AWD vs RWD

What (if any) advantages does RWD have compared to AWD/4WD?

skids

less weight

RWD's only real advantage is less weight over AWD and the potential to oversteer more frequently.

AWD will accelerate better and have better performance over uneven or nonuniform road.

AWD has no real preference to understeer or oversteer unless the torque is more prevalent in either the front or back

I forgot

RWD may have more power and torque to its two rear wheels where an AWD may distribute that torque and power to all 4 symmetrically or asymmetrically.

You also forgot AWD has grip and stability

rwd is better going into corners as there is less understeer, while awd is better coming out of corners as there is less oversteer.

rwd is better at spinning your tires, which is fun, but not good when drag racing or when youre putting out enough power to spin at highway speeds, since power is useless if you cant put it to the ground.

rwd is cheaper, more common, and less prone to breakage, while awd is more expensive, only found in certain models, and is a more complicated system.

rwd cannot even consider pushing the car's limits or racing in anything but perfect weather. awd can race anywhere, anytime.

these are general statements, not absolutes.

>while awd is better coming out of corners as there is less oversteer.
Remember this depends highly on torque distribution

The WRX for example distributes torque evenly to all 4 tires at virtually all times whereas the WRX STI has a DCCD that lets you put almost 90% of the torque to the rear wheels which certainly affects handling.

are you saying an sti with a dccd will oversteer more than a similar rwd car, like a 335i?

with a stiffer rear bar, sure

I didn't say that I said an STI with its torque set to mostly the rear will experience more oversteer because of it.

>these are general statements, not absolutes.
while we're at it lets put 375s on the rear of the 335 and spare tire donuts on the back of the sti. see! more oversteer for awd!

so you agree when i said that awd is better coming out of corners as there is less oversteer.

>so you agree when i said that awd is better coming out of corners as there is less oversteer.
I didn't disagree with that, that wasn't what I was contesting.

What's the point of AWD if you live somewhere that doesn't snow?

superior acceleration and torque management

>that wasn't what I was contesting
you quoted that and said 'that depends'..

very little, honestly. ive spent some time in hong kong which has a mix of being a very wealthy city which also has pretty awesome weather all year long, and there are almost zero audis there. teslas, mercedes, and bmws everywhere, but almost zero audis. the very few you see on the roads are all fwd. dont even think audi brings quattro cars there as there isnt a market for them. and why tf would anyone buy an audi without quattro?

I would say it's still safer all around. You still get better grip and less likely to spin out. Another thing would be rain. AWD would probably perform better in rain.

However non-performance things might be the downside of AWD?

Increased weight and thus more tire wear and gas usage.

Extra weight might further impac the the front tires like an FF. Can probably be marginalized with tire swapping.

Might be more costly to maintain than an RWD.

A car only has as much grip as it's tires will yield, regardless of drivetrain

>superior acceleration
from a dig maybe, and even then it's not that easy to launch an AWD.
In a roll race, the awd would lose though if crank horsepower (and everything else) was equal to the rwd (or even fwd) car. Drivetrain loss is doubled in a AWD so less power makes it to the wheels.

better handling and less weight

Half right.

It also has less parasitic loss from the drive train.

Mechanical limitations to it's top speed. It's why most of the advanced All-wheel drive cars push or pull the power from the opposite wheels and disengage.

Simpler to repair or work on.

Less mechanical maintenance, less electronic maintenance.

When you start snapping halfshafts in a old school Haldex equipped quattro, you are looking at an expensive repair bill.

All-wheel drive is mostly used nowadays to make the power of some of these cars manageable as it splits between the front-rear, and left-right.

AWD is gay and you don't need it unless you live in a shithole that receives snow.
t. AWD owner in FL
It can be fun in the ran but it never does that either usually.

>boston
>shithole

>florida
>not a shithole

>rwd cannot even consider pushing the car's limits or racing in anything but perfect weather. awd can race anywhere, anytime.

You get the privileged of wasting money

I never said it wasn't a shit hole every where is a shit hole just in different ways. Some are road salted shit holes and some are retirement shit holes.

my man. that we can agree on.

>these are general statements, not absolutes.
yeah your purpose-built lifted boxter race car driving on a rally course with giant freaking baja truck tires is certainly not an extreme example or anything.

>pushing the car's limits in a race
>not an extreme usage

idc suck my dick. i put that last line in there for a reason, because theres always some putz that tries to dredge up an extreme example not relevant to the conversation to 'prove a point'. we're talking about street cars and what i said is true 99% of the time. race that boxter against a 20v i5 sport quattro on that track and watch it get lapped.

Well one's an amateur car and another's a Group B monster

Point is that RWD can do fine in bad conditions with the right setup. And for most people on the roads the right set up is a set of winter tires, because AWD won't help them stop in snow

yeah i drove my old 81 camaro with a built 350 through two new england winters. im not saying a rwd car cant 'do fine' in bad conditions 'with the right setup'. we're comparing the two. rwd compared to awd. same setup, all other things being equal, awd demolishes rwd in 'bad conditions' every single time.

Not unless it's a CRV, kek

FWD is sufficient in most cases. This is why Haldex systems were invented. FWD efficiency most of the time and AWD security when needed. Though as everything its a mix of compromises. Heavier than a pure FWD car and not as good in snow or mud as traditional AWD.

AWD is a safety blanket for fags that don't know how to drive or select the proper tires.

986 pls go

Tell me one (1) advantage that AWD has over RWD that actually matters in normal driving conditions?

More power to the ground on bumpy roads.

So you would say it is more grounded to ground?

no

The ability to corner with the throttle.


Hektik.
Skids.

Pretty much. I drive a car to have fun in, slide around, do burnouts, get hektik, etc. I don't get the point of AWD for this reason only. It's boring. I couldn't give up daily drifting

I drive rear wheel drive because in the winter I'm constantly reminded how little grip my tires actually have. that is safe. Understanding braking limitations is more importaint than getting a quick start.

>AWD vs RWD
FWD MASTER RACE, FAG

>needing to constantly be driving a rwd car to understand how snow works

awd doesn't give you more grip

why do people spell boxster wrong
its not that hard

5 cyl FWD vs 4 cyl RWD
which is more fun?
specifically alfa romeo 159 2.4 diesel or bmw e90 320d

>When you start snapping halfshafts in a old school Haldex equipped quattro,
>old school Haldex equipped quattro
what

E90. Why diesel tho? Find an Alfa with a busso v6 and you're set

cuz albania
everyone has diesel
those that got petrol just add a cng implant to save on fuel and most likely fuck the car up
cant find any decent v6 when my limit is 7k euro