Good point, John. G
On Jul 22, 2006, at 9:00 AM, John Forbes wrote: > I've never owned a car (and I have owned many) which needed repairs > to the > suspension or transmission. I can well believe that such repairs > would be > more expensive on a front-drive car, but if repairs are never > needed, the > cost of them is academic. > > John > > On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 16:33:20 +0100, Adam Maas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > >> Godfrey, >> >> The co-location of steering and drive makes even the simplest FWD car >> more mechanically complex than a RWD car, even if both have fully >> independant suspensions. The CV joints and drive shafts are what >> drive >> up the cost of repair, sometimes by quite a lot. Also transaxles are >> more difficult to work on as they are more mechanically complex >> (Primarily due to co-locating the differential and transmission). >> >> Ironically FWD is once again becoming restricted to smaller cars >> where >> it belongs as the superior handling and accelleration >> characteristics of >> RWD cars is making them more popular once again. And FWD cars only >> have >> superior traction under very limited circumstances. RWD gives >> superior >> traction under accelleration and also loses traction much later under >> hard cornering. FWD overloads the fornt tires cause earlier traction >> loss and a tendency to understeer badly when things go wrong. >> >> -Adam >> >> >> Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: >>> On Jul 21, 2006, at 7:14 PM, P. J. Alling wrote: >>> >>> >>>> It's much like front >>>> engine drive automobiles. The cost much less to manufacture and >>>> design. Repair becomes much more problematic, and the advantage to >>>> the >>>> driver isn't necessarily that great. >>> >>> >>> HUH? >>> >>> Front engine, rear drive cars were the norm for decades because they >>> were simpler to design and cheaper to manufacture. >>> >>> Front engine/front drive designs were invented >>> >>> - to improve traction by putting the power system's weight over the >>> driving wheels >>> - to increase space for carrying passengers relative to the vehicle >>> total volume, allowing smaller, lighter vehicles >>> - to lower costs to the buyers >>> >>> All of these are benefits that have advantage. Experience and >>> development in the designing and manufacturing of front drive cars >>> over the past 30 years has brought the cost of manufacture down to >>> match that of front engine/rear drive cars. >>> >>> I don't see how "repairs become much more problematic". The only >>> thing that becomes more difficult to repair about a front drive car >>> vs a typical front engine/rear drive car is the fact that the engine >>> and transmission are enclosed in a smaller space so it can be a >>> little more difficult to get to the parts. If you've ever worked on >>> any densely packed machinery (try a 1966 Jaguar XK-E, for instance) >>> you'd understand that this is a function of how much machinery >>> you're >>> putting into how much space, not a matter of front drive vs rear >>> drive. >>> >>> Godfrey >>> >> >> > > > > -- > Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/ > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
