I fancied adding my two pence worth to a few of these. I think what would be good is to have an official motors Q&A/FAQ with answers, and then you can debate/disagree/add to that answer through consensus.
For maximum performance you want to shift when the acceleration in the next gear, at the lower RPM, is greater than the gear you are in at the higher RPM. Acceleration can be inferred from the amount of torque at the wheels, and that can be calculated by using a torque curve of the engine output (ideally the wheel output, as if it's engine output you need to factor in non-linear increases in transmission losses) and the gear ratios. You can then plot a curve for each gear on a graph with an X axis of MPH and a Y axis of torque at the wheels. Where the curves cross over is where you need to change gear for maximum acceleration.
Those situations in a RWD car result in the overteering instead of understeering, and lifting off in that situation will likely snap you around in the other direction, causing a spin. The speed of your reactions and ability to override your instinct to lift off are key to not binning a RWD car. Most people don't test themselves in these situations until it's actually happening, usually when it's wet and they are going too fast, so it's no surprise they crash.
In a modern car equipped with an Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system I would say there's little difference day-to-day between RWD and FWD per se, but the extra power typical of RWD cars often contributes to problems.
Sort of true. It certainly used to be the case, before automatics had the sort of 'intelligence' they had now, that they would relatively frequently make bad gear decisions. However, good modern automatic transmissions are so effective at deciding on a gear, that they are actually more fuel efficient from that perspective than manual transmissions.
For purposes of maximum economy it's relatively hard to tell. Early would be a good bet, but not so early it labours in the next gear. The idea of waiting for peak torque isn't true (think of a VTEC - peak torque may be at 5000 RPM and it's certainly not most fuel efficient to even slowly work your way to 5000 RPM instead of just changing at 2000 RPM).
For maximum performance you want to shift when the acceleration in the next gear, at the lower RPM, is greater than the gear you are in at the higher RPM. Acceleration can be inferred from the amount of torque at the wheels, and that can be calculated by using a torque curve of the engine output (ideally the wheel output, as if it's engine output you need to factor in non-linear increases in transmission losses) and the gear ratios. You can then plot a curve for each gear on a graph with an X axis of MPH and a Y axis of torque at the wheels. Where the curves cross over is where you need to change gear for maximum acceleration.
That depends how hard people say they are. The reason FWD is considered 'easier' or 'safer' is that in a situation where you lose traction due to driving too fast in to a corner or accelerating too hard during a corner it is relatively intuitive to resolve it - just let go of the pedals. If you lift off after entering a corner too fast you will begin reducing speed, some weight will transfer to the front, and more traction will be available for the car to corner rather than accelerate, resulting in an overall increase in your directional control. If you are accelerating too hard when cornering and lift off, then instead of understeering and running wide, it will very quickly return to cornering without accelerating. There is the possibility of lift-off-oversteer, but that is reasonably rare unless you are seriously pressing on or you have relatively poor rear tyres. Even if it does happen, it often corrects itself in light situations.
Those situations in a RWD car result in the overteering instead of understeering, and lifting off in that situation will likely snap you around in the other direction, causing a spin. The speed of your reactions and ability to override your instinct to lift off are key to not binning a RWD car. Most people don't test themselves in these situations until it's actually happening, usually when it's wet and they are going too fast, so it's no surprise they crash.
In a modern car equipped with an Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system I would say there's little difference day-to-day between RWD and FWD per se, but the extra power typical of RWD cars often contributes to problems.
like yourself, pretty much all the cars I have owned get driven hard and as of yet the worst thing I have had to put up with in 8 years motoring is a hgf. 
