RWD vs FWD

[dmurphy]

I'm surprised that no one yet has mentioned snow and ice.

Because we live where the roads are sometimes slick in the winter, we coughed up the extra money and waited a whole extra year for the dual motor M3.

I have never driven the single motor M3 on ice so I can't speak to that. But I can say that almost everybody who lives in snow country understands that front wheel drive is much better than rear wheel drive, at least in ICE cars. ...We're not talking about stopping, as that can be applied evenly with brakes, we're talking about accelerating where when the car is pulled with the front wheels it tends to squirrel around less on ice. If only pushed by the rear wheels it can spin around. (Not sure if the M3 does this or not).

But I have an open mind. At the time we had to make our decision, I could find no good source of info for how the M3 rear wheel drive does on ice, and we weren't willing to risk getting the wrong model. I suspect this is the reason that I heard that dual motors are outselling single motors.

Still, I someday hope to drive a rear only M3 on ice on a safe open parking lot just to see how it does.

I dropped the extra bucks on the AWD solely for this reason. The performance/0-60 time is immaterial to me, but any advantage I can get in bad weather is most welcome.

 

[Leafdriver333]

With snow tires my BMW rwd 3er did fine in snow. I went skiing with it to the mountain also.

 

[Thp3]

FWD cars exist because of the weight of the engine over the front wheels. It’s almost completely a weight distribution issue. RWD cars had to work at getting weight in the front for steering and traction.

Sports cars used to advertise their front wheel, rear wheel weight distribution.

With EV batteries in the floor in the center of the car, weight distribution is simple. Then RWD cars have advantages in acceleration and steering controls. With good tires RWD Tesla’s do fine in snow. AWD car are abit better in snow especially on inclines.

 

[MrYenko]

Having the appropriate (winter or snow tires, as applicable) on the car is far more important than which wheels are driving the vehicle.

An AWD vehicle on all-seasons in cold weather is in a far worse situation than a RWD one wearing proper winter tires. All-seasons start to turn into solid chunks of granite under about 20°F.

 

[Grossie]

Togg is correct about snow and ice.

Historically fwd ICE cars were better on slippery roads because the weight of the car was concentrated where that heavy engine is, in front. Back in the day people kept heavy things in the trunk of rwd ICE cars to help with traction (like big sandbags). With Teslas it's different- the weight is distributed more evenly and the car is heavier. I don't doubt that the rwd model 3 is much better in the snow than a rwd ICE car.

I can vouch for the model S awd being much better at snow than an awd ICE car. I've lived in Chicago for a long time, owned a bunch of awd cars. None has been nearly as good as the model S at getting out of my alley after a snow storm. The weight of the car allows it to push snow out of the way and not get stuck in the ruts. (if you've ever driven a Chicago alley after a 10" storm you know what I mean)

Yenko- spoken like a guy from Florida! Ever driven up a hill in Montreal in a snowstorm or out of an alley in Chicago after a snowstorm? I've done both. Snow tires are great, proper weight distribution is better!

 

[MrYenko]

I got a chance to drive an AWD Dodge Journey in Alaska in winter. All-seasons suck in the snow, I don’t care what wheels are driving.