REAR WHEEL DRIVE

The biggest benefit to rear wheel drive is that it spreads the loads of the car across all four tires of a car. In a rear wheel drive car the rear wheels do the pushing while the front wheels are reserved for the steering duties. In front wheel drive cars the front tires must perform both functions. Each front tire in a front wheel drive car must do two tasks. Both the cornering forces and the engine acceleration/deceleration forces in a front drive car act on the same tire.

ADVANTAGES:

Better weight balance. Most rear wheel drive cars have the engine in the front and the drive components in the rear. Front drive cars have everything up front. By properly balancing the front and rear of the car you can improve the handling, acceleration, braking, and thus safety of a car.

Better acceleration. On all but the slipperiest surfaces rear wheel drive cars accelerate faster than a front drive car from a stop. This is because when you accelerate quickly from a stop the weight of the car transfers to the rear of the car. In a rear drive car this places extra weight on the rear of the car, essentially jamming the tires in to the road greatly increasing traction. In a front drive car, when the weight goes to the rear, weight is taken off of the front wheels. The front wheels spin thus losing traction. If the wheels are spinning not only does this slow you down but it also makes it difficult to steer the car. In the rear drive car the front tires are available for steering even if the rears have lost traction.

No Torque Steer. Front wheel Drive cars have a problem known as Torque Steer. This occurs when the acceleration of the engine effects the cars steering. Since the driveline is connected to the steering wheels the torque of the engine applies force to the front wheels causing the car to pull to the right during acceleration. Rear Drive cars do not have this problem since the engine is not connected to the steering gear