Is RWD harder than FWD?

Rear-wheel drive may be more fun to drive, but it also makes it more difficult to master. With modern stability and traction controls, however, the driving differences of RWD dont present a problem for most drivers. There is less interior space due to more room needed for the transmission tunnel and driveshaft.

Which car is better FWD or RWD?

Which One Should You Choose? The bottom line is that most cars work better with FWD. Theyre cheaper, have more room, get better gas mileage, and are safer. For high-powered sports cars though, RWD still rules.

Which is more powerful FWD or RWD?

RWD vehicles have better handling than FWD vehicles. FWD Vehicles cannot levitate, while RWD Vehicles are capable of levitating. RWD vehicles are more maneuverable in various terrains, while FWD vehicles are only suitable for driving on city streets.

RWD vehicles handle much better than front-wheel drive vehicles and you will notice the difference in curves, turns, and when navigating through traffic situations. Traction wont be as good, especially in wet or snowy road conditions.

Front wheel drive to rear wheel drive

This packaging lets carmakers place the engine transversely instead of longitudinally (as in rear-wheel-drive cars).

Table of Contents Show

Are RWD conversions easy?
Why go rear wheel drive?
Problems you'll need to solve:
Transverse (sideways) and Longitudinal (Inline) engines
Shortcuts to RWD conversions.
FWD only car models and conversions to RWD
The shortcut route to RWD conversions
Feedback - What do You Think?
More articles in:Tuning
Is RWD harder than FWD?
Which car is better FWD or RWD?
Which is more powerful FWD or RWD?
Can FWD beat RWD?

The result is tighter packaging.

And since there’s no need for a driveshaft to drive the rear wheels, there’s no need for a “tunnel”.

This tunnel is the “hump” or floor protrusion that eats into rear seat space.

Having the engine over the driven wheels also helps increase their grip.

The Pros
+ Front-wheel-drive cars are usually more stable
+ More efficient packaging and usually more passenger space
+ Enhanced grip for the driven wheels

The Cons
– Possibly more wear for the front wheels as they handle steering duties, too
– Possible torque steer for very powerful engines
– May not feel as agile (tend towards understeer) as a rear-wheel-drive car

What is oversteer and understeer?

REAR-WHEEL-DRIVE
Rear-wheel-drive, especially the front-engine rear-wheel-drive layout, is usually seen on more powerful cars, especially European luxury models.

Unlike front-wheel-drive cars, rear-wheel-drive cars tend to feel more balanced because the driven wheels don’t handle steering duties.

Sports cars typically use this layout, too, as it can lend the car more agility.

“Agility” can also mean the rear-wheel-drive car has a tendency to oversteer when pushed.

Enthusiasts typically find that this makes the car more fun to drive.

The Pros
+ Better handling balance
+ Possibly greater agility
+ Can be more fun to drive

The Cons
– Tendency to oversteer is risky for drivers who are not used to it
– Need for a driveshaft means powertrain is less efficient than a front-wheel-drive one
– Will require driveshaft tunnel; usually means sizeable floor protrusion inside the car that lessens occupant space

Traction control: What does it do?

So, which drivetrain layout is superior?

It may seem that rear-drive cars are better than front-drive ones.

However, there are front-wheel-drive cars that are acknowledged by enthusiasts to be very fun to drive.

Hot hatches, such as the Renault Megane RS, Volkswagen Golf GTI and Hyundai i30 N are powerful, agile and fun to drive.

Rear-wheel-drive cars, such as Porsche’s 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster models are renowned for their balance and nimbleness as well.

Why would anyone want to try to carry this mod out? Some people just like a challenge or want a project to inspire others. But there are some practical reasons you might want a rear wheel drive conversion.

Power delivery through a RWD setup means you can run much higher power figures.

The maximum power output through a FWD setup is around 225bhp, and with some clever differentials you might be able to go higher.

Are RWD conversions easy?

Converting to rear wheel drive is only a project for the brave, with lots of skill and very deep pockets!

As the front wheels control the steering and weight is pushed to the back of the car on acceleration is is quite hard to get traction.

For this reason, most high power cars and motorsport cars have rear wheel drive setup.

Even front engined street cars tuned for competitions are converted with either a mid mounted engine and rear wheel drive or just a rear wheel drive setup.

Why go rear wheel drive?

Cars are more fun to drive when the power is to the back wheels.

