YuppieCL

next car will be AWD

TypeS_boi

My wife wants to get an Audi or Lexus...since that day, I've stopped arguing w/ her. I'm keeping my CLS, looking forward to that rwd or awd!

sgmotoring

I currently own a 01 CLS, 93 Celiac all trac turbo and an 88 MR2 supercharged. I think fwd, AWD and MR all have their advantages and disadvantages. These are just my opinion of my cars and I know there are many argument you can make. Advantages of a FWD cars are that they are easy to drive on a track. You don't have to be a professional to push it to the limit. Controlling is easier, I just need to point and shoot (aim where I want to go and floor it) . It is also more forgiving going into a turn to fast or too slow. I can always lift the throttle a little whenever I think I am going into a turn a too hot (I know too much or braking during a turn will put my car into a bad under steer). When I am going into a turn too slow all I have to do is give it gas and control the car with the gas paddle (I preferred this on an unfamiliar roads). Disadvantage has always been launching in a drag race, can't control tires spin with all that weight shifting to the rear. AWD Advantages are that they have excellent launch and is excellent on a track they just slide side ways when taken to the limit (it doesn't have over or under steer very predictable). Disadvantages are that you need to launch this car right. I have to rev it to about 6000rpm and dump the clutch (very bad for the clutch and drive train) or my car will bog because my clutch will have fully engaged when rpm is very low. With the low rpm I will have so much turbo lag that by the time the turbo kicks in, the car you are racing will be 2 cars ahead (it irritate me that I have to rev the engine at 6k just to have a good launch) . Mid engine rear drives car advantages are that it launch very well and have more consistence launches. The disadvantage is that it is very unpredictable on a track (how much I can push the car through a turn). You could have no tires squeal or slide and suddenly the rear end will break lose. With all that engine weight in the rear, it is very hard to correct that under steer and still stay on the road.

Bobbydoedoe

can someone explain to me what a wheelhop is?
i'm guessing its like from a stop u hit the gas pedal and the car just jump on u. plz correct me if i'm wrong

blackmagiCL_S

RWD...no doubt. I am tired of feeling like the high HP FWD cars are not even worth talking about. I'll go RWD next (or AWD)....after driving the G35s and the is300 I liked the way they felt in the corners. More of a drivers car...not so obvious and hoppy.

amir was here

Squishy

I'm going RWD at the end of the month... my 2004 330Ci is on the boat!!

dets

damn. as much as we love our cl-s, a good majority of us will probably be buying 4wd and awd cars now. I hope acura has an R&D representative browsing through this site. They'll lose alot of drivers if they don't update with the times.

runnerX

My next will be either RWD or AWD..

krolla

It's obvious.. All "real" sports cars are RWD/AWD. FWD is ok for daily driving, but a well ballanced RWD/AWD car offers complete cornering and launch control. We've all experienced understeer during high speed cornering, an experienced driver can utilize the throttle/rear wheels to help steer the car through the corner while accelorating.
Anyone who hasn't tried DRIFTING hasnt really driven. This is the best excercise in learning car control and how to detect loss of grip AND learn the limits of your suspension setup. It also teaches you how to anticipate spin and stay calm during emergency manouvers. Most cars on the road are FWD and many of these drivers would know what to do in the event they lost control and spun their car.

Type S Lady

I'll probably never go back to fwd. I'm On my 3rd Honda, their great but I'm looking into an RWD.

Type S Lady

Hey, you got the SC? How do you like it?

RUF87

FWD is ok and I've had 3, but I'm going back to RWD . . . . or AWD if it's worth it or necessary.

