The Science of Driving

I feel like doing this every winter. The things I see on the road just baffle me. It is entirely obvious that the majority of people think driving consists of "go, stop, and turn" with no thought into how to do these things effectively or how they even happen.

Driving is more than pushing pedals and turning wheels. In this thread, I hope to spell out how a car actually works and hopefully, just maybe, make at least one person better behind the wheel. If I can prevent just one person from doing one stupid thing, I'll consider the job done. If that person just so happens to be the asshat in front of me, I'll be happy indeed =D

So let's get started...

Driving is nothing more than physics, and simple physics at that. Understand just a few basic concepts and your skills behind the wheel will improve dramatically.

Let's start with friction...

Friction occurs between the tires on the road, and is what keeps your vehicle from going into the ditch. It is what allows you to accelerate, decelerate, and turn. Understanding how friction works and what affects it is the key to being a professional driver.

Many factors can affect the level of friction you possess. Temp, road condition, rain, snow, dust, tire design and composition, all of these factors and more determine your “friction level”, and they are ever changing. Let’s take a deeper look into this friction business…

A tire’s friction is measured in lateral G. A car is sent in motion and turned in a decreasing radius turn until the tires begin to slide. A slide occurs when the forces exceed the friction present between the tire and the road. At the moment the slide happens, you’ve reached the maximum G that particular setup can manage. A typical passenger car can pull about .6-.7 G. A sports car like a Corvette can reach or exceed 1G. An F1 car can hit about 4G.

What does this mean? Well, to get the best performance, you need the tire to produce the maximum G it can. Here’s some of the controllable factors that can affect your amount of G.

Tire condition: The treads on a passenger tire (P tire) are designed to work in many different conditions. Unlike a racing tire (R tire), which are made to perform in the very best of conditions on a smooth, clean track, passenger tires must function in rain, snow, dirt, cobbles, gravel, and everything in between. The treads in a P tire allow a place for the gravel/dirt/rain/snow to go when the tire rolls over it, so that the tire may contact the road. Have you ever hydroplaned? Hydroplaning happens when the rain water cannot be moved out of the way fast enough and has nowhere to go. As a result, the tire rides on top of the water, and you have no control.

Imagine you’re climbing up a steep hill on your hands and knees. You reach up with your hands and dig in with your fingers, pulling yourself up. You point your toes and dig in, pushing up with your legs. That gives you the most traction, no? Now, imagine climbing that same hill, but keep your hands and feet flat, using just the friction of your palms and soles against the ground to pull you up. It wouldn’t work, would it? Fingers and toes = new tires. Palms and soles = bald tires.

Tire type: P tires have many different designs for certain conditions, all of which are customized to get matter out of the way so your tire may contact the road. Rain tires are channeled, shooting water out of the way. Mud tires are paddled, to cut through the mud. Snow tires are chunked, digging through the snow as they go. All seasons try to do it all, and do nothing very well. Buying tires that fit your habitat is key. Buying the wrong tires is a disaster. Using a mud tire when you live in the burbs and spend your time on the highway is going to rip the tires apart. Buying snow tires when you live in the sticks is just going to pack the tire full of mud, effectively giving you slicks. Buying rain tires when you live in the Arctic circle will be like driving on wax paper. Get the tires that most fit your habitat.

Tire pressure: A tire only interacts where it touches the road, the “contact patch” (CP). The CP for almost every tire on every car is about the size of one’s palm. It’s not very big at all. Tire pressure differences of just a few pounds can drastically affect the size of the CP and how the tire interacts with the road.

A properly inflated tire causes the tire to contact the road with even pressure across the entire CP. This gives the most traction allowing you to achieve the most G, as well as allows the tire to wear evenly, extending the life and usefulness of the tire.

