Rear Wheel Drive vs Front Wheel Drive: Advantages & Disadvantages

Why is a front wheel drive car more fun to drive than a real wheel drive car? Why is a rear wheel drive less expensive? Here are the answers.

Front wheel drive

As the name implies, the power from the engine is transferred to the front wheels. The only purpose the rear wheels serve is to provide balance and the front wheels are left to do all the work. Steering and handling the engine power. FWD cars always have their engines mounted at the front.

Advantages

Since the engine and the drivetrain are both at the front they form a compact package. Manufacturers require fewer components to connect the two, which helps weight reduction, which in turn improves fuel economy. Overall, production cost of FWD cars is considerably less. The reason why most cars come with FWD.

Since all the components are at the front there is more interior space for the passengers and luggage.

Advantages

In a FWD car the weight of the engine and the drivetrain are concentrated towards the front end of the car. This provides a good amount of traction for the wheels in wet conditions, even without expensive electronic traction control.

Advantages

FWD does not promote oversteer or skidding in other words, which makes it easier for inexperienced drivers to control the car.

Disadvantages

While FWD cars do not promote oversteer, they tend to understeer because they are front heavy.

Since the front wheels are over burdened front tyres wear out quickly.

Disadvantages

While a heavy front provides adequate starting traction on wet roads, in all other conditions traction from a FWD car is inferior to a RWD car. This is due to non-uniform weight distribution. The rear end of a FWD car is considerably lighter than its front end, which means the rear tyres do not grip the road very well.

Disadvantages

Since steering and engine power is handled by the front wheels, the latter sometimes tends to compromise the former. The force generated front the engine, (especially in powerful cars) sometimes tends to pull the car either to the right or to the left. This is referred to as torque steering.

Rear wheel drive

Almost all performance cars are rear wheel driven. FWD cars can have their engines placed either at the front or the rear, but front engine-rear wheel drive cars are the most common type and that is the one we are talking about.

Advantages

Engine at the front and drivetrain at the rear results in an even weight distribution. This one characteristics alone provides several advantages. This translates to better handling in corners, better control over the car at high speeds, even tyre wear and most of all better traction in dry conditions and inclinations.

Advantages

A RWD car accelerates faster than a FWD since the weight transfers to the rear of the car (improving rear tyre grip) when there is a forward shift in momentum.

Advantages

The engine compartment is freed from the added drivetrain, which now sits at the rear. The extra space can be utilised to accommodate larger, more powerful engines.

Disadvantages

RWD cars are heavier due to the additional hardware that is used to connect the front engine with the rear drivetrain. This also increases production cost. Thus, they are more expensive than equivalent FWD cars.

Disadvantages

The presence of the transmission tunnel (the bump that runs in the middle of a RWD car) reduces interior space.

Traction in RWD cars during wet road conditions is inferior to FWD cars.

Disadvantages

RWD cars, when cornering at high speeds, are more prone to become tail happy. As in, they oversteer and the rear end of the cars skids.

Conclusion

As it is evident from the previous slides, RWD cars usually tend to be more powerful and sportier than FWD. They offer a better overall driving experience and are the better cars for drifting (which is nothing but controlled oversteer). They can accelerate faster, corner faster and provide better grip. As for reduced traction in wet conditions, this can be remedied with modern electronic traction control. But RWD cars are almost always more expensive.

FWD cars on the other hand may not be as much fun to drive, but they are more economical and sensible. For commuting inside the city at low speeds and for general everyday use inexpensive FWD cars make more sense.