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Aug 23, 2012 20:59:10 GMT
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And yet i got everywhere i wanted to go in a 4x4 pickup truck with knobbly tyres on it two years in a row through some dodgy snow and ice, big heavy 2.5 litre diesel engine and driven axle in the front, pretty much nothing in the back.
The only time i engaged 4x4 was to get up the hill into our country park for sledging with the kids and nothing else was getting up there, even the school run mums in 4x4s on road tyres..
You say both cars were on the same tyres, but you don't say if they were on appropriate tyres for the conditions which was my point, on road tyres you need the weight on the wheels with snow tyres on you don't, they'll grip anyway even if they are floating on the snow.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Aug 23, 2012 21:44:20 GMT
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Yeah, they were completely inappropriate tyres (195/50 15 Toyo T1-R). Snow tyres would have made them both better, but if fitted to both they wouldn't have made the MX-5 magically better than the Scirocco, they just would have made them both perfectly good enough. I'm not saying RWD is intrinsically bad in snow, as that'd be a load of curse word, look at Volvos in sweeden, I'm just saying that when looking at comparable cars, all other factors being the same, the one with the engines weight over the driven wheels will have an advantage in terms of traction to get moving in loose conditions. I completely agree that a rear driven car on snow tyres will be better than a front driven one on normal road tyres.
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Aug 23, 2012 21:53:46 GMT
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And, of course, rear-engine RWD is the ideal 2wd setup for driving in icy conditions - weight over the driven wheels and weight transfer onto the driven wheels when accelerating. ;D
Personally, I dislike FWD in general - the torque steer (and it's always there, although not to a huge degree in some cars) simply masks the steering feedback - but absolutely concede that it's ideal for 90% of drivers 99% of the time.
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Most drivers don't care. I dislike FWD because of the feel of it. You feel it at almost any speed and any driving conditions. I've always been curious to try a big yank FWD luxo barge to see how they behave with it but I've driven plenty of FWD cars and most of those were very competent but all of them (with possible exception of the Minis) would have been nicer to drive in RWD format.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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My Alfa 166 is pretty well behaved for a front driver. In most situations you can barely tell it is. Would I rather it were RWD? Hell yes! It'd be awesome but then I'd be driving it in a totally inappropriate manner so in a way it's a good thing it's not! No, for just wafting about and cruising comfortably down the motor it matters not.
As for the 'is FWD or RWD better in snow' argument. Well that's been raging since god was a boy and people will never agree, mainly because there are so many variables. Snow tyres changes everything in this instance but if we are talking ordinary tyres then I would maintain that a FWD has the advantage, particularly cars with narrow section tyres.
This has certainly been the case in my experience. My old Pug 205gl with it's pizza cutter 135s was fantastic in the snow and my Renault 16 is also extremely good. My old Renault Vel Satis was hopeless desite having considerable weight up front and FWD but the two factors that affected that were whopping great 245 section tyres and the fact you were so utterly disconnected from the outside world, you couldn't feel what was going on.
I think that latter point is also a major factor when it comes to driving on very slippy surfaces, regardless of FWD or RWD. If you can 'feel' the road then you can make the most of the available grip.
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1962 Datsun Bluebird Estate - 1971 Datsun 510 SSS - 1976 Datsun 710 SSS - 1981 Dodge van - 1985 Nissan Cherry Europe GTi - 1988 Nissan Prairie - 1990 Hyundai Pony Pickup - 1992 Mazda MX5
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Aug 24, 2012 21:29:38 GMT
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I find it fascinating how these threads go so far off topic. I just wanted to know what people would do with a hypothetical project and it becomes a debate whether FWD, RWD or AWD is best and in what conditions. Not complaining, just interesting sociology.
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Aug 24, 2012 23:15:18 GMT
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Personally, I'd like to drop one into my Princess, for giggles.
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 Click picture for more |
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stefan
Posted a lot
If it isn't broken fix it till it is
Posts: 1,598
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was an E type replica in PPC a few months ago with a northstar in it
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POWER IS EVERYTHING WITHOUT CONTROL
1985 Honda jazz
1997 Saab 93 convertible
2010 transit 280
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Volksangyl : a purple Princess with a V8 in it... Project "Princess Northstar" sounds awesome. Do it.
edit : from the V8 MR2 site:
;D
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Last Edit: Aug 25, 2012 8:29:28 GMT by Clement
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Aug 25, 2012 13:33:00 GMT
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to be honest I do all I can to avoid driving in snow, and in the 25 years I've been driving I think we've had snow like 4 winters here for 2 or 3 days. Its not going to make me chose one car over another. "ooh, it might snow".
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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