An overinflated tire causes the tire to “balloon”. Most of the pressure will be exerted in the middle of the tire, preventing the outside of the CP from working to maximum efficiency. As a result, the center of your tire will wear out much faster and your overall potential G will be reduced. Additionally, the tire will become more “bouncy”. Bumps will be felt more severely, and said bounce will cause the tire to lose contact with the road with more frequency and intensity. Losing contact with the road, obviously, severely lessens the amount of potential G and can cause loss of control, especially if it happens in a corner. The benefit of an overinflated tire is an increase in top speed as well as increased fuel efficiency (less of the tire touching the road reduces rolling friction)

An underinflated tire causes the tire to bulge. Most of the pressure will be exerted on the edges of the tire, preventing the center of the CP from achieving maximum efficiency. This will cause the edges of the tire to wear out much faster. Additionally, the contact patch is made bigger by the bulge, drastically increasing the amount of rolling friction. This will heat up the tire, possibly to the point of failure. The benefit of under inflation comes off road, where a soft tire that can wrap around large rocks and other obstacles might be needed to make it down a trail. Any time I’ve ever been stuck in the woods, dropping 10 PSI is always my go-to solution with many successful results.

Tire composition: Rubber comes in many different chemical compositions. These can basically be viewed as "hard" and "soft". Any tire that denotes "high mileage" or "fuel efficient" is likely to be a hard compound. Hard compounds extend the life of the tire by not wearing as easily and increase fuel mileage by reducing rolling friction. However, hard things are rarely "sticky", and any hard tire will have drastically lower maximum potential G than a soft one. "Soft" compounds are usually found in tires that denote "performance". Soft tires conform to the minute countors of the road surface and give the best maximum potential G. The down side is they wear out much faster. Imagine the hard plastic of a cellophane wrapper vs the soft plastic of Saran wrap. Slide them on your countertop; which has the most friction? Which wears through faster? The same concept is at play with your tires.

Suspension: Most people look at suspension's only purpose as giving you a soft, luxurious ride. FALSE. Your comfort is secondary. The suspensions job is to absorb the bumps in a manner that reduces as much as possible any variations to the tire's function. A car's maximum potential G occurs when all tires are flat to the ground and support equal weight of the car. Worn torsion bars, control arms, and other parts involved with controlling lateral forces allow weight to swap side to side with intensity, which can overload or underload a tire, reducing their function. Worn shocks and struts allow vertical force inputs to lift tires off the ground or lessen the weight pushing down on the tire, which decreases the amount of potential G that tire can attain. A properly tuned and functioning suspension is key to attaining maximum G.

An in depth look at all of the above can help you obtain the maximum traction in your car. The more traction you have, the less likely you are to exceed it and lose control.

Now that we've looked at how to maximize traction, let's take an even deeper look into how we use it...

OK, so we’ve addressed our tires, we’ve addressed our suspension. We’ve done what we can with our knowledge and budget to attain our maximum potential G. Now what?

Knowing your specific traction in G is not required. Whether you still only have .5 or you’ve tweaked yourself up to 1.5 gives us very little information. What is important, and what you absolutely need to understand is whatever your level of G is, you only have access to 100% of it.

Imagine you have a little gauge on your steering wheel, just a little LED bar graph. This is your friction meter. Sitting at a red light, it’d barely be registering. You’re using friction to stay in place; you’re resisting a slope in the road, resisting the wind blowing, but of the friction available to you, you have almost all of it left.

We ride along with an old lady. The light turns green, and she pushes the gas geriatricly. Through the magic of internal combustion, torque is applied to the wheels and they begin to turn. The torque created by our octogenarian is much less than the 100% available, so the car accelerates normally and in control.

Now we put 17yr old Face behind the wheel. He revs the engine awaiting the green, and once it changes, he mats it and dumps the clutch. The amount of torque created is greater than the available friction in the tires, and the LED gauge goes past 100%. The tires have exceeded their available friction, so they spin.

If you can mentally create this gauge in your head, you will never lose control again. It is my promise to you. Let’s continue in our understanding of “the gauge”.

Every input you make in your car is carried out by the tires, and every input of the tires can be measured by our little gauge. Every time you accelerate, decelerate, or turn, you are using some of your available friction. Almost always, your use is less than 100% of the available friction and you just carry on with your day. You go, the car goes. You stop, the car stops. You turn, the car turns. All is well. But what about when it’s not?