Ruf

runnerX

RWD or AWD, no more FWD for me..

darrinb

i dont mind the fwd in our cars, but i hate it in caddy's...

i still would get another fwd car depending on how it drove...

mattg

DISRUPTV

my next car will be a new 330ci, godwilling....fucking amazing vehicle

Chopsie

Depends on what I am looking at at the time. If I do get a CLS 6mt, it will be fwd for me =)

sgmotoring

I now own a RWD,FWD,4WD,Mid Engine RWD. My newest car is a 00 BMW 328ci 5spd. I have heard so much good stuff about 4wd and Rwd. I admit 4wd is the best handling car for the canyon, but you people should drive a 4cyl turbo 4wd car before you buy one. The RWD hummm..... let say I preferred my FWD over the RWD in an unfamiliar canyon road. After 2 months I still can't push the RWD to the limit without being dangerous. The BMW is a much slower car compare to my CL, but I can't get the feel of it. In my opinion I think you need to be very good RWD driver just keep up with an average FWD driver on unfamiliar canyon road.

Chaptorial

How's that? I've driven one a bunch of times and it did nothing for me.

Joe5.0

I already have a rwd car for the track/drag strip and I prefer the compliance and predictability of fwd in rain/snow. Maybe my next car will be awd, but what everyone needs to remember is that AWD=extra weight, it'll still understeer, lower mpg, worse Cd, higher maintanance costs, more moving parts, etc.

I think the problem with the CL-S is not that its fwd, it's that it has horribly shitty tires stock and doesnt handle as well as it could from the factory.

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

I'll stay with FWD if I can get a 6speed CLS and keep it for a few years, if not I am gonna move onto a 350Z.

DISRUPTV

well, for 04 u can get it w/an smg tranny and the ride is awesome in tems of harshness amd compliance...a very nice balance 2 it even w/ 35 profile tires in the rear....its a very quiet car as well and just seems 2 be rock solid

EricL

AWD -- FWD + RWD. Add in a DSG, CVT, or sequential manual. Those are the current should-have-on-next-car request list.

OTOH, depending on circumstances, may have to settle for sprocket-drive, clinchers, and two wheels.

Marine1

Yeah. What he said.

Crazy Bimmer

After having AWD now... i think i still like RWD better

C The "S"

Sorry guys I'm switchin to the Toyota family. I want a RWD car next, been lookin at either the IS300 or GS line or cars. FWD isn't bad, but I've never really had a rear drive car and I'm lookin forward to it.

mantis23

no more fwd.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

AWD conversion.

cmark

next car will be a Hybrid AWD~~~rear wheels powered by electric engine, front powered by a gas engine

Chief F1 Fan

Well, since I bought the CL, I've also bought a 330xi; a Wrangler and a 350ZR so to answer your question my next car WAS AWD, 4WD and RWD!!

Fabvsix

I did ! I bought a new 2003 Electonic AWD Acura MDX.............................

oonowindoo

if you just need a CAR then FWD will do just fine
If you only want handling dont mind losing alot of HP to the wheel and wasting more gas.. AWD will do

for me who live in California RWD > AWD > FWD

EricL

It depends on what kind of car you learned on and how much "silly" way-to-stupid driving was done at the track and hills during the "formative" years. Add in some pro driving tips and training and it's hard wired.

I spent way too much time 4-wheel-drifting in RWD cars, and if you have well-setup RWD with 50/50 balance, you can do some amazing stuff.

Since I started with an ass-heavy VW and some Porsches, it is really easy to get around the hills in a RWD car. I think that some of the things we learn early in life make a very deep imprint and become instinctual -- I feel that way with well-balanced RWD front engine cars. I got tons of chances to drive a 3-cylinder Saab (what a Saab story), and that sure took a while to sort out.

I still prefer AWD and FWD in the rain and snow. Well, except for runways and other areas where you can only run into snow banks.

You don't want me behind you in a RWD car on a mountain road. This presumes that the cars have equal power-to-weight, good rubber, and similar handling/transient numbers.

The CLS is a nice car to drive at 98%, but I would never try to do the drifting and stuff that I did in my RWD cars.


RE: your Bimmer. It would help to have a place where you could drive without worrying about hitting a school bus or ending up in someone's swimming pool. That, and having a good instructor, can provide a lot of help to switch from "FWD" mode (pull-me-through-the-corner driving) to "RWD" mode.

SLY1TYPES

fwd is ok, but that is why i sold my cls 6spd and m3 b/c the m3 is so much better just b/c its rear wheel drive. With the cls it was fun but it is too much power for fwd with headers and intake, i could not imagine driving a cls w/ supercharger.

