I have all 3 in my cars, and they are fun at different times imo.

4wd Audi for when your giving it death down the back lanes and have a race off the lights.

Fwd Volvo for just the fun factor, i do laugh alot when the wheels are still spinning threw 2nd and 3rd gear.

Rwd beemer for just general dicking about and having a laugh.

 

It totally depends on the car, I get 500hp down no problem. I get a bit of wheelspin in second and third but clever boost control sorts this out and still allows me to out accellerate 400bhp evo's.

Imagine how much power you could get down with a good chassis

Pretty crap, but probably no worse than a rwd, for the wet I use my Evo so haven't bothered with "wet/winter" tyres.

An Evo with 600hp in the dry gets pretty boring. In the wet its a handful and becomes fun again.

I can usually choose between, fwd civic turbo, rwd S2000, and awd evo. I only pick the Evo if its wet the s2000 if its sunny and civic in the dry. The rwd is fun in the wet/snow, but to be honest its not got enough power to drift in the dry without dangerous entry speeds.

A few facts about them.

Fwd has the least transmission losses and are generally lighter.
Bigger (family cars) tend to struggle to get the power down because of weight distribution and weight transfer (i.e. longer wheel base/estate cars aren't great) 1 that stands out is the ovlov t5 and old cavaliers etc.
Weight distribution tends to be good. 60-40 to the drive wheels is pretty average.
Handling wise people complain about have 2 wheels do "all the work" but this can be an advantage. Your wheels steer you, so you get to choose in which direction you want the power to pull you, your rear wheels don't do a lot so you get to remove LOTS of weight from the rear of the car and run smaller tyres on the rear.

Rwd are middle of the road, transmission losses and weight.
Advantages are, each tyres has a "job" so ultimately it looks to be the best setup for handling. Weight transfer under accell is in your favour.
Disadvantages are, you need good weight distribution, (hard to get with the engine in the front).

Awd,
VERY safe so can easily get boring. Heaviest weight and highest transmission losses. So you need plenty of power. Certainly have the most grip and are good in the wet.

Handling wise,
They are really the "worst of both worlds". Understeer till the apex and oversteer thereafter. Obviously some are better/worse than others.

On the plus side, you can get some clever electronics to help you out (i.e. Mitsi/scoob/nissan) all have there own ways of helping them corner faster and there traction means they appear to "handle" better than they actually are and they are really good over bumps etc.

To go fast in a line fwd wins. To get off the mark fast, eat clutches and fly up b roads quickest awd wins. To show your mates you've got a small penis but "big balls" RWD wins.

 

I reckon it's way more to do with how a car handles, than what wheels propel it. I've driven boring fwd, rwd and 4x4 cars, and I've driven exciting fwd, rwd and 4x4 cars.

In the real world give me a good handling fwd any day of the week - easier, safer and just as quick as a comparable rwd car. I've had one or two 'moments' in rwd cars which convinced me I'd never buy one. In a controlled environment rwd can be way more fun, but on the road, during that split second when it all goes wrong I'd much rather have the fwd safety net. If that makes me a gaylord in the eyes of the real 'men' on here then so be it.

 

Yes each has there own character/engine and handling. But in general fwd understeers, rear over, and 4 does both at the wrong times.

I've "grabbed 4th" and the back ends stepped out, It certainly keeps you on your toes.

 

i think they all have there plus point as well as negotive, the only thing i didn't like in my RS turbo was the torque steer and that was running 260BHP obviously rear and 4 wheel drive seems to handle the power a bit better.

Pete

 

have had all 3 over the years. the cavalier with about 300hp and a slippy diff only really had full traction in 3rd gear upwards. was fun though scaring so called faster machines. gets boring after a while though not being able to deploy full power in the lower gears,was also boring on track. the sierra 4x4 would only oversteer if you reaslly provoked it but was good for traffic light grand prixs and drag racing, was also a lot more surefooted down a country lane.

the bmw is a rank above all my other cars really, but it did cost twice as much when new and has had a fair bit spent on the suspension. fun on track,doesn't understeer at all,will take full power from a standstill without wheelspinning in the dry but you have to be dam careful in the wet because it will spit you off the road.

 

plus 1 with that

 

How do i set up a poll to see what is everyone's preference. Fwd rwd or 4wd just out of interest?

 

tbh ive only got front wheel drive and to me rwd looks like a toy where id constantly want to be arsing it out and smoking tyres but for flying about id probally say fwd for although one day i will have a mk1 escort

 

i miss my xr4x4 as it was just great around the b roads.

 

More to do with driving too fast on a road I thought I knew (but obviously didn't, due to how things change at those kinds of speeds ). Not big, not clever and something I will always regret (and have learned from ).