There are two concepts I feel people don’t understand when it comes to The Gauge. The first is, being a percentage, the total it represents is ever changing. Say you did everything I suggested last chapter and you maxed out your potential G. But you did it in summer on a hot blacktop parking lot. Now it’s raining. Now it’s snowing. Now your tires are 2 years older. Now your suspension is a little more worn. Your maximum G is never static, so always test it. Abandoned parking lots are your friend. I’m not saying to try to rally cross at your local Wal-Mart during a Black Friday sale, but do whatever you can to learn where that edge is in all conditions. If you creep around with an egg under your accelerator any time a flake falls, you’ll never know where that edge is until you’ve crossed it, and guaranteed you’ll cross it at speed in traffic. So find that edge. Don’t let it find you.

The second concept is that The Gauge measures ALL inputs. If you lightly press the gas enough to use 5% of your available friction for acceleration, and at the same time lightly turn the wheel using 5% of your available friction for turning, you’re using 10% of total available friction. It’s this combination of forces I feel only a fraction of the population understands, based on what I see on the road.

That second concept is the reason we have anti-lock brakes. Some of you older folks remember when ABS didn’t exist. And what always happened? Somebody came into an emergency stop scenario. They hammered the brakes. The deceleration used 100% of the available friction and the tires locked up. And with all 100% of the friction used for braking, there’s none left for anything else. You turn the wheel… and you just keep going straight. It’s also the reason for traction control. You hammer the gas to the point of spinning the tires, and all 100% is used for acceleration. In a rear wheel drive car, there is no traction available to keep the tires in place on the road. They slide down the path of least resistance, which since all roads are crowned, is usually towards the ditch, pointing the car towards the other lane. The spinning thing is easy to test yourself if you have a front wheel drive car. Next time it snows and you're stopped, tromp the gas when you accelerate and get the tires spinning. Now crank the wheel. Don't worry, you're only going 2mph ;) What happens? My guarantee - you'll keep going straight.

UNDERSTAND THE GAUGE!

Hopefully you do not mind me adding my $.02 as I have had to do some evaluation of drivers for a previous job. My items would be more from what drivers do and not what cars do. Today two of my pet peeves on how we teach drivers in the USA, if there is interest I will add my peeves on driving in snow with examples from WNY!

A first thing I always saw and still see people doing wrong is use of mirrors. The average driver in the USA seems to forget what color their car is, judging by where they aim their side view mirrors. Because every square centimeter you have of "your car" showing in your side-view mirror is the same amount of space where you cannot see a car that may hit you or you may hit. The proper thing to do is have adjust the mirror until you can just see your car in the near side, then aim it further out just a notch. The exceptions to this rule would be if you are towing a trailer and if you have a cap on a pick-up that does not allow you to see behind when backing. In those cases your mirror should allow you to see the rear wheels of the truck or trailer, so you can always see where your rear is at in relation to other things.

The second thing is "looking ahead." Newer drivers especially will look just right in front of their car. Sometimes just barely ahead. A good driver is always scanning from the car in front of him or her to the horizon. As you do this you need to be looking for what we used to call "potential hazards." A potential hazard can range from a "stale green" or traffic light that is green as you approach to kids and a dog in an unfenced yard. As you drive you should be mentally thinking what might happen and what you might do if the potential hazard becomes a "kinetic hazard" or a hazard demanding attention. You need to be thinking, "stale green ahead, I need to slow down if it changes" or "stale green but I am at point of no return, need to gun it if it turns."

Yes, this sounds nerdy, and it is. But as you do it you become a more aware driver. Unaware drivers are the ones who don't notice the deer that jumped in from the side of the road, or the traffic light near Horseheads that appeared after miles of divided highway. Don't be one.

Don't mind at all!

You bring up a ton of good points. But, without putting down what you posted (I'll probably joint you soon enough) I feel coverage of driver's habits is all you ever see. How a car works, on the other hand, seems like a secret club only racers and track day enthusiasts are aware of. I know plenty of people who'd I consider downright neurotic with their 10 and 2 and mirror adjustments and every other proper thing you've ever learned in driver's ed or driver's school. But when it comes to how a car functions... I can only describe it as shockingly clueless.

