ask me car related physics questions

[malcolm]

you're right, a 4wd car would be better than a RWD car, in most cases. If you look at NHRA Top Fuel dragsters, almost all the weight is on the rear tires, so driving the front tires would only amount to driveline power loss, and not really gain any traction.

FWD does NOT mean four-wheel drive. it means front wheel drive. hopefully that clears things up a bit

[SidewaysGts]

Another thing to keep in mind though its really hard to effictley bring up the 4wrd vs 2wd debate because all the systems work differently. ANother thing to keep in mind is how much power your dealing with, awd on a low power car wont do you a lot of good, as you start upping the power though, like 300+ youll start to see some benefits from it.

-generally- what i have noticed, from a stop:

back engine cars (RR/Mr) generally are the fastest off the line, followed by the wanna be mid engien cars (cars with engines behind the front axle but in frotn of the driver are cosnidered a type of mid engine), followed by Fr, Awd, then FF.. once again this is a 'general rule" depends on the systems your using and the power they got (in specific the power:weight ratio)

From a roll however, awd will realy start to pick up as the extra traction takes effect. As Malcom said keep in mind they lose more (usually, theres always exceptions like the skylines awd system) power through the drive train, and they are heavier (which is why theyre slower off the line). After awd is usually the back engines cars, fr, then ff (ff is always the slowest usually, simpley due to less traction) once again this is a -general- rule and def' is not always the case, same rules apply as "from a stop".

[epicz]

ahhhhhh SAME i can belive i said fwd.

[SidewaysGts]

Well if your talking low low horsepower, from a stop FF can beat awd. i think if you compare like the NA models of the awd DSM, the ff beats it in the 1/4 mile?

[Appleseed]

When your car has a raked stance ( back end is higher than the front) how dose this affect your caster. I assume that the positive caster is reduced. If so, what dose that do to your handling?