Car question: FWD, AWD, RWD?

[iLog.Genius]

Depends on car/application. As cars get more and more power, AWD is the way to go. I drove a M6 Gran Coupe and unless you're in the perfect conditions, trying to drive on two wheels is just troublesome even with proper snow tires.

For me, anything 300HP/300TQ or less, I would take RWD - you just don't need AWD unless you absolutely get hammered by snow. I have a E90 RWD and a F36 xDrive. Do I have to be just a bit more cautious when driving my E90? Sure but not enough where I wouldn't choose RWD for my F36 had BMW given the option here in Canada.

 

[jav6454]

I'll take AWD, much more balanced in terms of power to the tire/wheel.

 

[hallux]

Comparing AWD systems of comparable vehicles, I'll just leave these here:

Spoiler alert - Subaru wins...

 

[bunnspecial]

My current DD is FWD, and although I like the car I REALLY miss RWD. In fact, I've gone shopping more than once in the past few months for a V8/RWD sedan. They are certainly out there-just nothing has quite clicked with me the same way as my last car.

At least I do have a fun "tossable" RWD sports car for nice days, even though it's not fast.

In terms of snow-with good tires I never really had issues with a nicely balanced RWD car. FWD is a bit more forgiving of less than perfect tires, but I've been able to get out of situations there again with good tires that the worn tires on FWD sedan needed a push. I should also add that we don't get enough snow here to go to full blown snow tires, so I get good all seasons. When the roads have a 1/4" of ice, no one is going anywhere anyway.

I'll take RWD full time-thanks.

 

[senseless]

People confuse FWD for "Four Wheel Drive" all the time. That and "Breaks".

 

[bunnspecial]

One other thing-on the snow, just accept that I'm going to slide. I find slides more controllable and recovery more intuitive in RWD than in FWD, although a lot of that could be a matter of just a LOT more RWD miles in my life.

 

[Gregg2]

I've been told that AWD with traction control can result in having a very expensive flat tire, if that occurs. Say you've driven 30,000 miles and have a flat that cannot be repaired. You then need 4 new tires if you can't find a tire with wear similar to the other three. With one tire new and three that worn, the traction control will engage constantly, and burn out. That's more $ than 4 tires. And in this scenario, you might have another 20,000 to run those original tires.

 

[Juicy Box]

I've been told that AWD with traction control can result in having a very expensive flat tire, if that occurs. Say you've driven 30,000 miles and have a flat that cannot be repaired. You then need 4 new tires if you can't find a tire with wear similar to the other three. With one tire new and three that worn, the traction control will engage constantly, and burn out. That's more $ than 4 tires. And in this scenario, you might have another 20,000 to run those original tires.

This is true for AWD, but you don't have to buy 4 new tires.

Companies, such as tirerack.com, you can buy tire shaving services. You tell them the %, and they will shave it off.

This is used for many different reasons, one of them is when you have a unrepairable flat.

I suspect most people don't know about this.

 

[hallux]

I've been told that AWD with traction control can result in having a very expensive flat tire, if that occurs. Say you've driven 30,000 miles and have a flat that cannot be repaired. You then need 4 new tires if you can't find a tire with wear similar to the other three. With one tire new and three that worn, the traction control will engage constantly, and burn out. That's more $ than 4 tires. And in this scenario, you might have another 20,000 to run those original tires.

Yup, Subaru specifies in the manual what tread depth difference is allowed. I picked up a screw in one of the tires on my Subaru with 23,000 on the original tires - I put 4 new ones on (knowing about the option of getting one new one and shaving it) but got a bunch of the money back because the Subaru extended warranty I bought covers road hazard on the original tires and allows for pro-rated replacement of all four if one has to be replaced once they reach a certain tread depth.

