driver is much more precise and sensitive, and when the car accelerates, the mass of the entire car shifts rearwards, making the direction much easier to control. But going beyond the limit can lead to drifts you can’t control.

The car is more balanced
In the case of rear-wheel drive cars, the engine is positioned at the rear, towards the floor, and the box is mounted between the legs of the front passengers or above the rear axle (in the case of cars with a “trans-axle”). By adding the additional weight of the axle with differential and cardan, a much more balanced weight distribution is obtained, 50/50 or 40/60 in favor of the rear. The result is more effective control when needed or when avoiding obstacles.

Rear-wheel drive – disadvantages

Tendency to oversteer
Unlike FWD cars, rear-wheel drive cars tend to oversteer when cornering sharply. This oversteer only becomes noticeable if power and grip are abused, so this disadvantage is only a problem for those who are “heaviest on their feet”.

Easier loss of control
For some young people craving thrills, smoke and rims, this tendency to “run away from the ass” is the only reason why they would buy a rear-wheel drive car. But if you accelerate too much when cornering, with the wheels locked, the bottom of the car will tend to carry it in front and you risk spinning on the spot… or crashing into the first pole. Modern cars (see BMW) have been equipped with numerous electric traction and grip control systems to prevent loss of control.

Slightly more difficult behavior on ice, snow and wet asphalt
There are many who, with the first snow, think of locking the BMW in the garage and hiding the key until spring. Obviously, a purely Romanian and 100% incorrect perception. You can drive a rear-wheel drive car without problems in winter if you know the limits of your car and know how to adapt your speed to road conditions.

If we had to define the two types of tractions with just one word we would say:
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE – Normality
REAR WHEEL DRIVE – Sportiness

What type of traction do you prefer and why?