It also removes the grip based power limit from front wheel drive, typically around 225hp, unless you have a well designed front end and differential where you might get away with around 300hp.

Any more power than this will be unusable as the wheels will just scrabble for grip as the weight transfers to the rear wheels and the front lifts.

Rear wheel drive also makes for lots of oversteer rather than the safer and more predictable understeer manufacturers build into FWD cars.

Is this something you can do on your car to maximise your performance and driver enjoyment?

Problems you'll need to solve:

Engine could be mounted in the wrong orientation
Added weight to the car and loss of cabin space
High project costs, with lots of additional custom fabrication required
Lack of off the shelf parts
Gearbox and driveshaft connections
Managing traction control and ABS sensing
Mating a FWD engine to a RWD transmission

Transverse (sideways) and Longitudinal (Inline) engines

Does your engine face left to right or front to back, the output to the gearbox/driveshaft makes a difference to how easy this is to convert to rear wheel drive.

Most small FWD cars have the engine mounted sideways so the driveshaft takes power to the front wheels. To get this power to the back you'll need to reroute the driveshaft which is a big problem.

Some drivers will mount the engine inline and choose a different gearbox setup, but this often means losing some space in the cars cabin as the engine and gearbox will need more room.

Otherwise you'll need a differential to take the power to the rear of the car through a propshaft.

Shortcuts to RWD conversions.

If your FWD car model has a four wheel drive option it makes the conversion process a lot simpler - think A3 Quattro for example.

Generally speaking a rear wheel drive setup can be made from the four wheel drive parts which are readily available but modified without the power going to the front wheels.

That said you might just as well run a four wheel drive setup, this will give better traction, but if you want the car for drifting or have other needs to go rear wheel drive then stay with the RWD concept.

In these four wheel drive cars you'll also usually have a driveshaft tunnel running the length of the car and a rear axle diff and gearbox that copes with the RWD setup.

FWD only car models and conversions to RWD

If your car model is only available in FWD format then the challenge is that you'll need to get a driveshaft from the front of the car to the rear.

This will generally mean cutting into the cars cabin as ground clearance prevents an external drive shaft on most cars, unless you lift the cars suspension!

The brake lines, fuel line, spare wheel housing and exhaust pipes will all conspire to frustrate your plans to mount a driveshaft the length of the car.

Some car makers offer a RWD option or AWD option that would be compatible with your chassis/engine bay (usually larger executive cars such as the Passat 4motion, Quattro or surprise limited editions like the Clio V6, although this had a rear mounted engine!).

This can provide suitable parts to convert your car to rear wheel drive, planning makes a big difference.

Much older cars can also offer suitable parts for your project and can often be used to make a Frankenbuild.

For example the MX5, most BMW models and early Ford models are ripe for part picking.

A mark 1 Ford escort was rear wheel drive and the drive train fits nicely with the powerful Cosworth engine.

Dropping the modern engine into your car and using the running gear from the Mk1 will save a lot of custom fabrication.

The shortcut route to RWD conversions

We have seen some people convert an old RWD chassis, engine and gearbox to look like a FWD by shortening it and adding the FWD cars body.

This is more converting an old RWD to look like a modern FWD car but it does achieve the RWD feel and retains a modern cars appearance.

Wheelbase can be a problem, and you should try and match the wheelbase or you'll have lots of additional fabrication to carry out.

The MX5, Passat and A4 quattro, Volvo and BMW would be suitable for sourcing RWD parts you could use on your car's chassis, but expect much cutting and fabricating to get it to fit and work.

Kits are around which will help but be prepared to source a new engine, gearbox and fabricate custom mounts as this is generally easier than getting your current engine and gearbox to drive the rear wheels.

After you've achieved this engineering feat, you'll need to alter the suspension to cope with the difference in handling and alter the braking.

The front driveshafts and hubs will need to be modified as they are no longer driving the front wheels. On most cars this.

Please Check out my YouTube channel, we're regularly adding new content...

Click to accept YouTube Cookies & Play.

Please share this page with your friends on :

PLEASE HELP: I NEED YOUR DONATIONS TO COVER THE COSTS OF RUNNING THIS SITE AND KEEP IT RUNNING. I do not charge you to access this website and it saves most TorqueCars readers $100's each year - but we are NON PROFIT and not even covering our costs. To keep us running PLEASE Donate here

This article was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Transmission, Tuning. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.