- by Pete Snidal, (C)1998
If it is, there are a few things you should know about driving
one of these babies in slippery conditions. You may have been driving it
for years without any problem, not knowing that when and if you encounter
a condition of front-end skid, or fwd understeer, you life may well
depend on knowing what to do, and most importantly,
Front Wheel Drive automobiles, although they have been in production
in various parts of the world for most of this century, first came to
America in any kind of quantity with the advent of the Austin/Morris
Mini, first introduced here around 1959. Prior to this time, although
there were the odd Tucker, Saab, or Citroen to be found here and there,
Front Wheel Drive was a rarity. But what the Minis started caught on,
becoming much more popular with the introduction of the Volkswagen
Rabbit, and then springing up under the badge of just about every major
manufacturer, from Audi to Oldsmobile.
This was a Good Thing for some reasons - the unitized drive line
inherent in FWD made production cheaper and easier, for example. And,
once you hit the "edge" of adhesion, such as in snow and ice,
FWD makes for a much more controllable car - But You Have To Know How
To Drive It!
Yet, for some reason, it doesn't yet seem to be popular knowledge that
a front wheel drive vehicle is completely different creature to control
once the limits of adhesion are reached. I have asked many drivers of FWD
cars if they are aware of the different driving style required in event
of a skid, and I don't remember finding a single one who knew what I was
talking about. I have, however, encountered a few who won't drive their FWD in
winter, saying it just acts "too squirrely" on ice and snow.
Rally drivers, for whom the Mini became the ne plus ultra
within a year or two of its introduction, (there were other, less popular fwds,
such as Saab and Citroen) found the differences very quickly. Sports car
magazines of the time were full of praise for the way FWDs "pulled their
way around corners," in slippery conditions, while the best one could do
with the rear wheel drives was to "cross them up" and hope for the best -
using power to the (rear) drive wheels to
Conventional wisdom, and all the driving manuals we studied for our
first driving licence, caution against using either brakes or power
in a corner or curve. Yet, in the case of the FWD, both of
these are used to advantage. Conclusion?:
Right. Are these guys completely stupid, or what? Well, when the
book was written, in the time when virtually all cars in North America
were Rear Wheel Drive, this advice made sense. When the rear wheel
drive car starts to skid, or as the accident reports all say, "fail to
negotiate a curve," and the driver follows this advice, let's take a
look at what happens:
But in all events, the advice to take your foot off the gas when
encountering a skid, is the logical first reaction - in a Rear Wheel
Drive Car.
Now, let's look what happens when you do this in a FWD automobile:
The car enters a corner or curve. The driver finds that it "fails to
negotiate," meaning that it isn't turning the corner like it should -
due to driving too fast for the existing road condition, of course. So
at this point, which may easily be the first time for the hapless driver
of the FWD who has suddenly found himself in over his head. So, he (or
she) follows the natural reflex action, which is also the conventional
"wisdom," and lets off completely on the gas pedal. Now, what happens?
This time, the rear end doesn't slew around, pointing the car into
the curve. No, instead, engine braking having just been applied to the
front, steering wheels, they lock up, and ALL STEERING HAS NOW
DISAPPEARED. The car proceeds to go in a straight line, off the end
of the corner, into whatever is on the outside. On a right hand curve,
this will entail first crossing the oncoming lane or lanes, and then, if
that has been done without encountering any logging trucks or other
fast-moving (in the wrong direction!) obstacles, then there is often a
tree, cliff, river bank, or rock face to complicate the experience.
On a left hand curve, the car goes off the right hand side of the road,
into the ditch, guardrail, snowbank (good), river (bad), or whatever
it encounters before stopping. No fun!
Obviously, this was a bad choice. The natural First Reaction,
letting off on the throttle, and thus braking the front wheels, and
losing ALL of what insufficient traction there was,was the wrong thing
to do. Yet, not everybody is a rally driver, and the full-on extreme
cornering practice described above is not a skill at everyone's
fingertips. So what should the "normal" driver of a FWD car do to
prepare him/herself for the day when the car gets into that dreaded
"failure to negotiate" mode?
No, the best First Action is somewhere in between - light brake and
gas, and remember the drive wheels are trying to get enough traction to
pull the front end to where they're pointed. But whatever you do, DON'T
JUST LET OFF ON THE GAS AND PRAY. Because if you do, you're very likely
to meet the gent to whom you're praying - sooner than you want.
I have sent mail on this subject to my Provincial Ministry
of Highways, and to the Governent Car Insurance agency, with each
change of government for the past two or three changes, now, and gotten
nowhere. (Well, I just did with our latest one - the results aren't
in yet on that one.)
So I hit on the idea of making this page available to the planet. If
it saves just one life, it'll be better than nothing. But I wish someone
would get to the various Highway Safety Councils, etc. all over the
planet. Feel free to copy and distribute this information all you like.
