My first car was RWD. It had crappy, yet balanced handling. Too much
torque for too tiny tires. It was a 65 Mustang. Never autox'd it, but I
sure could get some throttle induced oversteer when I wanted it.
Current car is FWD. Sticky tires, no LSD, fairly balanced with the added
stuff, easier to control to an extent. It's a 95 Probe GT.
After driving both of them within close succession, I believe that both
types have their own quirks and nuances. For instance, the same thing
applies that if a car is slowing down, weight shifts forward; acclerating,
weight goes rearward. This of course makes it harder to launch a car. So,
to get a good launch, you have to put a lot of weight on the front wheels,
messing up the weight balance. The Probe GT is about 66%f/34%r. So, now,
you have an understeer prone car.
To get oversteer in a FWD car with a heavy front end, it's pretty fun, and I
think easier to control once you get the hang of it. When you either
lift-throttle or get on the brakes in a corner, you have the chance to
induce oversteer. Many times I've been on the brakes too hard and induced
donuts. But the cool part is that to correct it, you just get back on the
gas and the rear tires hook, and the fronts might even break loose to
further correct the oversteer.
So, fancy throttle control in a neutral FWD car can make it fast if you
don't spin all over the place. You do have to watch out for snap oversteer
in a case that you're spinning front tires, understeering, then you left off
the gas mid-corner, the front tires hook, jerking the rear around. Looks
cool, but probably slows you down.
This means that its really hard to get those RWD 4-wheel drifts where you're
balanced on the edge of accelerating to get traction on the rear and
accelerating so hard that you're losing traction at the rear.
When I autox'd a loaner 328i, I really liked being able to get the throttle
induced oversteer, but the oversteer-correcting option of the throttle
wasn't as prevalent as in my FWD Probe. I have my PGT set up now that I can
easily control its direction with the throttle, assuming I'm not spinning an
inside tire.
But of course, the way its set up makes it not as safe on the street since
the rear is so stiff. I wish it were RWD, but with only 164hp, all that
extra weight and rotational mass would kill it.
Brian
--
Brian Berryhill
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/brianberryhill/
> I agree. RWD requirse understanding a delicate throttle foot. GWD will
> forgive a heavy a throttle foot in many instances. Plus you need to bee
> moresensitve to the rear coming out and be prpeared for small, subtl
> corrections on the seeing. OMHO, RWD teaches better car handling
techniques.
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