front wheel drive

[jlat]

hello people; Are there any turbo heads that either own or have owned a FWD car. I recently came back from a vaca. to Italy and it seems it didn't matter what the weather was everyone drove very fast. I do believe most of the cars are FWD. My thoughts is that the FWD is helping or is better overall. I have driven a few but not long enough to form an opinion. Any stories.
IBBY

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I have a FWD eagle talon turbo. Not nearly as fun and I actually hate the handling of it. The thing only weighs about 3100 lbs vs my 4000lb gto, but on and off ramps are pretty scary at speed with the eagle. The really bad thing is trying to pull out into traffic with a fwd car, it just sits and spins. RWD FTW!

 

[DoWork]

Aside from Turbo Buicks, I am a old turbo Dodge fanatic. FWD and turbo can be fun....but you must remember....boost+turning DOES NOT equal anything good. Torque Steer is another thing you have to adjust to, but a lot of the newer cars have equal length axles whcih helps a bit. You can make them hook, but its a bit more of a challange. We used to run Gabriel Skyjacker rear shocks and crank the air pressure in them to stop reward weight transfer from a hard launch. It looked really stupid, but it worked.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

my T-Type Riv is FWD.....

I look forward to racing this beast.... i have no idea how it handles or go... but its a buick turbo!

A.j.

 

[Joe 1320]

Front wheel drive can be a blast if the suspension is set up right and you know how to drive it. FWD cars take a different line in the turns, you know you've got it right when you go around corners on 3 wheels.

The main downside of FWD is that with high power levels, the front tires become almost useless in the rain. Any weight transfer unloads the tires and you spin quite easily. I sometimes had one heck of a time just keeping pace with traffic when pulling away from a light in the rain. In the dry, it can be a blast.

 

[GNTIM]

I have had a bunch of both and I prefer RWD. At one point I had my GN and a supercharged 3.8 92 Bonneville, loved both but they are very different animals. I give Mr BLACK6PACK credit for being able to handle that FWD Talon, I used to work on one and that thing was torque steer deadly when the boost came on

 

[WeSS]

fwd

Front wheel drive is Wrong wheel drive. I wouldn't mind an awd turbo car though. That would be fun to drive.

 

[scot w.]

Front wheel drive is Wrong wheel drive. I wouldn't mind an awd turbo car though. That would be fun to drive.

I agree! AWD would be fun..

 

[1dollardog]

I've owned alot of both and there are good and bad in each. One of my favorite cars was an 84 turbo dodge colt. Deadly in the rain when the turbo lag caught up, but what a blast to drive otherwise. My 04 impala ss had the l67 supercharged 3.8 and was much better over all than any fwd car that I've owned. Primarily due to the weight of the engine, traction was much better than other fwd's.

 

[rev. 3:11]

I'm itching to get my '85 Riv T-Type on the road already!
Hopefully well before summer...

Hey A.J.(dr_frankenstein), what yr. is your Riv?
Any pics?

D

 

[charlief1]

I'm itching to get my '85 Riv T-Type on the road already!
Hopefully well before summer...

Hey A.J.(dr_frankenstein), what yr. is your Riv?
Any pics?

D

LOL Good luck getting info out of Aj. He's as closed lipped as a virging sometimes about his projects.:biggrin: He got it from GNeric and hasn't posted to much about it other than he finally got it from him.:frown:

As far as AWD cars I had a customer that has a WRX STI and I did the mods on the suspension and exhaust. Fun little car to drive for sure but it's now one I'd like to have as a DD myself. Handles nicely but has some issues.

 

[corsair231]

I've got a fwd Plymouth Laser turbo (1g-DSM, same as a Talon or Eclipse). It is a really fun little run about car. All I have performance wise is what are considered free mods and a 16g turbo. On stock sized tires 1st and 2nd are a challenge under boost. With the least bit of dampness on the road I might as well give it up until 3rd. I have a friend with just a fuel management set up and a hacked exhaust made 276 hp at the wheels. The awd cars are drama free though and all of them are as mod friendly as the Buicks too.

 

[supercrackerbox]

Front wheel drive can be a blast if the suspension is set up right and you know how to drive it. FWD cars take a different line in the turns, you know you've got it right when you go around corners on 3 wheels.

Or two . . .

 

[boostingirl]

i had a front wheel drive talon with a 86mm turbo on it,it made 650hp +, the thing sucked,spun tires at 110mph in 5th gear, that's about all it did.was a highway monster and that was about it.was fun just not a good 1/4 mile car at that power,it was more fun at 400hp

 

[TexasT]

I bought a new Regal Gran Sport In '91. It got great mileage but man did it go through front rotors. I didn't like the way it handled. It was the first and last wrong wheel drive. I'll never buy another.

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[CamoDeafie]

a member here has basically a fleet of 80s FWD centuries with turbos..turbokinetic is his name i think? seems it all depends on the build...his best performing car has the 4t65HD with limited slip from a much newer car.. I myself have owned only 1 RWD car; and miss it..a 79 Delta 88 with the pontiac 301 NA lol.

 

[Whut]

Front wheel drive cars are just pulling you instead of pushing you. IMHO FWD is not as good in bad weather (I live in an ice filled bad weather area). Its best if you end up in a slide to have the rear tires to feather and help guide you out. With FWD you just hold on and hope you dont hit anything.

 

[$uckin6]

i was driving down the freeway doing about 65 mph and some nut cut me off, so i mashed the flux capacitor pedal down to get back around the offending driver and broke loose the tires,while i was doing a john force type burn out my car swapped ends on me does that qualify as fwd :tongue:

 

[dr_frankenstein]

I'm itching to get my '85 Riv T-Type on the road already!
Hopefully well before summer...

Hey A.J.(dr_frankenstein), what yr. is your Riv?
Any pics?

D

I have an 85 as well!

I have a few pics, heres one.

I will dig up more... havent done a thing to it at all... been just too damn busy with other stuff.

A.j.