FWD VS. RWD VS. AWD

Today we take a look at the pros and cons of FWD, RWD, and AWD.

Music Used in Order of Appearance:

DOCTOR VOX - Outcast

Video Used in Order of Appearance:

0-120mph K20 Integra Type R & K20 07 Civic SI

Honda Civic Si- Small 2 Step, Burnout/Launch

2013 Ford Focus ST 250 HP Launch Control, Engine Rev, Exhaust Sound, Pull Away

Big Turbo MK5 GTI Launch Attempts

Launching Veloster Turbo

Abarth 500 Esseesse Loud Exhaust Sound Record Monza *Acceleration, Launch, Revving*

2013 Mazda3 vs Jeep Wrangler Snowstorm Winter Tire Mashup Test

Snow Tire Testing Front Wheel Drive Cars

Fiesta ST - torque steer?

World's First 8sec 1/4 Mile 12V VR6 FWD Car, Mario Thau's VW Polo

Nyce1s - 200 MPH... The World's Fastest FWD Honda, Speed Factory's Turbo Civic @ Honda Day

Honda Integra Type R Spec 2000 | ITR Street Drag Racing & Time Attack

FWD Snow Mountain Drift Part 2

rsx fwd drift snow lol

tray drifting

TWIN 102MM TURBO Mustang - Fletcher Cox's RACE CAR!

Worlds Fastest camaro

800+hp K24 Toyota MR2 vs GT-R and 1000hp Camaro STREET RACE!

World's Fastest Z06 vs Underground Lamborghini

Ferrari 458 Italia vs Lambo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni Gallardo E-Gear x 3 races

Ariel Atom w/ Supercharger (400+ bhp) Launch control + afterburn !! - 1080p HD

SR20DET 240SX S13 DRIFTING

Russell Barcomb aka CARBOMB of DANG DRIFTERS drifting nissan 240sx s13 coupe sr20det how to drift

Turbocharged s14 Silvia 240sx drifting action

LS1 V8 240sx Engine Swap

Lincoln LS RWD stuck in the snow

Subaru Impreza AWD Drift

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions I-V - with pure engine sounds

Audi Quattro Group B - 5-Cylinder Engine Sound

136 mph Subaru WRX STi Rally Car Jump

Jeep JK off road adventure Florida 4x4

3rd gen 4runner off road

Subaru in Mickey's Hot Tub Moab

Thumbnail Photos:

Honda:

Audi:

[jameslaceby]

or my favorite platform, the classic 6wd

[RandomiusBronius]

FWD can be used for racing. Honda won a lot of things with the EG6 in the 90's. The thing is, most pilots suck at left foot braking and just won't admit it.

[muhammaddaffa]

RWD = Drift
FWD = Parking
AWD = Dirt and climbing

[AshToxin]

FWD for cruising and stability
RWD for drifting and speed
AWD for launch and all terrain

[mjn]

i prefer rwd :) thats the most fun you will ever have in slick conditions provided you know what your doing of course

[ifGarage]

In my lifetime experiences with FWD, RWD and AWD I’m a really big fan of AWD because they are great for winter, great traction, and depending on how it’s tuned they make great drift cars, I’ve tried drifting RWD, FWD and AWD. AWD is the best for me drifting because once you enter a corner and start drifting and you want to regain control of the car, you can turn the wheel wherever you want it to and it will gain traction and control thanks to the front wheels working together with the rear wheels. That’s my personal preference though.

[michaelkael]

Traction... powertrain layout doesn't really matter if the FWD car has somehow solved torque steering (that is best solved by using same-length half-axles, although that might reduce powertrain compactness). What really matters is the weight distribution. If your car has perfect 50:50 weight distribution, the load on front tires is exactly the same as the load on the rear tires, therefore it doesn't really matter if it's FWD or RWD.
However, most cars today tend to be front-heavy (the front end is heavier than the rear end) because of their FF (Front-engine, Front-wheel-drive), which explains FWD's traction advantage on the snow. There are of course balanced (50:50 weight distribution) and even rear-heavy FWD cars.
Again, the main thing is the weight distribution. The traction heavily depends on it. If you want to have a good traction in a non-balanced car, you want a car that spins the tires near the engine - if your car is front-heavy because of the engine in the front, you want it to be FWD (we're talking about daily drivers). If your car is rear-heavy (car with engine in the rear, or a loaded truck), you want it to be RWD. If your car is balanced, it doesn't really matter if it's FWD or RWD, although you might want it to be AWD then - the perfect example is a Subaru. That's why Subarus are so good at snow - their symmetrical drivetrain completely eliminating any sort of torque steering also helps a lot.

For me, it never mattered if my car was RWD or FWD - during winter, I always have crates full of sand in my trunk, so I have something to put under my wheels if I somehow can't go - it makes my front-heavy cars more balanced. No negative effect for my FWD daily driver (Škoda Fabia 1st generation), definitely better winter daily usability in my weekend car / backup daily driver RWD (BMW E36). I have yet to buy an AWD car, my dream car doesn't exist and non-wrecked Subarus are hard to come by.

[TheWorteldrie]

Love how you give credit to the most adored cars by car enthusiast. Awesome vid. Thumbs!

[yazzan.i]

RWD and 4WD in the most... But FWD is awesome... I love all... I love cars, I love everything about cars

[kawaii_sinon]

i used to have a wrx sti subaru
2016 and someone stole it i was crying.

[kingtooly]

Ever heard of a Audi S4 in the snow? If I had to choose the year of the model it would be a 2002 B5

[Verschlimmbesserung]

Original Audi Quattro is the pioneer of AWD, true legend.

[adolfshitler]

My dad has a 2016 forester and a 1990 barina, he's pretty much given me the barina and as an FF I think it's a pretty good car, it's helped me win the traffic light gran Prix many times plus it handles nicely and when it rains I can still drive it way more aggressively than my friends commodore. But as soon as dad got me to drive the forester I fell in love with awd. He took me to Mitsubishi to test drive a LAN evo and then Subaru to try an STI and its official, the Impreza is my favourite car, plus the 1999 models look awesome so that's what I'm goin for

[donrowe]

very important fact that should be mentioned...tires. they make a massive differnce no matter if its fwd, rwd, or awd. a rwd with snow tires and some added weight over the rear axle will do really well in snow vs a subaru awd with crap tires.

[mrmalaysian]

does this guy actually know much about awd? 1. he seems biased over fwd then rwd. 2. awd is different from 4wd.

[Mlomay]

One disadvantage a FWD car has in the snow is that when breaking, the weight of the rear of the car pushes the front and if it's not pushing directly forward it can cause the cause sudden spinning

[Pinedsauce]

A lot of you don't realize, that at higher horsepower level, Rwd will spin just as bad as fwd right? the weight transfer doesn't mean anything if you don't have the proper suspension settings or the proper compound tire. Even with AWD at a certain power level you will spin all 4 tires from a dig. most of the RWD racing examples were also on tracks with prepped racing surfaces and HUGE slicks, give the same conditions to both of the other drivetrains and they will hook too.

[RickyBobby]

Glad I subbed to this channel, awesome video!

[HDFWB]

Ok so the Jeep is sliding like that because it could probably use tires with better grip in snow and ice and because the driver is accelerating to hard and too fast.Yes I drive one every day all year and no I don't slide like that.

[sminem]

Is AWD different from 4 wheel drive? (Like the buttons on pickup trucks and SUVs)