Back in the 1980s GM, Ford, and Chrysler transitioned nearly all of their rear-wheel-drive cars to front-wheel-drive. The primary reason: front-wheel-drive cars inherently weigh a little less because there’s no need for a driveshaft running about half the length of the car, and reducing weight helps fuel economy. Other reasons included the superior space efficiency of front-wheel-drive cars, since the transmission and drivetrain don’t intrude into the passenger compartment, and safer handling on slippery roads.
These were major advantages in the 1980s. But do they remain true today?
Weight: here front-wheel-drive cars maintain an advantage, as there’s no gettiing around the extra weight of the driveshaft.
Space efficiency: here the disadvantage of rear-wheel-drive isn’t nearly what it was. Domestic cars traditionally had non-independent “live” rear suspensions. If both wheels hit a bump at the same time, the entire axle and driveshaft moved upwards with the wheels. So the floorpan of the car had to bulge upward quite a bit over these components to provide sufficient clearance. Result: a huge “hump” and greatly reduced cargo volume.
Modern rear-wheel-drive cars, on the other hand, have independent rear-suspensions. With these, the driveshaft and differential do not move when a wheel hits a bump, so the floorpan can fit much more tightly around them.
The transmission still extends rearward into the passenger area, but this is only a major factor for cars with bench front seats. These are very rare in recent years. Instead, even front-wheel-drive cars have large center consoles, sacrificing much of their additional space efficiency in the name of styling.
Winter driving: here as well the advantage of front-wheel-drive isn’t nearly what it was back in the 1980s. First off, modern suspensions, more precise steering systems, more balanced weight distributions, and today’s all-season tires all add up to far better handling than that of traditional domestic cars. Beyond that, you can buy excellent winter tires these days–I recommend them for any car that will frequently be driven in the snow–even those with all-wheel-drive. Finally, more and more cars have stability control as standard equipment. This electronic system selectively modulates the brakes to keep the car from fishtailing or otherwise deviating from your intended course.
How well does it work? This winter in Detroit I personally drove a Lexus GS 400, a powerful rear-wheel-drive car. It’s a 2000, so its stability control system is not as advanced as that on a new car. Even so, I experienced no trouble driving the car on snowy roads. Better than that, with rear-wheel-drive it’s possible to have a little fun in turns by giving the car just a bit more gas than is wise. Well, I had fun. My wife in the passenger seat, not so much.
Morale of the story: many of the advantages of front-wheel-drive are now history. But when will public perceptions catch up?