When you accelerate, your car shifts weight to the rear. That's why you see the nose rise when you stomp the gas. In a RWD car, this actually puts more weight over the drive wheels, but in a FWD car, the weight is actually moving away from the drive wheels. If you've ever heard a Civic driver use "FWD launch disadvantage" as an excuse, that's what he's talking about. Under braking, weight is shifted forward, putting more traction towards steering into a corner. But traction can be used for only one thing at a time. The more you use for power, the less there is for lateral grip. That's why RWD cars "get a little drift" when you stomp the gas. But in a FWD drive car, the power is using traction that should be going to actually steering the car, resulting in understeer.

FWD is cheaper. That's why cheap cars use it.

 

thread..... closed!