 

[jeyf]

I've been told that AWD with traction control can result in having a very expensive flat tire, if that occurs. Say you've driven 30,000 miles and have a flat that cannot be repaired. You then need 4 new tires if you can't find a tire with wear similar to the other three...

given a situation where there are no flat tires it would still be still extremely unlikely all (4) tires will wear the same.

 

[Juicy Box]

given a situation where there are no flat tires it would still be still extremely unlikely all (4) tires will wear the same.

That is why you rotate them.

 

[A.Goldberg]

I've been told that AWD with traction control can result in having a very expensive flat tire, if that occurs. Say you've driven 30,000 miles and have a flat that cannot be repaired. You then need 4 new tires if you can't find a tire with wear similar to the other three. With one tire new and three that worn, the traction control will engage constantly, and burn out. That's more $ than 4 tires. And in this scenario, you might have another 20,000 to run those original tires.

That is why you rotate them.

My parents have a 2012 Range Rover Sport and supposedly that thing chews through tires every 30,000 or so. It probably has to do with the 6,900lb girth of the car. At least it’s the HSE model so I believe it has smaller wheels than the Supercharged.

They also have an Lexus IS350 AWD which has offset wheels (wider back tires than front), so you can’t rotate the tires and therefore reduces their lifespan.

 

[Juicy Box]

My parents have a 2012 Range Rover Sport and supposedly that thing chews through tires every 30,000 or so. It probably has to do with the 6,900lb girth of the car. At least it’s the HSE model so I believe it has smaller wheels than the Supercharged.

They also have an Lexus IS350 AWD which has offset wheels (wider back tires than front), so you can’t rotate the tires and therefore reduces their lifespan.

You can rotate staggered setups, I have a car with a staggered setup and the manufacturer recommends rotating them left to right. I don't, do to having directional tires and having to demount them every time.

On some cars, the full size spare is apart of the rotation. Probably not too many newer cars though.

As for your IS350, if it has a staggered wheel/tires, it obviously doesn't require front/rear rotations, and you don't have to worry about front and rear uneven tire wear, but most AWD vehicles on the road do not have a staggered setup.

 

[A.Goldberg]

You can rotate staggered setups, I have a car with a staggered setup and the manufacturer recommends rotating them left to right. I don't, do to having directional tires and having to demount them every time.

On some cars, the full size spare is apart of the rotation. Probably not to many newer cars though.

As for your IS350, if it has a staggered wheel/tires, it obviously doesn't require front/rear rotations, and you don't have to worry about front and rear uneven tire wear, but most AWD vehicles on the road do not have a staggered setup.

The stock tires are directional/asymmetrical so you cannot flip them side to side. Sorry I forgot to mention that.

 

[Juicy Box]

The stock tires are directional/asymmetrical so you cannot flip them side to side. Sorry I forgot to mention that.

Just curious, is the directional/asymmetrical tires from the factory? Are they summer or AS? How many miles do you get out of the tires before you have to replace them?

I never understood staggered tires on an AWD, I am not sure what the benefit would be of it. I wonder how many diffs were damaged due to uneven tire wear?

As for me, on two of my cars (a FF and MR with staggered setup), I have directional summer tires, Dunlop direzza star spec. I have been using them for years, back when I think they were just direzzas sport, or just ZI, or something like that.

While I love them, I am thinking I might go with an asymmetrical in the future just because of the rotation issue. Having them remounted do to rotation is not only expensive, but I question the constant stretching of the bead.

The FF, the right side wears quicker, so while I can rotate front to back, I always have one side that that is worn more.

The MR with staggered, the fronts never, ever, wear, well it seems that way. The rears wear pretty quickly, which make sense to all the weight on them, but the right side wears a little more. It has LSD, I am not sure how the wear is effecting it, it isn't that huge of a difference, but it would be nice to rotate them without having them remounted.

 

[D.T.]

RS3 wheel/tire config, *larger* on the front

Regardless of the design/performance goals, that's very odd from a purely aesthetic perspective.

