I have been in the market for a 350z for awhile now (just not sure if im ready to pull the trigger) but anywho I was wondering if you guys could tell me the difference when it comes to driving a RWD over a FWD. I have been driving FWD cars since getting my license and I am pretty use to it now. However, a friend of mines told me that there is a HUGE difference when it comes to driving RWD and said that A LOT of people that are not use to it usually ends up crashing at the 1st sight of rain??

BTW I know that one difference of course is that the power goes to either the two back or two front wheels.

 

this is not a joke, is it?

 

lol

 

well..since you got flamed on before your question got answered, i'll try to help. your friend's telling you that you'll crash a rwd in the rain because the handling capabilities are different. just imagine, with a fwd car you're actually getting pulled along, which is also why you get understeer when you're driving around the track with the fwd car...because the front wheels are both doing the pulling the car along and turning at the same time. with a rwd car you're getting pushed along hence if you have a lot of power let's say like a corvette, or even a 350z...you can see how it's easy to lose control when you're driving in a slippery road...and also you easily get oversteer with rwd cars...that's why they're the cars used for drifting

that's the simplest way i can come up with. hopefully that helps.

 

Easiest way to figure it, drive both in a controlled environment. FWD and RWD cars have very different behaviours at the limit and very different ways to control them.

 

IF you drive like an idiot in the rain you can lose control of and crash any car.

They key is knowing what happens when the car DOES lose control. RWD cars tend to oversteer, tail comes loose. FWD cars tend to push, or understeer.

 

RWD cars also tend to rotate faster that FWD due to more even weight distribution. With a RWD car, you definitely need more finesse, with all inputs (steering, throttle, braking, shifting). Too rough with any of the inputs, and you can swap ends; i.e. spin out.

 

You should try driving an AWD car, it will over- and under-steer at the same time =P


Seriously though, borrow one and go to an empty parking lot and you will learn enough to decide if you want a RWD or not.

 

well thanks to those that actually helped me. i wasn't trying to ask some stupid question. i just did not understand the difference between the two, but its clear to me now...

for the record, YES, i know that if you drive like an idiot in the rain you are likely to crash. again, i just wanted a more technical answer. thanks again guys =D

 

FWD=FTL

RWD=FTW

/end thread.

Scorke

 

Scorke and I agree the stars have aligned yet again

Example: My Saturn Ion if I floor it in the rain it and go around a turn it just spins and understeers until I let off or stop spinning. Nothing scary or intimidating about that.

Do the same in a rwd car and you'll end up facing the wrong way or in a ditch unless you know what you are doing.

FWD learning curve easy
RWD learning curve much harder.

 

Lol.

Even once in a while a something strange happens!

Scorke