Engine/Drivetrain Config.. Best For 1/4..??

[solaris=amazing]

Front engine RWD

Front engine FWD (front wheel drive)

Front engine AWD

Mid engine RWD

Rear engine RWD (rare i know, RUF custom porsche, yum)

Let's say you had all the same cars, each with a differant layout/design. Giving the fact each car has the same hp and torque-what would give the best 1/4 mile and 0-60. Weight transfer would have to be the deciding figure her..right?? I believe the Rear engine, RWD would be the best.

Also, if you can..anyone with experiance explain how a rear engine rwd would handle..?? Oversteer, understeer..??

[Alastor187]

Originally Posted by solaris=amazing

Front engine RWD

Front engine FWD (front wheel drive)

Front engine AWD

Mid engine RWD

Rear engine RWD (rare i know, RUF custom porsche, yum)

Let's say you had all the same cars, each with a differant layout/design. Giving the fact each car has the same hp and torque-what would give the best 1/4 mile and 0-60. Weight transfer would have to be the deciding figure her..right?? I believe the Rear engine, RWD would be the best.

Also, if you can..anyone with experiance explain how a rear engine rwd would handle..?? Oversteer, understeer..??

Assuming that in all cases the car is traction limited and the steering input is negligible…

I would say a front engine* AWD drive configuration is best.

My reasoning is that if the vehicle is traction limited nearly twice (theoretically) the acceleration could be obtained by using front and rear wheels as opposed to just the front or rear wheels. Obviously twice the acceleration is not possible because of load transfer but the idea is the same nonetheless.

The reason for the front engine layout is probably less obvious. Front engine vehicles usually (not always) have more of the vehicles weight distributed on the front axel. If this is the case then during acceleration some of the load will be transferred rearward resulting in a more even distribution of the weight. Ideally during AWD acceleration the effective load distribution should be 50/50.

A 50/50 load distribution is ideal because of tire load sensitivity. As the load on a tire increases the effective amount of longitudinal force the tire can generate also increases. However, the relationship between tire load and tire force (longitudinal/lateral) is non-linear, so as the load on the tire is increasing the resulting longitudinal force is increasing but at a decreasing rate. So less load on the tire is ideal (to a point anyway).

*Assuming more weight distributed on front axel.

[drdisque]

the best completely physics wise is mid engine RWD, of course, you can't fit much of an engine into a mid engine car and even when you can, you have to use a transverse engine mounting which creates really sloppy launches alot of the time

thats why I would go with front engine RWD.

[curtis73]

Provided you can get enough traction, front engine RWD is the key. There are plenty of tricks to get traction, but once you start getting into the low 10s and 9s, you're going to have trouble keeping that front on the ground. That will be exponentially multiplied if you move to a mid engine car. That's why Top fuel cars are so long. You put the engine in the back for traction, but then you need that huge wing to keep the car from flipping... but sometimes they do anyway.

As a side note, there is a pretty big race circuit for diesel trucks. Since they are so weight crippled with the big empty bed, they get better 60-foot times if they launch in 4wd and then get out of it right away. After its used for launch, its just drag on the drivetrain. Usually AWD is more of a hurt than a help since it only really works as reaction time thing and then just becomes a drag. There are better ways of getting that initial traction than AWD

[solaris=amazing]

Hey thanks alot guys, i always thought a rear engine, rwd would be good because of the weight bearing on the rear tires. Considering that car not having "too much" hp and torque, cause then i believe you'd have lift off :-)

In case you wondered why i asked this, dragsters.. I was watching the drag's on espn, and i seen the regular car type dragsters (front engine/rwd) and the skinny long car type (mid/rear engine, rwd) and just gave it some thought-which is limited because my brain is mostly wood..