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I live in a rural mountainous area. FWD cars have a huge advantage over anything RWD: traction going up hill. Nothings funnier than watching delivery trucks goi

I live in a rural mountainous area. FWD cars have a huge advantage over anything RWD: traction going up hill. Nothings funnier than watching delivery trucks going up a giant hill backwards because it's the only way they can maintain traction.

thomastjeffery 4y ago
Don't you have that backwards? Maybe at the Apex of a hill, FWD wins; but climbing shifts your weight to the rear. The only time my FWD Civic struggles is when accelerating uphill in snow.
- bluGill 4y ago
  The engine weight is still over the front wheels, so FWD gets more traction.
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    How would that work for an EV that doesn’t have an engine? I guess that’s a point in the article, however.
    - bluGill 4y ago
      Depends on how they distribute the weight, which is easy to control on an EV (within limits)
      - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
        Batteries are the heaviest part of an EV, and it is super easy and...actually obvious, just to distribute them evenly under the vehicle.
  - thomastjeffery 4y ago
    I see what you mean: an engine leans a truck forward, particularly because the truck's engine is usually farther in front of the wheels than it would be in a car. I imagine that's exasperated by the fact that everything behind the cabin is built to be as minimal and lightweight as possible, but the overall design is made to support a heavy maximum load filling the bed. Without significant weight in the bed, the truck will naturally lean forward. Unfortunately this all applies to trucks, and does nothing to help my FWD Civic accelerate up a snowy hill.
    - bluGill 4y ago
      Your civic still has more weight on the front wheels than the rear, unless you overload it. (I've never looked at the specs on a civic, but most cars are not rated for much weight.)
      - thomastjeffery 4y ago
        Yes, but that weight isn't in front of the front wheels. The center of gravity rests between the front axel and the driver. When I accelerate, the center of gravity moves back to the middle of the car. Accelerating up a hill puts that center of gravity in the backseat near the rear axel.
Hamuko 4y ago
Having switched from RWD to FWD (Mercedes-Benz to Volvo), I'm not sure about this. Climbing up hills in the winter definitely felt worse in FWD, since all of the weight is going into the back and even with studded tyres, it felt like my front tyres were constantly slipping. If I got to choose my drivetrain, I'd go AWD > RWD > FWD.
denimnerd42 4y ago
This is not my experience. I have a house in the mountains with a steep-ish driveway and the only way to make it up the driveway when it snows 4-6" is by going backwards. I frequently have to reverse up my driveway in order to get enough traction. The weight shift just kills FWD traction. I'm sure RWD could have other issues, proper AWD is clearly the way to go.
jjav 4y ago
> FWD cars have a huge advantage over anything RWD: traction going up hill. You got that backwards. Forward acceleration transfers weight to the rear axle. The harder you accelerate, the more weight transfers to the rear, which means the more traction is available to the rear wheels, less to the front wheels. It's easy to visualize if you think of the case of extreme acceleration such as in a motorcycle or drag race car - the front wheel(s) lift off the ground entirely and thus have zero traction. Going uphill only accentuates this even more, so FWD is going to be at an even greater disadvantage.

thomastjeffery 4y ago

Don't you have that backwards? Maybe at the Apex of a hill, FWD wins; but climbing shifts your weight to the rear. The only time my FWD Civic struggles is when accelerating uphill in snow.

bluGill 4y ago
The engine weight is still over the front wheels, so FWD gets more traction.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  How would that work for an EV that doesn’t have an engine? I guess that’s a point in the article, however.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    Depends on how they distribute the weight, which is easy to control on an EV (within limits)
    - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
      Batteries are the heaviest part of an EV, and it is super easy and...actually obvious, just to distribute them evenly under the vehicle.
- thomastjeffery 4y ago
  I see what you mean: an engine leans a truck forward, particularly because the truck's engine is usually farther in front of the wheels than it would be in a car. I imagine that's exasperated by the fact that everything behind the cabin is built to be as minimal and lightweight as possible, but the overall design is made to support a heavy maximum load filling the bed. Without significant weight in the bed, the truck will naturally lean forward. Unfortunately this all applies to trucks, and does nothing to help my FWD Civic accelerate up a snowy hill.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    Your civic still has more weight on the front wheels than the rear, unless you overload it. (I've never looked at the specs on a civic, but most cars are not rated for much weight.)
    - thomastjeffery 4y ago
      Yes, but that weight isn't in front of the front wheels. The center of gravity rests between the front axel and the driver. When I accelerate, the center of gravity moves back to the middle of the car. Accelerating up a hill puts that center of gravity in the backseat near the rear axel.

Hamuko 4y ago

Having switched from RWD to FWD (Mercedes-Benz to Volvo), I'm not sure about this. Climbing up hills in the winter definitely felt worse in FWD, since all of the weight is going into the back and even with studded tyres, it felt like my front tyres were constantly slipping. If I got to choose my drivetrain, I'd go AWD > RWD > FWD.

denimnerd42 4y ago

This is not my experience. I have a house in the mountains with a steep-ish driveway and the only way to make it up the driveway when it snows 4-6" is by going backwards. I frequently have to reverse up my driveway in order to get enough traction. The weight shift just kills FWD traction. I'm sure RWD could have other issues, proper AWD is clearly the way to go.

jjav 4y ago

> FWD cars have a huge advantage over anything RWD: traction going up hill. You got that backwards. Forward acceleration transfers weight to the rear axle. The harder you accelerate, the more weight transfers to the rear, which means the more traction is available to the rear wheels, less to the front wheels. It's easy to visualize if you think of the case of extreme acceleration such as in a motorcycle or drag race car - the front wheel(s) lift off the ground entirely and thus have zero traction. Going uphill only accentuates this even more, so FWD is going to be at an even greater disadvantage.