Are rear wheel drive cars faster and do they handle better that front wheel drive cars?

Front wheel drive cars became popular with consumers because of their better adverse weather handing and more tame driving characteristics. That is, since FWD cars are typically majorly front heavy, when pushed too fast in a corner they tend to understeer, the front wheels will start skidding. Minor understeer is corrected by merely slowing down, the natural reaction for the driver. A RWD car in a turn has a much higher chance of undergoing oversteer, where the back wheels start to spin out. If you've ever seen the motorsport of drifting, it's just oversteering with style. Oversteer requires more effort and driver skill to recover from.

From a manufacturing standpoint, FWD is cheaper to make because it uses less materials by packing everything in tighter, and on the assembly line they can install the entire drivetrain in one step.

Like the previous answer said, RWD set-ups can often handle more torque, because FWD cars have to get the power down to the front wheels that are also being steered back and forth. This requires a lot of interesting transmission equipment, which tends to be more fragile.

When you get on the gas in any car, the weight shifts to the rear, on a RWD car, this means that there is effectively more traction on the rear tires, the opposite is true for the front tires. This can be seen in drag races where there is often so much weight transfer and resulting traction that the front wheels are able to come off the ground. What it means is that you will be able to put more power down without spinning the wheels, so you would be able to accelerate faster.

I mentioned the weight distribution earlier, but RWD cars tend to have the weight more event split between the front and back of the car (instead of mostly up front), which greatly improves handling.

If you look at all of the expensive "drivers" cars like BMW, Porsche, super cars, they are all RWD (or AWD) and for good reason. Don't get me wrong, FWD is great, but the focus is on practicality not performance.

(This may have gone slightly outside the scope of the question, but I hope it's helpful)

edit:

on FWD you actually loose a lot of power because the transmission has some irregular geometry to get to the wheels, and the CV joints sap a bit more efficiency. However, in most cases the FWD platform will still have less drivetrain losses than a RWD.

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

Are rear wheel drive cars faster and do they handle better that front wheel drive cars?

...and why are most sports cars rear wheel drive? Does that make them take corners better or worse? Why do they make cars only rear wheel drive cause they suck to drive in the snow.

FWD's tend to understeer.Understeer happens when the front wheels start to plow straight even if you have the steering wheel turned. Front-wheel-drive cars are susceptible to understeer because power is being sent to the same wheels that steer the car, and when the tires start spinning there’s no grip to steer. If your front tire tread has ever been packed with snow or mud, you know the feeling of understeer because, as you turn the wheel, the car keeps going straight...

RWD's tend to oversteer. Oversteer is the tendency for the rear end to slide out or fishtail. In responsible everyday driving, there’s no reason oversteer should be a concern. In rain, snow or mud, however, the rear end of rear-wheel-drive cars can creep out on you. Traction and stability control can minimize that fishtailing. The exhibition sport of drifting is an activity that revolves around oversteer; drivers pitch their specially-built cars sideways and smoke the tires at high speeds.

but if your not racing you shouldnt have to worry about this

Rear wheel drive is very good for high performance cars with large engines. With rear wheel drive, the car maker can put the engine and transmission further back - and achieve a better distribution of weight in the vehicle. This enables an experienced driver to handle turns very well. (Whereas it can be difficult to make a front-engined car to turn tightly at speed).

Inexperienced drivers can end up going into a spin.

The main difference is as the guy said who stated that FR (front engine rear wheel drive) cars are better because one set of tires pushes, the other steers. That being said, it is easier for unskilled drivers to control ff cars, they are considered safer, and that is why they are being manufactured. If you are skilled (see D1, or Keiichi Tsuchiya) you can be faster with FR. However most people can't perform at this level and honestly shouldn't try outside of a parking lot. Tires and suspension also make a big difference - in snow, slicks or asphalt tires won't keep up. Get an acura or toyota celica for an ff sports car (Civics aren't sports cars, no matter how badly the ricers want it to be) If you can afford it, get an Evo or ST-I for all wheel drive with lots of power and good handling, although they aren't traditional sports car.

I had an 07 C230 RWD. In the snow it is absolutely terrible!!! I had to put about 200lbs in the trunk just to be able to move. With the ESP on, I don't skid out, but then I also DON"T MOVE even with the pedal to the floor. I had to turn it off to get out of the snow, and then turn it back on before I skid out. If your in an area with snow, best advice, get a AWD!

Traction has always been a problem with RWD vehicles, because of the lower rear vehicle weight over the drive wheels

The disadvantages of FWD are mainly the decrease in vehicle handling ability. With more weight over the front of the automobile, the back end tends to become very light. Rear tire traction is decreased and the car may swap ends on icy roads easier. This has been overcome by designers somewhat by placing as much weight as possible further back in the vehicle. Ideal weight distribution is often described as 50/50 front to rear, but FWD cars seldom get near this.

How about all wheel drive! Porsche uses AWD on a Carrera model to enhance performance and traction. Subaru has won several world rally championships with all wheel drive. The debate on what drive system is best still continues, and probably will for as long as we drive.

Front wheel is more practical in a colder climate that you need to drive your car all year.

If it is a car you can store in the winter or you live in a place with no snow then go real wheel drive.

From a science part would you put horses behind a buggy or in front?

Do loggers drag a log up a mountain or push the log?

It seems like your mind is already made up, but it all really depends on what you're used to and what you expect as far as performance is concerned.

Rear-wheel drive cars use a forward-facing engine and transmission, thus allowing for greater torque and better power conversion. The larger transmission and rear-end gear can be made to provide more torque and power, thus resulting in better acceleration and speed.

Front-wheel drive vehicles commonly employ a transverse (sideways) mounted engine and a smaller transmission and two smaller transaxles, which limits the torque, power, and turning radius of the vehicle. While these vehicles may "handle" better under adverse conditions such as rain or snow (which is a matter of personal preference), the sacrifice is performance.

Any reciprocating weight that the engine has to turn is wasted horse power. So for a given HP engine, a two wheel drive car can go faster more efficiently then an AWD. RWD is preferred because FWD puts undo stress on only one set of wheels. A sports car demands balance, so RWD is preferred.

rear wheel or front wheel ,ether could be fast it depends on the motor. personally i think rear wheel drive cars should be for rear motor cars because the wight is ware it needs to be (on the wheels that moves the car, so you would get more tire traction instead of burning out when you give it a Little gas) like in cars with front motor and rear wheel drive.) most sports cars are rear wheel drive because you could Handel the car better and the wheels pushes the car instead of pulling like front wheel drive cars do.

it seems to me that you want something fast, good in handling, and a sports car. i would suggest an Mitsubishi Evo 8 or Subaru WRX sti, its a sports car, its fast great in handling and snow,and it's all wheel drive so you want half to bother about about front or rear wheel drive cars.