Would you buy a rear wheel drive car?

[muckipup]

Driving in to work last week and I spotted an MX5 facing backwards up an incline in an otherwise easy stretch of road after a large roundabout.

The week before was a BMW, again after a roundabout, again facing the wrong way with its back end half way up the bent-over lamppost in the not-too-challenging stretch of road after the roundabout.

I have seen plenty of crashes but whenever I see something ludicrous where the car was clearly all over the place prior to the crash (rather than just sliding off the road) and you are left saying "How the heck did the driver get into that kinda mess", it seems to be a RWD.

The Beemers seem to get a good reputation for road holding but are the more powerful RWDs really safe in the hands of the average driver because in the rare occasion that they lose it, they REALLY seem to lose it!

[Beddie]

I'd have no reservations about buying a RWD at all, also would be happy for Mrs Beddie to use it as her daily as she does now with the Golf 

Imo it's a fallacy that RWD cars are inherently more dangerous than FWD/4WD, the only difference is in how the car behaves once approaching and when beyond the limit  but if pushed past that point in a modern car then you'll likely stack it anyway and then it's just a case whether you go through the hedge backwards or forwards...

Just think of all the BMWs, Mercs, Jags etc that are driven every day by all types of drivers young old and inbetween, it's not as if the hedges of britain are full of wrecked rwd cars lol

Yeah RWD is tricky to the inexperienced when pushing the limit but i'm willing to bet that if you took the average 320d company car driver and asked him/her which are the driven wheels on their car they would probably say the front...

Besides our dads and grandads had no choice other than RWD and they managed to survive even without ESP/TCS/DCT, you just man steered your capri, escort or rover sd1 on your cross ply tyres and got on with it 

[vRS Carl]

^^^^ What he said  


Or put another way to answer the question as it should have been posed:

Would you buy a Man Wheel Drive car? - Yes yes yes and Yes  

[sub39h]

owned a RWD car before. not powerful enough to get me in any trouble, but still!

would definitely own one again

[stealthwolf]

If you're that worried, get some advanced driving lessons that'll help you learn the limits of your car. Then you'll know what it can/can't do.

I've heard of some insurance companies who want people to have had 1-2 years experience with RWD before they will insure and a lot is probably to do with how people handle these vehicles.

[WhiteGTI]

Put it this way...I'm not sure I'd ever go back to a front-wheel drive car again! As great as they are, they just aren't the same as the feeling of a RWD car...

But Stealthwolf speaks a lot of sense ^^^.

[Jk911]

Yes, I have just bought a BMW z3m coupe, 325bhp no traction control, it handles much better than my golf gti, I have had e46 m3, Porsche 911 3.2 Carreras, but do agree that to get the best from a rwd you do need to know what you are doing, but they are so much more rewarding to drive!!

[Leonard]

Why WOULDNT YOU buy a real wheel drive.

Apart from driving in the snow all benefits

Go test drive a Mazda RX8 and discover how much better it feels than the Golf.........

[rdfcpete]

Yeah RWD is tricky to the inexperienced when pushing the limit but i'm willing to bet that if you took the average 320d company car driver and asked him/her which are the driven wheels on their car they would probably say the front...

I expect that's very true Steve  

Yes, I would have an RWD car too. Currently sniffing round 123d coupes.
I think if you're driving to the conditions, you shouldn't be caught out in any type of drivetrain as you describe muckipup.

[rich83]

I quite fancy a 123D too Pete... seems to be a good compromise of looks/power/fun/running cost. 

[Beddie]

Yeah RWD is tricky to the inexperienced when pushing the limit but i'm willing to bet that if you took the average 320d company car driver and asked him/her which are the driven wheels on their car they would probably say the front...

I expect that's very true Steve  

Yes, I would have an RWD car too. Currently sniffing round 123d coupes.
I think if you're driving to the conditions, you shouldn't be caught out in any type of drivetrain as you describe muckipup.

There was a youtube vid last winter showing a woman with some snow sock thingys on the front wheels of her 120d trying to get up a hill  

123d is an excellent choice Pete!  

[Top Cat]

Would you buy a rear wheel drive car?

Not for me!, front wheel drive for the win. 

[Leonard]

Would you buy a rear wheel drive car?

Not for me!, front wheel drive for the win. 

 

[Phil Miller]

id defo have another RWD car, only a screwdriver loses a RWD on normal roads, i always found it fun getting the arse end out and holding it there

[lee_]

I've come from a Honda s2000, razor sharp handling and no driver aids.

As others have said, its a much more rewarding drive, hard to master but more involving for it.
Useless this time of year, i ended up parking it up all winter and driving round in a skoda felicia 1.3
which was part of the reason I sold up and bought the mk5.