Hell, I'll add to yours now, since I can feel a rant coming ... ;)

To add to your mirrors thing, I'll throw in situational awareness. After all, that's the point of mirrors, no? You see it on a two lane all the time; something happens up ahead, and some jackwagon is seen twisting his head frantically to see if he's clear to perform whatever genius move he's contemplating. It drives me batshit. More often than not, I know exactly where eveyone is in my immediate area. If shit goes down in front of me, I don't need to look. I swerve right into a spot I know is there because I keep track along the way. You can't practice accident avoidance without having situational awareness.

And the "front lookers", Jesus Christ. Just staring away at the van bumper in front of them, instead of the cars ahead of the van, constantly stabbing the brakes because they have no idea what's going on 30 feet ahead of them. It is my belief that RPGs were created for this very reason =p

Now for the more advanced stuff.

The Gauge is a key piece of the puzzle, but it'd be much more effective if we knew what it was measuring, right? We've already covered all of the controllable variables we can adjust for maximum potential G such as tires and suspension; what about the uncontrollable ones? What about road conditions and weather?

I’m glad you asked ;)

I’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of hours fucking around in researching every condition known in the northeast (sorry desert folk, I don’t have much access to sand) and have considerable feedback to give.

Asphalt – A newly paved road on a warm day is the ultimate traction producer. These roads are downright sticky and very difficult to break loose on. If you somehow manage to lose control on one, you’re liable to flip the car, as the tires will grab that much. Some of the dangers are as follows…

-Old asphalt. Old asphalt in high traffic areas is smooth to the point of being shiny. Water, dirt, and oils don’t fall into the cracks, rather they sit on the surface where your tires contact. This makes those areas slippery. On-ramps, high traffic corners, and busy intersections are areas you’re likely to find these shiny spots.

-Painted roads. These things are downright treacherous. Whether it’s a crosswalk, a “turn arrow”, or the double yellow/fog lines, they are insanely slippery when wet. Bikers especially should exercise extreme caution when traveling upon these when wet.

-Shoulders. Roads without a paved shoulder often have an extreme drop. Even a 1” drop is enough to upset the car to the point that an inexperienced driver is likely to overreact and have a crash. I’ve seen some nearing 4” in drop, especially when a road is newly paved and the shoulder hasn’t yet been addressed. Be aware.

-Old and worn. In the north, crews go around filling the cracks in the road with tar. That tar is slippery when wet, and malleable when hot. Hit it in a corner on a bike, and you’ll get an adrenaline bump that’ll keep you flying for a few minutes, for sure.

Gravel – Most backroads, at least around my parts, are topped with tar and pea gravel. Their traction levels are similar to asphalt, with a few exceptions…

-Newly paved. Newly paved gravel roads feature a ton of loose gravel everywhere except in the wheel marks. This causes a severe transition of surface types that catches some people off guard. A corner that can be taken at 40 in the wheel marks can only be taken at 25 if you get into the loose stuff on the edges. It also causes problems at the intersection, where cars turning onto the road are accelerating and turning at the same time (The Guage) and go over 100% in the loose stuff that piles up there.

-Old and hot. On older gravel roads, the tar seeps up and over the gravel, leaving a smooth, black slick in its place. If it’s cool or wet, it is as slippery as the painted roads. If it is hot, it is malleable, moving and stretching when you roll over it. You won’t notice in a car, but hit it in a corner on a bike and you’ll feel like you’re in the process of wiping out.

Concrete – I hate concrete roads. I usually find them here near toll booths or parking garages. They’re often ribbed to increase water drainage, which is a bitch on a bike. They’re also insanely slippery with any moisture whatsoever, even just on a humid day.

Dirt – Dirt roads abound in these parts, and every one is different. I put this right before the “Weather” section, because it has many similarities. Some are hard packed, hard as concrete. The hard ones are usually covered in a film of dust that makes them a little slippery, but they’re not bad, even in the rain. The worst part is they generate ridges that vibrate the wheels off the ground, especially in trucks. Even at low speed, your rear will waggle uncontrollably. The softer ones can get a little squirrely in the rain and the dry, but will usually be torn up to the point you’re not going fast anyways. The clay ones are the worst. In the dry they’re always horribly bumpy. In the rain, it’s like driving on glass coated in olive oil.

