Quote:
Originally Posted by Jorix
Why do you insist on RWD so much, and how is it a unique selling point? For a sporty I would agree, but how does it matter in an SUV? I don't think many of the customers in this segment care about this, even for the X3 and X5, especially when most people buy xDrive anyways.
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FWD is invented to assemble cars way cheaper. Else, it would probably never have existed. An extra benefit is that the engine/drive line is compacter leaving more space for the interiour.
But... you ask the front wheels to change direction and to accelerate the and the weight transfer is wrong, adding to the problem of over stressed front axle. When you want to contain excessive understeer, you need limited slip dif. which worsens the weight balance and is difficult to execute properly without jeopardising traject precision. Also, engine is transversal, typical not what you want when you change direction, you'd want it centered like in a longitudinal mount. You could mask some of these issues with AWD, making it more expensive than RWD and heavier.
Is this only sensible in sports cars? I don't think so, when i drive a Clio with 100hp, I feel all of the above.
I don't invent these arguments, BMW has been force feeding it to his customers for decades, and then they started with FWD.
