17 replies to this topic

[TangoAlpha]

Was your VX your first rear-wheel drive car?

Edited by TangoAlpha, 13 December 2006 - 12:35 AM.

[kjmac]

Certainly is, and it won't be my last. Although I reckon I'll be going front-engined next time so I can have safer fun with oversteer.

[Elaine]

I've only had the VX since April this year, but I've been driving since 1988, and my cars were always oldies - all RWD, but none of them were very powerful still fun in the snow though!!

Then we had the Turbo Esprit which we sold in 2004 when we ordered the Exige - Now that really was a handful in the wet! It makes the Exige & VX seem tame!

And my MESS will be rear engined, and RWD.

So we've got a fair bit of RWD driving experience. Neither of us has had driver training, and from our mates stacking their cars we can't help thinking that it gives people some kind of false sense of security on the roads. So we'll stick to karting!

Elaine&Reg.

Edited by Elaine, 13 December 2006 - 07:53 AM.

[JawZ]

Oh yes it was Have had it since 2004 and can't see me getting a fwd car...... RWD

Edited by JawZ, 13 December 2006 - 07:40 AM.

[JG]

I knew rear wheel drive was the way forward (dyou gettit?) when i converted a mini to rear wheel drive, that was about 10 years ago. then had a bmws. then got the vx lots of fun to be had from fwd too though.

[Tolksee]

Is this thread to calculate how many roundabout writeoffs we're gonna have this winter???

[earlystock]

TBH in day to day use I prefer FWD, it is more forgiving and less prone to incidents. The benefits RWD gives are not generally apparent unless you are driving with aplomb. Now for the track it is a different story. I guess the fact that most cars are FWD tells a story in itself

[TangoAlpha]

Is this thread to calculate how many roundabout writeoffs we're gonna have this winter???

Might be

[fluffy]

Put more than 5 years cos' I get to drive my parents old 3.8l, V8 engined mercedes saloon pretty much everytime they take me out for dinner and have done so since I was 19! There are some excellent front wheel drive cars (mostly smaller Honda's - plus the 4wheel steering fwd prelude was amazing!), lots of iffy ones (all the big hondas like the last gen Legend saloon) but I'm not a fan of FWD anymore. Not a fan of 4wd either unless its for a particular application such as the Bowler Wildcat. So RWD all the way for me. Also the other turn off with 4wd is that as its me thats got to fix it if it goes wrong, I'd rather not bother!

[benw]

RWD for 6 out of the 9 years I've been driving. Always feels odd going back to FWD now. Learnt all my lessons on my first track day at Brands in 2000 with my MR2. It was cold and soaking wet, I'd only had the car for a few months and knew nothing about track driving. Ideal for learning all the pitfalls of RWD! I've rarely unintentionally lost control since. Chris, you're dead right. Manufacturers wouldn't make FWD drive cars in such abundance unless there were clear benefits. It's much easier to make rear drivers. I would say that untimately the boundaries of control are much wider on a RWD car when piloted by a skilled driver, however, unskilled drivers will find they have more control over a FWD.

[snoopstah]

First car I drove after passing my test was my parents' Mitsubishi Shogun, which was (by default) RWD. And great fun around wet roundabouts too

[Mike9009]

Been driving RWD for over ten years now .... Spitfire mkIV, MR2 mk1, VX220 NA and now Smart Roadster-Coupe. Before that I had a Corsa for a year! Mike

[Code Monkey]

First car was a RWD, old Vauxhall Viva, spent formative driving years learning how to keep it balanced keeping up with people in mini's and festers, which was a lesson in itself. oversteer was easy to provoke, understeer was also there in fact the only it wouldnt do was go round a corner without an extreme at least that was my excuse for driving it like i did. Power oversteer wasnt possible but that was because you need power for that and 1.5tonnes and an engine from a food blender doesnt really lend itself to power oversteer. till it snowed. It did teach me to drive smoothly tho (only way to keep a mini on a back road in sight), at least i hope it has smooth enough for the VXT. Went through a succession of FWD after the Viva before the VXT, is great really i now have all the creature comforts of my first car from 1976 back again in the car for 2006. poor heater, minor leaks, fix it yourself interior. but best of all it's great fun to drive, the Viva was brill mainly as first car and also could drive at 10/10ths knowing that if i hit the scenery it would bounce off or go through the tree. perfectly safe, at least at 17 was what i thought anyway.