Weather – Along with all the road types, the weather types will dramatically change your maximum potential G, almost always to the negative. Here’s what I’ve found based on my “research”…

Heat – Warm is almost always better as far as traction goes, to a point. Most civilian drivers don’t have to worry about overheating a tire like a racer does, and a warm tire works the best. The biggest worry comes with the tar based issues mention above, and that mostly affects bikers.

Cold – Cold makes things harder, and as we covered in the tire section, hard things produce less friction.

Rain – Rain has a number of effects on many different things. Since many are probably civilized and don’t live in Hickville like yours truly, I’ll keep dirt roads out of the conversation going forward…

-The Start. When rain first begins, it mixes with everything on the road. The dirt turns to mud, which is more slippery. The oils and engine fluids that have ran into the nooks and crannies of the asphalt get displaced by the water and come to the surface, making the road more slippery.

-The Middle. Rain makes it difficult to see. The one thing no amount of skill can overcome is loss of sight.

-The End. The end of rain is obviously when the most water is on the road. Shiny spots of old asphalt will be at their slipperiest, depressions will be at their fullest. This is when you’re most likely to hydroplane.

Snow – God, I love driving in the snow =) But snow is the most varied surface one can encounter. Everyone I know considers snow to be just “snow”. Oh, how wrong they are. Snow changes based on temp, so let’s go through them from warmest to coldest…

-Wet Snow. Wet snow comes at the beginning and end of winter. It’s very heavy and the most dangerous type. I call it “thick water” because that’s how it acts. Like loose gravel, it often piles up outside of the wheel tracks, causing the same severe change in surfaces. Its thick, heavy property will “pull” a car when hit. Get into on the shoulder and it’ll pull the car right off the road. Run through it at speed and your car will hydroplane just like water. Wet snow is my least favorite and least fun snow to be in, and I don’t fault anyone for slowing down.

-Packed Snow. Snowman snow or snowball snow is the best. It’s very slippery, but it’s very consistent. The traction level is very uniform and thus, easy to drive on. Its packing properties ensures you won’t dig down into the road and suddenly change traction levels. It’s also a boat load of fun, and my favorite. You need to drive slower due to the lessened traction, but 20 under will make me wish death upon you.

-Unpacked Snow. Similar to damp flour, this is the snow you can make a snowball with, but it breaks apart when you throw it. It’s somewhat slippery, but posted speed limits even on mild corners is no problem. The issue with this is that this is when snow starts to build into drifts, and also that it’s easily pushed aside. If you get into a slide because you’re in/on the snow, you’re likely to dig through it into the asphalt and “catch”, which will sharply bring your vehicle about. Gotta have fast hands!

-Powdered snow. Powdered snow needs almost no caution at all. It blows over the road easily and is blown out of your way just as easy. It doesn’t pack, it’s not slippery at all. I have to try hard indeed to break loose on powder, and often can’t. About the only danger is coming upon a large drift at speed, but even so, unless it’s huge, you’ll poof right through it and not even notice.

The Gauge will always show 100%. What that 100% represents is a combination of all of the above factors. It is up to you to know how these factors will affect The Gauge. Even if you can't do what i did and push the limit everywhere you go, you should at least be able to hunch your way to a good starting point, a point that's leagues better than ignorance. New tires on a hot day? Your gauge is hefty indeed. Packed snow on baloney skins? That gauge is delicate. Road switches from dry to powdery snow to dry to packed snow? You should be able to visualize a change in your gauge, which will absolutely keep you safe.

Up next - Advanced Driving...

Quote: Face

I know plenty of people who'd I consider downright neurotic with their 10 and 2 and mirror adjustments and every other proper thing you've ever learned in driver's ed or driver's school. But when it comes to how a car functions... I can only describe it as shockingly clueless.

Speaking of clueless, 10 and 2 is old school. If you keep at 10/2 and the airbag goes off it will throw your hands right off the steering wheel. But people go back to their old habits I guess. As a side note here it is probably better to keep the seat closer rather than further back. I remember some guy's from high school said I "kept my seat close like a chick" and they drove with it further back. Well, both rear-ended other cars, and ironically in almost the exact same spot on the road! Each had minor wrecks or near misses as well. I attribute this partly to the fact that when you are "stretching out" you have less control. NASCAR proves this with how close the wheel is to the driver.

