Front wheel drive.... Or rear wheel drive? - Page 2

kristof14 · 6 Mar 2003, 00:57 (Ref:526206)

I have yet to drive a RWD car as i've only driven a Suzuki Wagon R which had a turning circle the size of a 2p and I'm currently driving a Renault Clio which also handles phenomenally and is rather fun to drive whilst staying within speed limits!

zefarelly · 6 Mar 2003, 16:01 (Ref:526712)

rear wheel drive all the way . . . . .we've just acquired our first ever FWD. . . .a mondeo, its the best FWD drive Ive driven yet but its still no rwd . . . .the old Cortina still beats it for grins

Alpina · 6 Mar 2003, 17:32 (Ref:526805)

just catching up since my last post. I was rather alarmed to read about the left foot braking. If you know that little about it please don't do it. i don't mean to be insulting just concerned. If you want to learn about it get "Pedal to the Metal" the Colin MaCrae story as he demonstrates it brilliantly as well as flicks and jumps!
I was driving a hire car Punto yesterday in the english Lake District and I was left foot braking for fun. the car had no power so I was on the throttle all the time and just dabbing the brakes to settle the car into the corner. it takes practice but you can be smoother that way.
FWD vs RWD it is like beer. You like what you get used to then you have to learn the other.

MichaelC · 6 Mar 2003, 23:55 (Ref:527152)

I think personally I'd go for four wheel drive. Until recently I'd only ever driven front wheel driven cars, so I didn't know any different. Then I drove my first ever RWD drive car, a 1970 MG B Roadster. Quite an experience for a 24 year old who'd never driven anything without power steering and servo-assisted brakes (!!) but definately better than the front wheel drive Audi A4 that I drive every day.
Then a couple of months ago when a friend got her new Audi TT Roadster, I became a complete convert to four wheel drive. And having stuck the A4 sideways through a hedge recently, I've sworn never to by anything with only two-wheel drive again...

MichaelC · 6 Mar 2003, 23:57 (Ref:527153)

Oh and I've nothing against left-foot braking either, I do it quite a lot. Took a while to get used to - nearly put myself through the windscreen the first few time - but when you get used to it, it can be quite fun

gfm · 7 Mar 2003, 10:37 (Ref:527569)

But why would you want to do it MichaelC? What's the point? Isn't it just a dangerous complication? If you've stuck an A4 through a hedge, 4WD won't save you.

AussieV8 · 7 Mar 2003, 10:51 (Ref:527579)

Quote:

Originally posted by gfm
But why would you want to do it MichaelC? What's the point? Isn't it just a dangerous complication? If you've stuck an A4 through a hedge, 4WD won't save you.

I learnt to drive on a manual and now when I drive an auto I always left foot brake. My wife and I have a car each and mines a 4x4 ute and hers a auto hatchback so I jump from mine to hers my left foot needs something to do.

Just watchin the cricket Go Aussies..........

Dave Brand · 7 Mar 2003, 14:02 (Ref:527772)

Quote:

Originally posted by MichaelC
And having stuck the A4 sideways through a hedge recently, I've sworn never to by anything with only two-wheel drive again...

Four wheel drive will give you more traction; it won't give you more lateral grip......nor will it give you better braking!

garcon · 7 Mar 2003, 14:08 (Ref:527777)

All of which means you'll make a bigger hole in the hedge by going through it sideways instead...

The definitive bible of FWD/RWD/4WD...

Front Wheel Drive: Understeer through the hedge forwards;

Rear Wheel Drive: Oversteer through the hedge backwards;

Four Wheel Drive: Drift through the hedge sideways... At twice the speed... On your roof...

moschops · 7 Mar 2003, 22:48 (Ref:528217)

My 1275GT is loads of fun in the wet, but my RWD Morris is loads of fun in the dry.

Must sort out that axle-tramp though.

Alpina · 9 Mar 2003, 10:02 (Ref:529829)

Axle-tramp from a Mog? You fitted a turbo in it?

MichaelC · 9 Mar 2003, 16:15 (Ref:530215)

Looks like I just set myself up for the abuse there!

For the record, I went through the hedge in the middle of the snow that Britain experienced at the end of January. No amount of ABS and Traction Control can stop you sliding on the snow, and basically I did all the obvious stuff about braking nice and early in a straight line, got back off the brakes, changed out of fourth and into second, and that's where it went a bit wrong. That last action seemed to lock the front wheels,pitching me into the slide, and as Martin Brundle would put it, I went straight to the scene of the accident

Muppet...

And not even I'm stupid enough to be left-foot braking in the snow!

moschops · 10 Mar 2003, 15:54 (Ref:531547)

Quote:

Originally posted by Alpina
Axle-tramp from a Mog? You fitted a turbo in it?

Oh aye. Any tight corner in 2nd gear.

Best get some telescopics on the back, before I start shoehorning the 2-litre Fiat twin-cam in.

Alpina · 21 Mar 2003, 07:16 (Ref:542804)

I remember a CCC car of the year being a V8 turbocharged Mog. Road legal too. mental!!!

**Woolley** · 22 Mar 2003, 01:24 (Ref:543728)

Would that be the Hill climb car of Nick Mann? Morris Minor, 3.5ltr Rover engine, twin turbochargers, 20% nitro mix in the fuel. If memeory serves me right, approsimately 690bhp at the driven wheels. Awesome, truly awesome.

Alpina · 23 Mar 2003, 05:35 (Ref:544788)

Sounds like the one. Didn't he operate his engine timing with a clockwork system from a fruit machine?

moschops · 23 Mar 2003, 13:41 (Ref:545278)

Aye, Nick Manns' Minor was a beast. Not the only one around though. The following text is taken from the MMOC website, detailing the quickest Mogs around. Scary stuff.

Quote:

Ian Portsmouth's Series II convertible has been sent mercilessly down the quarter mile in 21.49 seconds. Jonathan Fletcher ran a 17.69 in his 1275cc saloon. But without a doubt the most frightening 'A' series powered Minor must belong to Conrad Brown who frightened the living daylights out of the Fiat boys with a startling 16.08!

Fastest two litre Fiat powered Minor with an engine in standard tune goes to Russ Smith in a time of 15.96. However Martin Baker's tuned Fiat Minor has run mid fifteens! A sixteen-second quarter mile time is approximately what most hot hatches would run, and equates (very roughly) to a 0 - 60 mph of 7.5 - 8.0 seconds.

Julian Russell's 3.5 Rover V8 ran a 13.53 at York in 1990. Quick, but not the quickest. Nick Mann's 3.5 litre turbocharged saloon covered the quarter in 11.1, faster than a Ferrari F40 or Porche 959.

However, Swede, Anders Ericsson's Minor (known as Bumble Bee) was driven by a 426 cubic inch Chrysler Hemi V. This car achieved a best time of 8.99 seconds with a terminal speed of 151.62 mph. Surely the fastest Morris Minor in the world?

moschops · 23 Mar 2003, 13:46 (Ref:545283)

And here's the beast.http://www.geocities.com/morrismodif...ckmannsv8.html

**Woolley** · 23 Mar 2003, 19:27 (Ref:545578)

Interesting article, but speed is more than just in a straight line. If you didn't see the way it cornered, you should have done!

graham bahr · 9 Apr 2003, 20:14 (Ref:564429)

on the race track i would say rwd rwd rwd rwd, on the road who cares you shouldn't be going fast enough to tell the difference!

Alpina · 9 Apr 2003, 22:51 (Ref:564615)

Onn the road in a blizzard is when you are glad you bought 4WD. At any speed!!

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