Tell everyone you know to check the website. It's a long url, but then,
_everybody_ doesn't have a domain name, like (www.fwd-death.com) Till ]
then, I hope you never need to know this, but if you do, remember:
HALF GAS, HALF BRAKE, STEER.
SHINY SIDE UP, EVERYBODY!
Disclaimer: All the above is my opinion only; if you decide
to try this out for yourself, as I have many times, and things don't work
out for you, well just remember there are many other factors in keeping
your butt where it belongs when you hit slip city. Exercise caution and
discretion in all matters.
Come to think on it, if you feel like suing somebody, how about
the people who are still putting out manuals that tell you to take your
foot off the gas in all cases, with all cars?
Besides, you don't want to
sue me, anyway. I have no money, but I _do_ have a Pit Bull with AIDS, who,
in the words of Mick Jagger, is "Dyne......... ta meetcha."
While you're here, why not take a look at another good idea for drivers?
My Pro-Ma Performance Products Pages
mail me here if you like
IS YOUR CAR FRONT WHEEL DRIVE?
This isn't absolutely true; when the traction is good,
and/or when the vehicle is being driven slowly enough, there
is virtually no apparent difference between controlling a front wheel
drive vehicle and doing the same with its Rear Wheel Drive Counterpart.
Consequently, there are people all over the planet who have been driving
their FWD cars for years in a completely blissful state of pure ignorance
that there are fundamental and important differences between FWD and RWD.
But all this completely changes on that snowy day when you find yourself
just a little fast in a corner that's just a little too slippery - when
you get to "the edge."
STEERING FROM BOTH ENDS
The FWD's, on the other hand, gave the driver considerably greater
control of his or her automobile. Here's why:
SOUNDS A LITTLE DIFFERENT,DOES IT?
You can imagine what would happen if you tried to drive a rear wheel
drive car in this fashion. Brakes and Gas at the same time? As you
power through a corner?
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CARS HANDLE DIFFERENTLY
And, here's another little thing to keep in mind:
IGNORING THIS CAN GET YOU KILLED!
Pretty strong language. But for good reason. Every winter,
literally thousands of lives are made miserable, or ended, by a failure
on the part of those in charge of training us to drive to publicize this
difference. Drivers manuals still tell us to do such ridiculous things
as "in the event of a skid, take your foot off the gas pedal, and turn
the front wheels in the direction of a skid until you regain control,"
WITHOUT DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN FRONT AND REAR WHEEL DRIVE!
Skids In Rear Wheel Drive
When the driver backs off on the throttle, engine braking takes
effect. This braking on the rear wheels, providing the car is already
beginning to turn, will have the effect of making the rear end slew
outward. In less extreme cases, this alone will then get the car
pointing in the appropriate direction, in which case the driver then
applies a little throttle, and all goes as planned. In the more extreme
cases, this rear-end slewing requires correction by steering the
front wheels outward as well, and the car goes around the corner a bit
sideways. In the completely extreme case, the driver applies power
through the corner, modulating the rear end slew with gas pedal,
correcting with steering outward, and either gets through the corner and
continues on his way, or spins the car out to an embarassing, if not
more costly, halt.
Skids in Front Wheel Drive
People are being killed in FWD cars every day by following the
conventional "wisdom." Let's take a look at why:
THE CORRECT FIRST ACTION
Is obviously NOT to "let off completely on the gas pedal." No, in
fact a good BASIC first reaction is to apply SOME gas pedal with the
right foot, and at the same time, apply SOME brake with the left foot.
The slight braking of the rear wheels will bring on some slewing around
of the rear of the car, and the braking of the front wheels will be
offset by the power applied to them at the same time. In other words,
the effect will be about the same as if you'd let off on the throttle on
a rear wheel drive car.
NOW FOR THE FRONT WHEEL DRIVE DIFFERENCE!
But you're in a better position, because you can also vary the
power to the front wheels with the gas pedal, and "hunt" for a throttle
opening that will give the best traction, as you steer INTO the curve.
If you find the traction window, which you usually will, you will be
able to make the front end "claw" its way arond the corner. So, once
you learn to drive a FWD in snow, is it better? You Bet it is!
YOU SHOULD BE READY FOR THIS
If you're still with me, and this makes sense to you, you're not yet
out of the woods for your first encounter with "failure to negotiate."
Although practice makes perfect, it is most cases not very practical for
the average person to go out and practice being a rally driver to be
ready for the time when you may need it. But you CAN do these:
"Point The Front Wheels Where You Want To Go, And Stuff It"
This was the popular adage for newly-converted Rallye Mini Drivers
'way back then. It was a little extreme - I'd personally not go so far
as to recommend such a gung-ho attitude on the part of Joe Family, the
first time he finds his mini van heading for the logging truck, but I
Sure As Hell would NEVER recommend letting off on the throttle and
expecting it to act like the old '69 Chevy.
