Since the birth of internal combustion engines, a large part of car models on the market used to consist of an engine located in the front that controlled and powered wheels located in the back. These were mostly high power engines that consumed a lot more fuel than today’s cars do and had high car service costs. But when the fuel crisis hit car owners in 1970s, people started to look for cars that were more cost efficient. In order to match the needs of customers, manufacturers turned to car design solutions that focused the driving power to the front wheels, thus making cars lighter and more fuel efficient. Because of this new structure, car designers were given the freedom to construct more smaller, yet comfortable cars. With these changes the price of cars dropped and so did the price of their auto service specials. But are these new front-wheel drive cars better than their counter parts? Lets do a little comparison, shall we.
Advantages of front-wheel drive
- Because front wheel drive cars have shorter drive shafts, their weight is lighter. Following this further, lighter cars need lower engine performances, thus lower fuel consumption and better fuel economy.
- Front wheels allow for better traction of the car. Because the engine provides power to wheel under it and all the weight is on the front wheels, better traction is achieved. In other words, if you let go of the steering wheel, your car will continue to go straight ahead.
- Manufacturer insights indicate that these cars are easier to produce, because of their engine drive shaft relation. Also car services for these models are easier to perform. Of course, not all car models have this advantages, as different brands have different production processes.
Advantages of rear wheel drive
- Overall, traction levels are better of front-wheel cars, but on acceleration rear-wheels models provide much better and controllable traction speeding.
- Rear wheel cars tend to have sharper steering in turns, which makes them a better option for racing purposes and drivers who like to test their engine’s limits.
- Space is larger under the hood, so that your auto mechanic can easily identify the problem and complete all repairs faster.
- At certain speed, rear-wheel drive cars are able to proportionally distribute weight to both rear and front wheels, thus you car will be able to perform better turns.
However, car owners are allowed to make their own choice between front and rear wheel cars. Because people have different needs, they need different cars to address those needs and help them fulfill their everyday tasks.
