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Thread: why havnt hot hatches gone rwd ??

  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4
    Still available in the market:

    The Volga RWD
    The Lada RWD

    so you can still buy cheapos if you want to feel the thrill of power oversteer....
    another RWD 'hatchback' @ http://www.ecocars.ltd.uk/

  2. #47
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    I thought you were going to post the Smart
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  3. #48
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    Smarts aren't cheap (for what you get)

  4. #49
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    ^^ but they do fit right into the tray of another cheap RWD

  5. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by h00t_h00t
    FWDs aren't that bad. There seems to be a badge of honor that comes with owning a RWD car, the only ones most people can buy are old Nissans from the 80s and 90s which, while abit fast, aren't awe inspiring.
    Did you ever try to drive a FWD on ice wintertime with tires that after a long summer are turning into slicks? It's easier to get up the hill since you got all the weigth ower the front weel's, but once you lose control you did lose it.
    RWD is also more funn

  6. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by stian1979
    Did you ever try to drive a FWD on ice wintertime with tires that after a long summer are turning into slicks? It's easier to get up the hill since you got all the weigth ower the front weel's, but once you lose control you did lose it.
    RWD is also more funn
    Sorry but the comairson is silly.
    If you tried to run ANY car in wintertime with near slicks then you are in trouble. RWD will not "bite" when you need it to and you will just exit sideways
    "A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'

  7. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine
    Sorry but the comairson is silly.
    If you tried to run ANY car in wintertime with near slicks then you are in trouble. RWD will not "bite" when you need it to and you will just exit sideways
    Silly is your words, but I had to try.
    My winter tires was 4hours drive avay with my parents and king winter kind of suprised me.
    I had to drive home in a old RWD Isuzu Campo(a pickup)
    Yes it go sideways, but you learn to control it.
    I had motorbike from I was 16-18 and I had to use that in the wintertime to get to-from annywhere and I never had spikes on that one so even befour I got my first car I had experience of how a viecle acts on ice.
    You don't nead bite if you can get enoug speed befour the hills.

  8. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by stian1979
    Silly is your words, but I had to try.
    My winter tires was 4hours drive avay with my parents and king winter kind of suprised me.
    I had to drive home in a old RWD Isuzu Campo(a pickup)
    Yes it go sideways, but you learn to control it.
    I had motorbike from I was 16-18 and I had to use that in the wintertime to get to-from annywhere and I never had spikes on that one so even befour I got my first car I had experience of how a viecle acts on ice.
    You don't nead bite if you can get enoug speed befour the hills.
    FWD even on not snow tyres is erqually do-able.
    "leanr to control it" was where the "silly" label was coming from.
    I've been on events where we've been caught with wrong tyres and had to drive. Just as with RWD you adjust the throttle and braking appropriately.
    NEITHER of them are "good" in snow, the FWD has the distcint advantage of more readily inducing requred oversteer with a quick left foot brake So is inherently faster.
    "A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'

  9. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine
    FWD even on not snow tyres is erqually do-able.
    "leanr to control it" was where the "silly" label was coming from.
    I've been on events where we've been caught with wrong tyres and had to drive. Just as with RWD you adjust the throttle and braking appropriately.
    NEITHER of them are "good" in snow, the FWD has the distcint advantage of more readily inducing requred oversteer with a quick left foot brake So is inherently faster.
    I stil did not see a FWD ben able to get trough corners as quick as a RWD in ice or wet snow. My friend in a Civic had to surender when I got some speed on the old pickup. Horible car for grip. Had no weight in the back, but it was easy to control.

    One of my coworkers was in rolls royce plymoth JP controls i think it was called. It was a litle snow one day and none of the guys at the plant deared to drive to other place to pick up som materials so I gues some people are less exsperinced on snow than others
    Last edited by stian1979; 02-24-2006 at 02:51 AM.

