Rear-wheel-drive cars provide the best driving experience
With the ever increasing need for efficiency and low manufacturing costs, most automakers have decided to embrace front wheel drive cars, but here are three cars that will make you wish we never knew FWD.
We are all familiar with front-wheel-drive(FWD) cars. They are everywhere and we have no say in the matter. Many don't see the appeal of rear wheel drive (RWD) vehicles or how different their handling characteristics are from their front wheel drive counterparts.
There are two reasons why FWD cars have taken over the world. Firstly, its all about cost as cars that are powered by their front wheels do not need power to be transferred to the rear. Therefore there is no need for a heavy rear differential. Because they don't need a number of these mechanical components, manufacturing costs are considerably lower.
Apart from that, FWD cars are safer to handle especially when in the hands of inexperienced drivers. RWD cars have a tendency to over-steer when sudden inputs are given to the steering wheel. This is because the rear wheels loose grip with the sudden change in direction. Though the front wheels have steered the car in the right direction, the rear wheels, especially at high speed, don't have the grip to keep up. This will cause the car to spin out. FWD cars don't have this issue. They only under-steer when pushed too hard. Meaning though the front wheel have been turned in the right direction, the car keeps going straight. This can be bad too but at least its easier to deal with than a car with the tail hanging out.
In the hands of a professional, RWD cars are actually better than FWD ones. This is because proper throttle input and precise steering can get you out of bad situations faster than it would take front wheel drive ones to do the same.
A FWD car cannot have more than 250bhp if it intends on successfully putting all the power to the road. RWD ones on the other hand can cope with massive amounts of power, which is why all muscle cars and supercars are driven by their rear wheels. Having lots of power sent to the rear can only mean one thing, a lot of side way skids and huge amounts of tail happy sliding.
Which is the reason why many of us want to own one. We have put together a list three cars we think truly invoke the spirit of rear wheel enjoyment:
Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni
Valentino Balboni is Lamborghini's most cherished test driver. He has test driven very single Lamborghini since 1973. His input has given birth to some of the best handling Lamborghini cars to date. To celebrate his long and illustrious career at the company, Lamborghini introduced the Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni.
It’s basically a Gallardo that was built the Balboni way. So instead of the usual four-wheel drive setup that Lambos are known for, this particular variant of the Gallardo came with two-wheel drive and could be had with a six-speed manual transmission. Under the hood lay a 5.2-litre V10 capable of developing 550bhp.
It's able to sprint from 0-100km/h in just 3.9 seconds. The car provided very good driving characteristics never experienced since the Diablo. Getting your hands on one is going to be tough as Lamborghini only made 250 cars.
Ford GT
The legendary GT40 made Ford a force to be reckoned with in the world of motorsports when it won the 24 Hours of Le mans four consecutive times. The GT was built to pay homage to its legendary ancestor as well as a way to celebrate Ford’s 100th year anniversary.
The car that it was built to beat was the Ferrari 360 and despite the GT being a heftier car, was more than capable of sticking it to the Ferrari. This fast Ford was powered by a supercharged 5.4-litre V8 engine, which put out 550bhp and an incredible 678Nm of torque. It was a muscle car as well as finely tuned sports car. It had the V8 rumble of a 427 Cobra but the finesse of a Ferrari meaning the GT was one hell of a RWD car.
SRT Viper
Gone are the days when the Viper was known as the Dode Viper. Today, the company calls it the SRT Viper. SRT (Street & Racing Technology) is Doge’s performance division and the new Viper is their best creation yet. The exterior is far more muscular than before and sports menacing daytime running lights. Under the extremely long front bonnet lies a 8.4-litre V10 engine that puts out 640bhp and 814Nm of torque.
The car comes equipped with massive tyres and has the largest contact patch of any production car. At the front are P295/30ZR18 while the rear wheels are fitted with P355/30ZR19. It is widely considered one of the best Viper cars made to date. While still retaining the tail happy nature of its predecessors, the SRT Viper is far more controllable on the limit, making driving it, a less scary affair.