Fwd is great for all weather and stuff like that, but i would rather have handeling

rezurex

i have a 330xi, and the CL-S

the handling on my xi is absolutely incredible, cannot compare it to the CL-S... from 0, the xi is also faster too (rolling start, i think the CL-S might actually be neck to neck, not sure, but the xi is also a five speed manual)

next car i get will probably be the skyline coming to the U.S.

Rod

What exactly are the main differences to expect and look out for when switching from FWD to RWD. Of course I know about having the rear end come around, but I've always driven FWD cars and haven't had much experience with RWD cars. The only RWD cars I've had very little time with are an IS300, a G35, and pick-ups, but I never got the chance to really "drive" them. I just remember that I had the last pick-up I drove fish tailing through a lot of turns since the roads were wet which was quite entertaining. I'm interested b/c probably all the cars I'll be looking at when I sell/trade-in the CL will be RWD. What I do like about FWD, and am very used to, is the fact that if I do come out of my line while on a curve all I have to do is give the car some gas and it goes exactly where you want it to.

chungkopi

even though i really like a new TL, but no more FWD for me. i'm thinking about getting an used m3 in 2006

niz181

nah either RWD or AWD

EricL

The quick answer: FWD pulls you through the turns, and I initially had problems with corner entry. I got used to just pulling through the turns by just adding more throttle *and* thinking about pulling through the turns with more power. The RWD is more of a "dance." This is my opinion and how I work it. I like a tad of push in the car on entry -- I'll load up the brakes to unload the rear of the car -- this will depend on the particular turn. The car’s I’ve had were set-up to have 50-50 balance in steady state turns. They would generally push a bit on turn entry and be loose on exit. (Exceptions to this rule: ancient VWs and Porsches with their huge polar moment sitting at the back. If you ever spun one, you’d know that a ton of weight was sitting way back of the car’s center.)

I probably trail-braked my RWDs too much, and would get the rear end loose (not a great thing for decreasing radius turns). The whole "dynamic" of getting into the corner are different -- at least they are for me. I could just brake hard right before the apex, and tweak the wheel, and get the back end of the car to gently start rotating. I'd just gently add power, and counter steer to catch the car at the end of the turn. AT higher speeds I could just setup the car into a long sweeper and try and adjust entry speed to allow pretty hard power application to allow all four wheels to slip. With good balance, all four wheels make about the same level of "swoosh." I’d just add more and more power as I moved past the apex.

I'm missing a ton of important information and I'll give you an analogy: when I was learning to touch-type, I could tell you every key on the keyboard. Now, I can barely remember where keys are ... I just hit them as I think. Same goes with riding a bike, driving a RWD car, a FWD car, and so on. The fishtailing goes away with time and it just a matter of overcorrection. If you nail the RWD the drifts should be clean and controlled even in the wet. The car should be "caught" at the end of the turn (counter steer), and there should be no "bobble." If you have a good instructor, and/or a place to practice without obstructions, you can work with different cambers, surfaces, radiuses, and various turns to see where you might get into trouble and where you will get good with some practice.

The drifting is one thing, and smooth drifting another, and driving smooth is the fast way around. There is something to say, at least in my opinion, to getting the car loose to see how to get it back in shape in different types of turns.

BTW, I’m not advocating or saying that cars must drift around like rally cars. I’m simply suggesting that knowing what a car is doing when at the limit or how to control the car when its out-of-shape is a confidence builder. I hope that the whole idea of drifting and using a large slip angle is not confused with some idea of what’s a fast line or how to get a minimum time on a road course.

Finally, there are some situations and turns where it’s easier to finish the turn with a very light lift off and some serious counter steer.

You might want to get a day or two at one of the driving schools and then see if you can rent a RWD car that you’re considering. As with anything, some cars are really well-balanced and make the driver look great. I’ve always liked the RWD Bimmers for their predictable handling.

I can only add about 1/1000th of the info of a pretty involved subject, but, if you spend some time and get a chance to practise where it's safe, you should be able to get pretty confident and good.