Drive them both on a snow covered icey road. I'll take FWD when that occurs. Otherwise RWD. Cheaper? maybe Better? Who knows. It does allow for more cabin space, shorter hoods, flatter floors, larger trunks. -- Mark Price Morgantown, WV 1969 AMC Rambler, 4.0L, EFI, T-5 -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: Don Johnson <donjohnson@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > Frank wrote; > FWD CAN be cheaper! Designing may take a bit more time, but in the long > run manufacturing is cheaper. The entire drivetrain, steering, and front > suspension on most is assembled out of the car in one package with > nothing in the way. A few small sub assemblies combined into one, then > lifted in the car from the bottom. Once installed there are a few hook > ups and it's done! More engineering and development work, but far less > labor to assemble. If it wasn't cheaper it wouldn't be so universally > used. LABOR to assemble is the key! The compactness of the assembled > unit just makes it harder and more time consuming to make repairs, but > the manufacturer isn't worried about that. > > I agree with you, it is cheaper to manufacture, and that is the point I was > making. > As far as FWD being better, I revert to my performance driving instructor. What > makes a superior handling car? > One with 50/50 front/rear weight distribution. FWD and front engine cars are the > same as RWD with rear engines but the Rear engine cars have an advantage because > the driving wheels are not also the steering wheels. > Mid engine is usually best and front engine and rear drive is next. > I spent many hours learning to brake without activating the antiskid and steer > with the throttle. The hardest thing is to keep the wheels from slipping any > more than necessary. Steering and throttle are needed to control slip. With the > driving wheels also doing the steering, and when those are the wheels slipping, > you lose both. > I won't own another FWD car. I'm an oldster and grew up driving RWD. I owned a > GM and a Ford FWD car for a time and never considered the FWD to be superior in > the snow, and we get a lot of it up here in the Great White North. > Show me a FWD performance car and I'll show you........never mind, just show me > a FWD performance car. > Don > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://www.amc-list.com/pipermail/amc-list/attachments/20070322/d9c91081/attachm > ent.htm > _______________________________________________ > Amc-list mailing list > Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list