ive heard this many times in different places at different times, but why is it that FWD cars cant have a max of 200+BHP..

the only reason i can think of after trying to think up as many reasons as possible is cause under accel the front lifts a bit.. but if the rears where stiffened a bit, wouldnt that stop the front from lifting as much?

Put simply - The rubber of the tyres can only handle so many forces. So, if the car is simply accellerating in a straight line, it is generally OK. Then apply some steering forces to the tyres and it becomes too much.

Just think what happens in the XFR when you floor it out of a corner, the tyre doesn't have enough grip to control all the forces, and to torque steers straight out the corner, rather than going in the direction of the steering.

Basically the front tyres end up trying to do too much at the same time. Steering/braking/accellerating all at the same time.

edit: you dont have XFR...hmm.

If you have a FWD car IRL you might have experienced torque steer when you try and floor it out of a corner.

Also think about the more power you have in a FWD car, grip is just terrible.

Tons of power on a FWD car is bad for acceleration compared to a RWD car. Generally the weight is transferred the rear under acceleration, and the front could get 'light', causing a lot of slippage. There has to be a point at which there is just enough power to create wheelspin, but still be in control/grip.

There are FWD dragcars, that have LOADS more power, but they have sticky slicks, so grip isn't that much of an issue compared to roadcars. This is why you usually see a lot of 'street racers' in Import cars wear out their front tires more on their modified cars when driving fast. It will just cause poor grip/slippage, and loads of understeer if you try to be fast exiting a corner.

It just isn't practical for an everyday roadcar

because people repeat bollocks they've heard on the internet, over and over?

the higher the power level, the less useful fwd is in comparison to rwd... but that's no reason to go throwing lines in the sand about willy nilly. Vehicle weight, tyre grip, power delivery, and intended usage are pretty much the defining factors.

Quote from Tweaker :

It just isn't practical for an everyday roadcar

If you are talking about FWD in general I think you are a bit off the mark there

That's why the FXO gets called a 'shopping trolley'. It is the sort of car that anyone could drive to the shops without getting into trouble. IMO, the FXO with a good setup is very predictable and easy to drive. Although it is hard to drive at the very limit due to the factors stated previously.

Quote from mrbogeyman :

If you are talking about FWD in general I think you are a bit off the mark there

I am speaking in terms of a highly-powered FWD... isn't that not practical?

There is another reason.
While accelerating front tires are pushed to the surface with less force than the rear wheels (weight transfer and other factors). You can just say that rear wheels are loosing its potential when front ones are dealing with forces they can not handle good enough.

Quote from Tweaker :

I am speaking in terms of a highly-powered FWD... isn't that not practical?

just wanted to be clear

besides to what has been told here i heard that in real life the axles that conect the wheels to the dif in the gearbox, in most fwd cars, are usually too weak to handle greater amounts of torque
but thats in real life...
thats someting i would also like to clarify

Maybe thats true, but it's not hard to 'beef them up' if they wanted a more powerful engine. Stress Analysis can cope with tubes under torsion extremely easily (although slightly harder with reversing torques, but not much).

under acceleration, the weight of the car is more towards the rear, so theres not much real weight on top of the front tyres to help maintain traction, this can be helped by stiff rear suspension, but it can only do so much.

Saab don't seem to believe this rumour either

9-3 Aero 2.8T V6 250 bhp
9-5 Aero 2.3 HOT 260 bhp

Both FWD!

as technology progress this limit is bound to be pushed onwards, the new civic type R is going to have 250ps and I can't imagine honda making a type R that can't handle.

It is not that you can't have more HP, the thing is that more HP is useless since the tyres can't put it to ground...

a 100hp fwd go kart would be useless, a 400hp 4 tonne luxo barge with traction / stability control, would work acceptably.

Quote from MrGrumpy :

Saab don't seem to believe this rumour either

9-3 Aero 2.8T V6 250 bhp
9-5 Aero 2.3 HOT 260 bhp

Both FWD!

Volvo got some cars with similar specs and yes its very easy to get wheel spin in 2nd and even 3rd gear

BUMP:bump:

The most powerful FWD volvo is somewhere between 235bhp and 260.

The new S80 with a V8 engine has 315BHP but its AWD - it might be a bit mad with FWD

front wheel drive cars are AWESOME (in reverse). :hihi:

In city driving 200 is more than enough, but for overtaking at the short straights at rural roads you migth want alot more.

My friends chipped s80 t6 (biturbo inline 6) got >300hp and >400Nm torque and he wants more.

Quote from heson :

In city driving 200 is more than enough, but for overtaking at the short straights at rural roads you migth want alot more.

My friends chipped s80 t6 (biturbo inline 6) got >300hp and >400Nm torque and he wants more.

Well, tbh, if you need 200hp to pass you either
a) pass in wrong place
b) do it wrong
c) both (probably)
d) c-option

What are you passing on rural roads? Tractors?

Quote from Hyperactive :

Well, tbh, if you need 200hp to pass you either
a) pass in wrong place
b) do it wrong
c) both (probably)
d) c-option

What are you passing on rural roads? Tractors?

Answer is A but it's the only place so it's there or wait another 10km. Tractor no, from 30kph you don't need alot of hp to accellerate as fast as the tyres can handle, but old men/ladies in hats.