Edited by Code Monkey, 13 December 2006 - 01:59 PM.

[fluffy]

The only reason front wheel drive is in such abundance is for packaging reasons. You don't have to get a sodding great heavy drive shaft from the front end to the rear end. And also accomodate the interior around the inevitable transmission tunnel. Also before the advent of 4wd, all the best rally cars were FWD as they were able to handle snow and icey conditions better. I assume this is partly to do with not nackering the handbrake mechanisms on the undriven rear wheels with handbrake turns. But the best way is of course mid engined with rear wheel drive. Anyone who disagrees with this should sell their vx immediately!! Keeping the weight all within the front and rear axle lines makes such a difference that I hope in the future all "individual 1 or 2 person transport modules" have their fusion packs mounted behind the cabin but above or forward of the rear wheels. However I should add I still do love driving long bonnetted front engined rear wheel drive cars. My mums old SL, doesn't really handle, but sounds lovely and looks the part too. Plus front engined rear wheel drive cars can be drifted while VX's and other midengined stuff really shouldn't be Theres nothing better than hoofing a 2 tonne mercedes down a twisty backroad whilst thinking "if my Dad ever finds out, I'm dead". One last thing: I still have very fond memories of "drifting" a front wheel drive Dodge Dynasty yank tank around in the snow when I was out there for a year. Yank rubber (complete with white side walls) is seemingly designed for lasting 100k miles before needing to be replaced. Therefore grip in the wet is questionable, in the snow completely non existant, so I thought I'd show the Americans how to drive European style. I had 3 of them in the car with me, all shrieking with fear at speeds of around 20 mph!

Edited by fluffy, 13 December 2006 - 02:10 PM.

[rabidh]

... of course mid engine might be an issue if you want more than two seats - or to actually do any work on the engine easily First car I drove after getting a licence was a Lotus 7 style kit car me and my dad built. I'd definitely consider doing it with my children if the government hasn't made it illegal by then. Pretty reasonable performance (enough that you can't drive with your foot on the throttle) but not enough that you don't have to think about overtakes, no ABS, 80mph seems like light speed, bags of oversteer/understeer and the thought that you really don't want to damage it because you built it! I got a FWD Mazda MX-3 as an every-day car when I started working, but while you could get some oversteer IMO it was too safe - looking back I did loads of stuff that I shouldn't really have got away with! Going to the VX220 I had to un-learn so much stuff.

[fluffy]

Best thing a young person can do to ensure they behave themselves when they pass their driving test is to restore their first car. I spent 6 months restoring an old Nova 1.2 (engine rebuild, getting rid of all the rust etc). I then did it again by restoring a burnt out Honda Accord Aerodeck when I was 18. 2.0l, fuel injected Honda at 18 years old!!! What it teaches you is that you don't act recklessly because you might damage all the hard work you put into it. Mind you, I haven't done any car restorations since, although me and my Dad keep discussing building an Ultima GTR. Need the money first though.

[Richy]

Showing my age here.. Mantas - Mk2 RS - Mexicos - Sapphire cosworths were all cheap enough when ipassed my test.. then there was a flurry of hot hatches There is technique out there [called experience] and once you've got it there is no huge difference in driving either at speed.. Its just as easy to slide the backend around on FWD as it is in RWD. To be honest think everyone should own a high powerd Mk 1-2 escort atleast once in thier life time.. makes the VX feel Very Very easy to drive

[Cleancutyoungman]

I've been driving since I was 20 - 95% of them have been RWD Ford Capris! I had a 1.6, a 2.0, a 3.0 then finally a 200BHP Granada Cosworth V6 24V monster Capri that is now in the hands of my younger brother! Still miss them now...