Am I wrong to discount cars simply because they are FWD?

Hate

Hate

Hate

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
7,175
Location
Sussex
I'm looking to move on from my 2002 Audi S3 soon into a newer car. I've been looking at a bunch of cars including BMW 3 Series coupes, facelift A3s and the mk5 Golf GTI etc etc. (~200hp sporty hatches / coupes)

But I find myself instantly discounting cars such as a MK5 Golf GTI simply because it's front wheel drive car... I know my Haldex isn't 'true' AWD but I enjoyed not having any torque steer and living up one hill and working up another meant I could actually get myself and some colleagues to work during the snow and ice we had in the winter.

Now, my last FWD car I had about 6 years ago was the Honda Prelude and without any form of traction control it was a bit primitive. Are more modern FWD powerful vehicles better nowadays?

I know that 99% of the time and in the weather we have a FWD car will be perfectly fine but I can't help but think I'll be taking a step back if I get a FWD car.

Am I mad for discounting FWD?
 
nothing wrong with haldex as an awd solution and yes your right to discount fwd anything with big power. if you have the choice get it driving all 4 wheels or the "proper" wheels
 
[TW]Fox;19239663 said:
No.

Though perhaps yes if you are looking at A3's etc because they are pretty much FWD anyway, so you might as well consider the Golf.
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Yup this is what I am thinking, my S3 is Haldex and is probably FWD most of the time but I don't get torque steer or lighting up the wheels on wet roads at junctions I used to get with the Honda.
 
My old prelude had 200hp and was FWD and it wasn't the best driving experience if I'm honest.
 
Hate said:
My old prelude had 200hp and was FWD and it wasn't the best driving experience if I'm honest.
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And that was a 4th gen if I remember rightly? Things have moved on a bit from an almost 20 year old design ;)

Personally yes you are wrong, there are many decent FWD cars out there, but it all depends on what you want.

Current-ish crop of hot hatches aren't exactly bad with FWD, Clios and Meganes, Focus RS etc seem to do alright.
 
Some FWD cars are superb, Focus RS, Megane R26.R etc.

But go with RWD or 4WD and see what you think to it.

On a UK road 4WD is the most capable, greatly shown in wet conditions.

RWD gives the most feelsome driving experience, very connected.

Just go drive lots of different cars and go with what you enjoy the most.
 
As a driver,speaking purely from a "seat of the pants feel" point of view, I'd say no not at all.

As Gibbo implys, with some, FWD is cool by me!
 
Speaking from the other side. After driving my mates s15 im hooked on getting rwd now, cant wait till ive got some funds for a new car.
 
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