Opinions on FWD vs. AWD

[boostedawd42]

Well I have been looking at buying another talon recently and personally I am a 1g kind of guy. I have always had AWD talons and loved them, but this time I came across one of the cleanest 1g talons I have ever seen. The only problem is that its FWD. Now I have had fast AWD talons and they are fun as hell but this car will never be a dedicated track car so I was wondering if it would be that big of a deal if it was FWD.

I am looking at making some decent power so I would like some first hand experience with people that have had FWD talons with a decent amount of power(around 400-450whp).

 

[JEFFREYCASTGSX]

Really? Why are we comparing a honda to a DSM? It's called Weight to Power Ratio dude. WTF

Uhhhh, ok.

 

[FactoryChrome]

What's your point? Regardless of Kevin's impressive success with his FWD 1G, this particular thread is about a 400WHP street driven FWD VS AWD. Kevin's tall tired, slicked, wheel bar equipped 1G doesn't really fit into this category.

So you're saying that a FWD making far less power cannot hook and get good times enough to beat an AWD?

I will have fun running my car at the track OVER and OVER while... you guys puke tranny and xfer case guts on the track and make everyone wait an hour while they clean that stuff up. Lol. Most people don't launch right anyway.

Who here HONESTLY knows the proper way to use the 2-step to build boost on the line and load the transmission? I know some do, but it is not surprising to me the amount that most likely do not. Just wang out the rev limiter and lift the clutch

 

[thewraith]

You have ABSOLUTELY no idea what you're talking about- where are YOUR timeslips??? Even in the domestic big block arena- awd's are respected and feared for what they are. Are you kidding here?

 

[habitatguy187]

Please stop man. We all know that fwd can hook too like a stock awd with nothing but thousands of dollars invested. Ok, we get it.

 

[99gst_racer]

So you're saying that a FWD making far less power cannot hook and get good times enough to beat an AWD?

Open your ears. I'm saying that a 400 WHP AWD 2G will be quicker and more more capable of using it's power ON THE STREET than a 400 WHP FWD 2G. I proved this to myself with my GST that I converted to a GSX years back when it was putting down 400 WHP. It's that simple. I don't need to babble about Honda's, or FWD racecars at the track to know this information is true.

I will have fun running my car at the track OVER and OVER while... you guys puke tranny and xfer case guts on the track and make everyone wait an hour while they clean that stuff up. Lol. Most people don't launch right anyway.

Funny you mention this. I've only ever lost one transmission in my 9 years of DSMing. It was a FWD tranny with 65K on it. I've never had an issue with an AWD tranny, t-case, rearend, or any axle for that matter. I must be doing something wrong, right?

 

[dsm-onster]

Kevin I stand completely corrected.

Chrome, to add you what Paul said about STREETABLILITY, your FWD manual tranny won't last any more. Infact, it has a WEAKER 3rd gear and a final drive ratio that puts MORE strain on the tranny gearset. If your FWD has as much traction as an AWD, then it would be breaking as frequently.

You can't just put aside cost and say its not involved in the conversation. It is. It always is.

thewraith, yes the FWD has only the front axles to break. And the AWD supplies half the shock and torque to the front. More torque equals more chance to break. Not less parts means less chance to break.

 

[mainerdsm]

Why are we arguing apple's to orange's any way. I honestly think stock for stock they both have thier up's and down's but to be realistic an awd setup will alway's hook up better and be easier to be a dd making over 400whp. I mean Not to be a stickler here but think of it this way. I know a guy with a stage 2 srt-4 he's making 398whp on 93 octane fuel. On 110 ocatane race fuel he's making 425whp. IM making 265awhp (no it is not stock so don't call me out im not bluffing) I would love to have his car for the fact the amount of hour's he's put in to it. Until 70mph he is spinning the tire's from a dead stop on drag radial's. I've seen this car go it's no joke. But from 0-75 IM Way ahead of him by atleast 3.5 car length's. Just for the shear fact that he can't get any traction. Even on drag radial's. His car's dropped suspension well over $10k in the car. And I have a little under $2k in mine. He car destroy's mine no doubt after 75mph. MY point is if your going from a dig awd will alway's have the advantage doesn't vs a fwd even if the fwd is pushing big number's. It's just physic's. But honestly does it really matter? IF I pulled up to say one of you with a fwd at a stop light And I could tell you had some time under the hood I'd try to run you, I'm not gonna Bs And act like I'm all hot shit with my awd. IF I had a tsi I'd do the same thing. Does it matter what each and every one of us like's, Yes it does but only to ourselve's . 2 cent's input.

 

[CJTurbo]

Wow, I've got a headache reading all of this.

To the OP - FWD is great with a small turbo (16g) and good suspension with a LSD. Once you go beyond that power wise hold on tight, between torque steer and wheel slip. I have a 94 FWD and plan on running HX40 - not sure how that is going to pan out as now I have a built motor and tranny with a 20g 2 stage boost controller and it is very difficult to keep the power down. If you plan on keeping the 16g buy it and have fun just remember... get yourself some sticky tires
DSM Monster - did you ever run wheelie bars?

 

[dsm-onster]

No wheelie bars. I wanted to drive back and forth from the track and didn't want to have to build a car that only is effective at the track. I was trying to build a car that could be frequently driven in the same condition that net me a certain ET.

 

[lastshark08]

im a fwd guy. i baught my fwd for the simple fact of less stuff to go wrong . my cars already a money pit just figured i would have less problems on a fwd car. although we dont hook for crap we can do some burnouts for kicks and giggles

 

[bertrenolds]

Just thought I would put in my 2cents, I have a 1g fwd and yes it is a nice DD and that's what I use it for and I will have around 300hp and that's all I really need. There are less things that need to be replaced on a FWD and the car weighs less since there is no transfer case ect. I look at it as if I ever line up to a honduh that I've evened it out a little bit and beating him makes it that much better.

AWD's are quicker off the line and are great for cornering at higher speeds and in veriable conditions. Obviously having traction is worth the steering problems AWD's have. I am sort of looking for a 1g awd but there is no way I'm getting rid of my FWD as my daily driver.

AWD= race track car that you will never drive because it's always broken from launching it. I have an AWD friend with several trannys laying around and parts galore because they break launching.
FWD= fun daily driver that you can't break the tranny on because you can never get enough traction and it gets good MPG.

 

[SeaveeDSM]

For FWD making power, its all about TIRES, LSD and to a lesser extent shocks/springs. Properly done you can get into the 400whp range and the car can be a blast and a rocket too.

I'm making now 429 whp and 348 ft lbs torque on my DD 2G FWD. Initially I had to learn with that power how to really control the throttle, tuned with EBC on ECMlink and got a really good feel for the car and not spin too much - all on my OLD crappy tires. That learning really came in handy when I recently, finally got GREAT tires (Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs) and now I can really push the car very very hard without excessive wheel spin or torque steering - even from a dead stop or slow roll. From a 20-30 mph roll the car is very, very quick and from a 50+ roll it is a beast.

Both FWD and AWD have their + and -. Neither is the "be all and end all" over the other either.