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Old 09-20-2017, 07:41 AM   #1
drevj12
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FF vs RR in snow

Me and my grandmother got into a bit of an argument over driving in snow. She insists that FWD is always better than RWD in snow or low traction conditions, no matter what. I said that she feels that way because most cars are front engine, and that a rear engine, rear wheel drive car would be just as good as a front wheel drive, front engine car because the weight balance in relation to the drive wheels was more important than just which set of wheels were receiving power, which is why an unloaded rear wheel drive truck is so terrible in bad weather. I also speculated that a rear wheel drive car with a rear mounted engine may actually be better in the snow because I feel it would be easier to correct a RWD oversteer due to loss of traction than it would be to correct a FWD car plowing through a turn because the front wheels start slipping. Am I correct here? It seems like simple physics to me but I've been wrong about things that seemed pretty simply before. Thanks for any information.

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Old 09-20-2017, 05:17 PM   #2
shorod
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Re: FF vs RR in snow

Welcome to the forum!

There are a lot of factors that go in to what makes a car handle better in certain driving conditions. A RWD car with a near 50/50 weight balance and a good set of winter tires will almost always handle better than a FWD vehicle (which often are heavily weight biased to the front) with all-season tires. If we're talking all-seasons on both vehicles though, typically a FWD vehicle will still get around better in the winter because not only is the weight more over the driven wheels, but there's also more weight over the wheels that steer and the wheels that do the majority of the braking. So from a general standpoint, I have to side with your grandmother on this one.

-Rod
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Old 09-21-2017, 06:06 AM   #3
carbuilder2002
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Re: FF vs RR in snow

Four Wheel Drive beats all unless its a 6x6 or 8x8 lol
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