Quote:

To add to your mirrors thing, I'll throw in situational awareness. After all, that's the point of mirrors, no? You see it on a two lane all the time; something happens up ahead, and some jackwagon is seen twisting his head frantically to see if he's clear to perform whatever genius move he's contemplating. It drives me batshit. More often than not, I know exactly where eveyone is in my immediate area. If shit goes down in front of me, I don't need to look. I swerve right into a spot I know is there because I keep track along the way. You can't practice accident avoidance without having situational awareness.

We all fall into this, and the following is how to notice your level of awareness, partially taken from STRATFOR.

Level 1: This is when you nearly totally zone out. If you have ever driven home from work and kind of wonder how you got home, can't remember anything, then you are in Level 1.

Level 2: This is normal, defensive driving as discussed in the previous post. This is the ideal level to be at most times.

Level 3: This is the level you are at in bad conditions, like when it is snowing heavy at night. Driving demands all of your attention to the point you may even turn off the radio. Similar to the old joke about turning down the radio so you can see the house number, you need to shut off the distractions because life and limb may be at stake. I still remember a trip on the Thruway from Rochester to Albany where I could not see 40 feet in front of me the entire time, all snow that felt like a 4 hour trip in hyperspace in the Millennium Falcon. Was hard to hold a beer when I got there from my hands gripping the wheel.

No person can last at Level 3 all of the time, your mind will snap. But neither should you fall to Level 1 if you can avoid it.

Quote: AZDuffman

Speaking of clueless, 10 and 2 is old school. If you keep at 10/2 and the airbag goes off it will throw your hands right off the steering wheel.

Lol, yup. Personally, I can't drive two handed. It feels very odd. I learned and spent most of my formative years driving stick, so even being right handed, I can't drive with my right hand on the wheel. Feels bizarre and awkward. The only time two hands even go on the wheel is when I'm hammering through the snow and need those fast hands, and even then, it's a very rare thing. I mostly steer with the throttle in those cases.

Quote: AZDuffman

NASCAR proves this with how close the wheel is to the driver.

It's certainly true. Try doing something delicate and invloved at arms length; your movements are clunky and general. Up close, you have much more dexterity. But again, at least personally, I feel more comfortable at arm's length. Unless I'm driving at the very limit, I don't need or even like having such delicate control.

Quote: AZDuffman

We all fall into this, and the following is how to notice your level of awareness, partially taken from STRATFOR.

Good info here, reminds me of SD training, too.

"Hyperspace" is the worst. I don't mind when the snow falls "straight", I can combat "hyperspace" (and you can, too), by not staring at the road. Make it a point to keep your eyes moving to the point you notice how much you're looking around. It's not easy, and even doing that comes with its own type of fatigue, but it prevents the hypnosis that hyperspace brings. Just keep those eyes moving: center line, up ahead, fog line, side of the road, road sign, other fog line, other lane, center line...it helps. Look straight ahead and you're toast. And if the snow is swirling? Just get a hotel ;)

Quote: Face

Good info here, reminds me of SD training, too.

"Hyperspace" is the worst. I don't mind when the snow falls "straight", I can combat "hyperspace" (and you can, too), by not staring at the road. Make it a point to keep your eyes moving to the point you notice how much you're looking around. It's not easy, and even doing that comes with its own type of fatigue, but it prevents the hypnosis that hyperspace brings. Just keep those eyes moving: center line, up ahead, fog line, side of the road, road sign, other fog line, other lane, center line...it helps. Look straight ahead and you're toast. And if the snow is swirling? Just get a hotel ;)

SD?

As to "get a hotel" here is what really irritated me. I was on my way to a convention and stopping was really not an option. But I got to Albany and got off the exit as the convention was right in Colonie at the exit IIRC. For those not familiar this is the heart of the NYS Thruway and where it changes from E/W to N/S, a huge exit. But halfway along the long ramp to the toll booths, "hyperspace" just ended! Still snowy, but nothing like just 1/4 mile south! Weird.

