As an “enthusiast” it’s become apparent that among other enthusiasts, a front engine rear wheel drive layout is optimal if you consider yourself a driver.  It seems as though everyone sights balance with potential for oversteer (too much Tokyo Drift) as their reasoning for preference towards a rear wheel drive layout.  While I tend to agree, I’m not going to be as simple and rule out the good ‘ol front wheel drive.  Sure it gives a frontward weight bias and yes it limits the amount of power you can put to the ground (curse you torque steer!), but the fact is with a well tuned chassis and suspension, appropriate engine power, and nice precise steering, a front driver can be as much fun as any rear tire burner.

Cars like the MINI Cooper, GTI, Mazda3, and Cobalt (SS turbo only please) give FWD a lot of street cred, yet I continuously see enthusiasts write these machines off for lack of rear wheel drive.  I’ve had the pleasure of driving all of these machines (owning one in fact) and I must say that the front wheel drive layout of all of them give a nice well balanced drive with minimal understeer and only gentle 4 wheel drifts when things start to get fun.  It’s just the way I like it…balanced, fun, and controllable.  Now, the reason for this post is that for the past week a video on youtube of Jason Plato making a remarkable save during a British Touring Car Championship race has been making the rounds (check it out below).

I think what’s so remarkable about this video is not so much that Jason saved the car in an almost unsaveable situation, but rather how he accomplished it.  It was the front-wheel drive layout of his race prepped Chevy Lacetti that in fact saved him as he hammered the throttle and let the front wheels pull him straight.  Try that in a rear wheel drive car and you would be kissing the tires faster than you can process which end is front.  While a lot of that comes down to driver skill and feeling the car, you have to give credit to the FWD layout and recognize that it might not be so deserving of the bum rap it’s earned from enthusiasts lately.

While the success of the Subaru Impreza WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo have made All-wheel drive that much more desirable in the past ten years, my preference still goes to the car that handles the best.  The WRX provides insane amounts of grip while accelerating through corners, however the AWD system adds weight that makes the car feel heavy and somewhat unsettled at times (in my opinion at least, whatever that’s worth).  Sometimes, it’s the simplest of things that work the best, and you can’t get much simpler than a smartly packaged FWD platform.

I know, here I go again.  I’m being the odd man out on these enthusiast matters.  From speaking out against rain sensing wipers to declaring victory for front wheel drive, I guess I’m just weird (yea, I do get that a lot!).  So what do you think?  Have I been watching too much Spongebob again, or is it possible that front-wheel drive could be “for the win”?

Tags: Car, GTI, race, VW, wheel