Why can't Honda make more RWD cars? Like the s2000? Wouldn't it be cool if they had a Light weight FR w/ VTEC-i, More of a 60/40 weight distribution for predictability, and in the Civic Si price range. Then Honda can corner the market on Drifting since they've already done it with Drag & Cornering!

 

Honda S660 ... Heard of it? Not much news of any release though, and it's a mini S2000 version or quite like it afterall it is another ragtop.

 

RWD requires some amount of skill to drive in less than ideal conditions... skill that most drivers don't have. FWD is cheaper and safer (for the average driver). Honda has a great deal invested in their FWD platforms, especially the Civic and Accord platforms, so don't hold your breath for them to switch.

Due to heavy marketing in the 80s, FWD is viewed as a better solution for passenger cars. It's not of course, it just happens that most cars have a heavy front end, which gives them more traction in the snow/rain. A car with 50/50 (+/- 5%) weight balance favors RWD under any condition, provided the driver has the slighest clue what's going on.

I guess that just means our car is all the more unique

 

I'm thinking in the next 5 years we will see something RWD in the Acura lineup priced between the RSX and NSX. There have been rumors Honda was going to try and use the technology they developed in the S2000 for a high performance coupe of some kind. Time will tell, there is nothing solid. The one thing that gives some credibility to this idea is that Honda will want to get as much profit as they can out of this non NSX (more affordable) RWD technology.

 

RWD is not a an issue (at all) at the speeds most people drive. Sure, in snow FWD is better but a 2WD Suburban on snows will kick a Civic's ass (sure to provoke some argument here.) And Grandpas have been driving RWD for years without (car-related anyway) carnage. Traction control and other driver aids have also gone a long way to eliminate the handling disparity.

Somehow, we've grown a board mythology about the dangers of RWD (somehow...I know how.) RWD has been mainstream since the teens (that's 1911-1919). FWD has only been mainstream since the 1980s. Since the engineering principles have been figured out, FWD is cheaper to build since it combines the transmission and diff. But a predictible RWDriver steers better than a FWD car; more turning, less plowing.

I see more RWD cars as inevitable since most enthusiasts are calling for them. I also see more RWD Honda's as more engine options for the S2000, so I'm hopeful. Expect to see a RWD renaissance.

 

jscmidt: I hope you're right about the rennesance (mauled the spelling there?). I don't believe for 1 second that FWD is superior - but many people do. It's just that cars (especially US ones) have been VERY front heavy for many years, and a front heavy car does enable FWD to offer superior traction in snow/rain. When people think RWD, they think Caprices (~65% front weight) and thunderbirds (~60% front), not BMWs (50/50 or close), which last I checked, get around just fine in the snow. Heck, my roomate drove an old Chrysler around through the 290" of snowfall the UP got last winter, and got stuck once - going somewhere he shouldn't have been going in the first place. It's just hard to convince most people who have to deal with snow (midwest and northeasterners) that a RWD vehicle will be fine in the snow. About the board mythology - I know how it started too. RWD is not the cause of the problems seen on this board.

HHH - That'd be great, but where would it fit? The CL/TL already run low-mid 30s, so anything new would have to be low-mid 40s to prevent damaging the sales of the CL. Low-mid 40s means competing with the BMW 330 and M3, Audi S4, etc. Acura would have to bring some serious game. I'd actually see more liklihood of a RWD Integra (that'd be sweet!)

Oh, and Acura isn't about to go RWD with the CL/TL - they both ride on the Accord platform, which is why they can be sold at the price they are.

 

I think we'll see something from Acura in the future in RWD to compete more closely with the BMW three series. The closest thing to that (BMW) now is the CL, and it obviously still leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Billy, the CL and TL _will_ be going RWD in 2003/2004. Its the only way Acura can really compete in the luxury market. FWD is viewed as "economy". Cadillac has realized this as well.

In terms of utilizing the Accord chassis, well, Honda builds maybe 100,000 CL/TLs max per year on the global platform. Contrast this with at least 500-600k Accords and maybe 50k Odysseys (and who knows how many MDX's) and the hit isn't that big. Perhaps the launch of the new Accord next year will include a platform update to allow FWD and RWD on the same chassis (its been done).

For more info on the CL/TL, the news section at VTEC.net has many interesting references. Should be pictures of the new model out early 2002.

UL

 

In terms of performance, yes. In terms of value, no. You get a lot of car (features) for $32k when you get a TL/CL - much more car than the 3 series gives you. But the CL/TL can't touch a 330 in the performance dept.

 

Disagree with many poster who say that "FWD is not superior" to RWD for most automobile uses. Most people live in places where it rains and snows. Most people are safer with the handling of a FWD car in low traction situations than they are with RWD. With FWD, you understeer, and the natural reaction to get off the gas is correct. With RWD, you need skill that most people don't have. And the number of cases where S2K owners lose it says that a lot of them don't have it either.

FWD platforms are inherentely lower weight than RWD, as there is no driveshaft. This is good for CAFE, and one of the things that drove the switch in the 80s. It's better for interior packaging, since there needs to be no driveline tunnel, or transmission hump.

FWD is better for most cars, period.

I don't want one for myself, but I do get them for the wife and kids.

There seems little reason for Honda to do RWD for volume applications. There are reasons for Acura to have a Luxo-barge that is RWD, but they have chosen not to compete at the Q45 and LS400 level.

-dB