  10. #55
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    I've rallied Minis in DEEP snow and a Mexico !!
    I can assure you you CAN get a FWD but you have to do it the right way. And it involves using the left foot to steer !
    Trying to drive a FWD in snow without doing it "properly" is doomed to go off at the first attempt with the wheels on full lock and going no where. Jsut as florring the throttle will spin out a RWD, it takes throttle finesse to keep a snow drift in-line.
    BTW if you put details in your profile folks can avoid making assumptions Location is a BIG help. What cars have you tried in snow ? Have you tried FWD techniques ( the scandinavians taught us it )
    Last edited by Matra et Alpine; 02-24-2006 at 03:49 AM.
    "A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'

  11. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine
    I've rallied Minis in DEEP snow and a Mexico !!
    I can assure you you CAN get a FWD but you have to do it the right way. And it involves using the left foot to steer !
    Trying to drive a FWD in snow without doing it "properly" is doomed to go off at the first attempt with the wheels on full lock and going no where. Jsut as florring the throttle will spin out a RWD, it takes throttle finesse to keep a snow drift in-line.
    BTW if you put details in your profile folks can avoid making assumptions Location is a BIG help. What cars have you tried in snow ? Have you tried FWD techniques ( the scandinavians taught us it )
    Dad often talks of my mum's old Minis in the snow. He had to drive between Liverpool and Cambridge when the snow made other drivers in bigger cars give up and go home (or end-up stranded at the side of the road).

    The Mini was just light enough to stay on top of the harder snow but with just enough weight over the front wheels to keep it going. he blocked the radiator grille off with tin foil (because otherwise the engine would get too cold and die and also the electrics [which were stupidly behind the radiator grille] would become victim to any water / ice etc coming up off the road) and eventually had to replace the fuse box (it rusted through due to being next to the front wheelarch in a bad place for water)

    BUT despite the minor problems it shows a FWD car CAN be driven (and it can be fun) on snow / ice.
    "This is hardcore." - Evo's John Barker on the TVR Tuscan S

  12. #57
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    I love front wheel drive cars - they present a unique driving challenge of balancing entry and exit speed. There's no escape road in an FF car, understeer has to be anticipated and dealt with in advance and corrective inputs must be (pretty much) perfectly metered in order to avoid losing speed.

    I love them.
    www.crash.net/motoring/roadcars/news/home/

  13. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by MrKipling
    I love front wheel drive cars - they present a unique driving challenge of balancing entry and exit speed. There's no escape road in an FF car, understeer has to be anticipated and dealt with in advance and corrective inputs must be (pretty much) perfectly metered in order to avoid losing speed.

    I love them.
    good, you can have mine then
    Andreas Preuninger, Manager of Porsche High Performance Cars: "Grandmas can use paddles. They aren't challenging."

  14. #59
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    I think that, to be honest apart from the other reasons already mentioned (cost and practicality), the majority of hot hatches haven't turned into RWD cars becuase it would blur the lines as to what type of car you were driving, we already have enough (some would say) RWD performance cars, FWD hot hatches just give us another type of car to enjoy driving.

    The difference between cars such as the Astra VXR, Golf GTi and Focus ST and cars such as the Subaru Impreza WRX and lower-spec Mitsubishi Evo's is apparent but with cars like the Golf R32, the boundaries are starting to get blurred. The Golf R32 and the Impreza WRX for example, are both four wheel drive family cars and in the 200 - 300 BHP bracket, costing around the same amount of money. What marks the Golf out?

    The only things I can think of are that the Golf is a hatch whilst the Impreza is a saloon (or wagon) and the differences between Subaru and VW as manufacturers (the Golf is focussed more on the luxury side of things).
    "This is hardcore." - Evo's John Barker on the TVR Tuscan S

  15. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clivey
    BUT despite the minor problems it shows a FWD car CAN be driven (and it can be fun) on snow / ice.
    Why else are all the Swedish cars FWD/AWD??

    Look at Volvo and Saab... not a rear-driver among them. There are frequent complaints from road testers about the torque-steer on an S80 T6, or the old 9-3 HOT Aero...

    FWD was originalyl designed to be good on ice/poor weather conditions. Hence why a Mini absolutely trounced huge, RWD Ford Fairlanes in 1967 (?) at the Monte Carlo rally (it could have been '69, I am open to correction...)

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