 

[A.Goldberg]

Just curious, is the directional/asymmetrical tires from the factory? Are they summer or AS? How many miles do you get out of the tires before you have to replace them?

I never understood staggered tires on an AWD, I am not sure what the benefit would be of it. I wonder how many diffs were damaged due to uneven tire wear?

As for me, on two of my cars (a FF and MR with staggered setup), I have directional summer tires, Dunlop direzza star spec. I have been using them for years, back when I think they were just direzzas sport, or just ZI, or something like that.

While I love them, I am thinking I might go with an asymmetrical in the future just because of the rotation issue. Having them remounted do to rotation is not only expensive, but I question the constant stretching of the bead.

The FF, the right side wears quicker, so while I can rotate front to back, I always have one side that that is worn more.

The MR with staggered, the fronts never, ever, wear, well it seems that way. The rears wear pretty quickly, which make sense to all the weight on them, but the right side wears a little more. It has LSD, I am not sure how the wear is effecting it, it isn't that huge of a difference, but it would be nice to rotate them without having them remounted.

Not my car, my father’s, but if I remember they are Bridgestone all season tires. I suppose he could switch them to a symmetrical tire. As far as I know they were the original tires on the car and had to change them around 33-34k.

I’ll have to ask the next time I talk to him what he did for replacements or take a look myself. He’s 65 years old and isn’t looking for performance (the few times I’ve been in the car it’s always been in “eco mode”) so the whole offset wheels and assymetric tires is overkill.

I suggested he buy a GS350 but he said he wanted something smaller despite the negligible price difference. I think he would have been happier comfort wise and he wouldn’t have to deal with the staggered wheel setup (which apparently he was not aware of when he bought it).

 

[quagmire]

My parents have a 2012 Range Rover Sport and supposedly that thing chews through tires every 30,000 or so. It probably has to do with the 6,900lb girth of the car. At least it’s the HSE model so I believe it has smaller wheels than the Supercharged.

They also have an Lexus IS350 AWD which has offset wheels (wider back tires than front), so you can’t rotate the tires and therefore reduces their lifespan.

Only 30,000 miles? I’ll be lucky to get the OEM tires on my Camaro to last 15,000 miles.

Luckily at the rate I’m currrntly driving and only put 2300 miles on the summer tires before having to put my winter wheel setup, it will be awhile before they wear out. Probably dry rot before I run out of tread.

 

[2298754]

RS3 wheel/tire config, *larger* on the front

View attachment 751504

Regardless of the design/performance goals, that's very odd from a purely aesthetic perspective.

The larger front tyres are bundled with the optional ceramic brakes (front axle only) in the Dynamic Plus package. Very odd indeed...

 

[SactoGuy18]

For me here in California, FWD. I've had no issues with my 2015 Honda Fit EX even in very wet weather (like last winter).

 

[0388631]

The larger front tyres are bundled with the optional ceramic brakes (front axle only) in the Dynamic Plus package. Very odd indeed...

I'm going to wing this, but I assume the larger tires are for better traction, and the ceramics are due to the extra weight directly on the axles since the Audi engines are pushed back in most models. If you can get the car moving at idle and do some tight turns, you should be able to pick up on some chatter from them or some strange feedback. The ceramics, apart from weight on the mid-nose, last relatively longer because of their wear nature. You'll go through them just as fast as steel rotors on a track, but in day to day driving with some spirit thrown in, they should last anywhere from 60-100K miles. On the bright side, the replacement bill will only be around 9K, I assume. Apart from the heavy mid-nose, when you brake, weight transfers to the front and you've got a lot of dead weight to deal with before it shifts back. It makes sense, even if's not that aesthetic. It doesn't matter though. The RS3 is a stunner and it stands out in traffic. Even in a boring color. Plus, APR has and is doing some interesting things with it.

Are you thinking of getting one?

 

[AustinIllini]

I have half a mind to buy one and keep it longer term. That 5 cylinder engine is a masterpiece.