Now that we understand traction and The Gauge, let's apply it to our car starting with front wheel drive (FWD)

To begin, FWD is for simpletons that don't understand cars. There. I said it =p

I of course am super biased, but I can be objective enough to list the pros as well. So let's break down the FWD and see what we have.

FWD cars are praised for their ability in the snow, but much like ABS and traction control, I don't think it's for the keen driver. FWD is "superior" because most cars are front engined. With that big hunk of steel and aluminum sitting right on the tires, you have the heaviest part of the car pressing down on the tires that make you go, allowing you to climb a snow covered hill that someone else might get stymied by. Additionally, since your rear wheels only roll and don't "drive", all 100% of their available traction is used to hold the road, lessening the occurance of the "fishtail" that only 0.00001% of the population seems to be able to correct.

Here's my bitch. The front tires in a FWD is where 100% of the acceleration comes from. The front tires in all cars is also where 100% of all the turning force comes from. In a FWD, you're asking too much from those front tires and are going to cross that 100% more often than any other car.

Right by my house, there's a very steep hill that many people get shut down by every year. It also has a significant turn in it, right in the middle. The approach to the hill must be made at 30mph and is ferociously patrolled by the local fuzz. So you approach this powdered Matterhorn at 30 in your FWD. You begin to climb and need to accelerate. Your Gauge begins to fill as you use the available traction, often reaching and exceeding your 100% just to go up the hill. You modulate your throttle to keep it right at or near your 100% just so you can make the hill. Suddenly, right in the middle, you have to turn. Now what? Maintain your 95%-100% use of traction for climbing and try to turn, and what happens is you just keep going straight. So you have to get off the gas to free up some of that 100% to allow you to turn. Oh, but now you're not gonna make the hill. There's a chance your added weight over the drive wheels will save the day, but you're going to spin and slide your way up the hill at about 1.7mph. Everyone behind you is screwed, they get stuck, and now we have a problem.

Granted, you will eventually make the hill while the RWD guys can't even do that, but since RWD know they can't make it at least they're not on the hill and cluttering it up for us 4WD guys ;)

Another bitch is, again, asking the fronts to do too much. Say you're cruising in the snow, applying just enough throttle to maintain speed. You hit a corner, and oh no, you start to slide off the road. Everyone's reaction is to, obviously, get off the gas. But, since the drivetrain is connected to the fronts, doing so causes the engine compression to apply a braking force to the front wheels. Even in an automatic, while not nearly as intense as a manual, some braking force is applied. If you're sliding, you're already over your 100%. Now your asking for even more. What do we think is going to happen? If you're lucky, the decelration will push enough weight forward that the added force onto the wheels will cause them to bite, but you're much more likely to continue your slide into the ditch in a FWD than a RWD because of the compression braking.

My final bitch is that you have no control over the traction level of the rear wheels. "But, Face" you may say, "the rears always have 100% available to hold the road. That's great, right?" NO! It is terrible! There are many, many times where having it all is too much. There are many times that having less but having control of that less is the order of the day, and a slide is one of those times. Say we're in the above scenario and you overload your fronts. They begin to slide, you get off the gas, the weight pitches forward and causes them to hook, and your fronts now begin turning. But now your rears are over loaded and they begin to slide, pitching the rear out. Most semi-educated drivers know to countersteer and do so as your rears struggle to regain traction. And then, right at the peak of your slide, the rears come back into 100%, catch, and what happens? They grab and hook you with all 100%. Now your car violently tries to return to going straight, so much so that the rears overload again and now you're sliding the other way. Ever see car waggle, waggle, crash? Fishtail? Wag their tail? That is a product of no control over the rear's traction. A vast majority of people, myself entirely included, do not have the physical capabilities to keep up with this kind of slide.

In conclusion, FWD sucks. It's is the "safest" in that it's probably the hardest to lose control over, but once control is lost, it is by far the hardest in which to regain it. But if you can understand how its function affect The Gauge, you too can keep yourself out of the trees (and off my hill =p)

Up next, RWD...