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Originally posted by Andy W.: Originally posted by ottawanker: While it may be larger inside, it won't be nearly as fun as a Crown Vic. Sure the Vic may be big and heavy, but its RWD and a V8 with decent power. If they would have made this car exactly the same as it is, but RWD and with a V8, they would've had something to compete with the 300.. I suppose they have the Lincoln for that, but oh well.
Most other automakers are using RWD for their big passenger cars, and Chrysler even went back to RWD from FWD.. Just seems like Ford is a little behind the times here.
Wrong on so many levels.
Ford has a large sedan with RWD and a V8, It's called the Lincoln LS. The Crown Vic is an outdated and overwieght pig, it's really sad to still see them on the road.
Honda, Audi, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, and GM, plus child companies, are almost all FWD or AWD. BMW and Dahlmer/Chrysler are really only on RWD and AWD.
Get rear wheel drive in a little bit of snow and tell me which is better.
-Andy
Well, good point about snow, but 1) the better RWD cars deal with that electronically, and quite well (e.g., G35 Sedan), or 2) are offered in AWD versions (G35, again, and BMW) for the snow belt. A nose-heavy FWD platform is still nose heavy when it gets AWD added, and launching in snow is the absolute only place where FWD has any advantage. There's no advantage under steady cruise, unless you're throttle-happy. But then, that's not steady cruise, is it?
OK, so the 500 wasn't meant to be a sport sedan. Still, at a time when it seems like everyone else is trying to inject a little more excitement into their sedans, Ford launches another appliance. Remember the buzz that the original Taurus stirred up? That was a great leap for Ford at the time, and even though it wasn't sporty, it was a design that sparked conversation. The rework did, too, but from that point on, the formula has been steadily watered down until we come to this.
I said it was boring, but maybe it will sell. It just won't sell to the same people who get excited about the new D-Cs, and it does absolutely nothing to stir my passion.
BTW, I agree with Andy on the Crown Vic. Fun? Outdated, heavy, AND nose heavy, even with that live-axle rear. The thing is made to be big, stable, and cheap. The perfect old man and cop car.
Function before fashion.
'96 Contour SE
"Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998
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Originally posted by Andy W.:
Get rear wheel drive in a little bit of snow and tell me which is better.
-Andy
RWD. Just cause you don't know how to drive it doesn't mean it's the worse.
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Originally posted by ODC: Originally posted by Andy W.:
Get rear wheel drive in a little bit of snow and tell me which is better.
-Andy
RWD. Just cause you don't know how to drive it doesn't mean it's the worse.
Well, for 99.9% of the general population, FWD is better in snow than RWD.
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have to agree. Originally posted by ODC: Originally posted by Andy W.:
Get rear wheel drive in a little bit of snow and tell me which is better.
-Andy
RWD. Just cause you don't know how to drive it doesn't mean it's the worse.
Ryan
Trollin!
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with rear wheel drive can you not load the trunk with heavy weights to get additional traction. But I guess it si better to pull than to push in the snow.
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b0x @dm1n
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b0x @dm1n
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Originally posted by RTStabler51: have to agree.
Originally posted by ODC: Originally posted by Andy W.:
Get rear wheel drive in a little bit of snow and tell me which is better.
-Andy
RWD. Just cause you don't know how to drive it doesn't mean it's the worse.
Bull [censored]! I have a rear wheel drive pickup. And in snow or Ice with winter tires, It doesnt move with out 4WD. I try it allt he time.
My roommates brand new 350 handled like dick in the snow. While slowing around a corner and then going up a hill it would not move. Traction control cannot put more weight on the rear of the car for the tires to grip. Not to mention the wide tires of sports cars are worse than the thin tires.
You wanna know the cars I pushed out of parking spots last winter, a BMW 3 series and an RX-7. The wieght advantage over the wheels on a FWD cars is obvious.
If everyone on the road was a world class driver it's might now matter, but 90% are unskilled idiots.
And you all are thinking of the niche sports car enthusiasts market not the mass buyers. What keeps the Mustang in production. Not the Cobras, Billet, and GT's it's the V6s.
Ford isn't trying to compete with BMW and D/C, they are trying to compete with Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.
-Andy
Andy W.
The problem with America is stupidity.
I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment
for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety
labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
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Originally posted by Andy W.:
Bull [censored]! I have a rear wheel drive pickup. And in snow or Ice with winter tires, It doesnt move with out 4WD. I try it allt he time.
My roommates brand new 350 handled like dick in the snow. While slowing around a corner and then going up a hill it would not move. Traction control cannot put more weight on the rear of the car for the tires to grip. Not to mention the wide tires of sports cars are worse than the thin tires.
You wanna know the cars I pushed out of parking spots last winter, a BMW 3 series and an RX-7. The wieght advantage over the wheels on a FWD cars is obvious.
If everyone on the road was a world class driver it's might now matter, but 90% are unskilled idiots.
And you all are thinking of the niche sports car enthusiasts market not the mass buyers. What keeps the Mustang in production. Not the Cobras, Billet, and GT's it's the V6s.
Ford isn't trying to compete with BMW and D/C, they are trying to compete with Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.
-Andy
I had to drive a Delta 88 (and others since) in the snow. Its really not that difficult. Maybe you should let go of the fact that there's snow and ice on the ground and you cannot drive like its hot pavement.
There's also a lot of things you're incorrect about as well.
You have the best throttle control with RWD, and it shows in the snow -- besides, all modern RWD cars come with some form of tc so driving a rwd car should be no more difficult than a FWD.
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b0x @dm1n
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Originally posted by ODC: You have the best throttle control with RWD....
Really, enlighten me!
-Andy
Andy W.
The problem with America is stupidity.
I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment
for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety
labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
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Posts: 759
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Originally posted by ODC:
You have the best throttle control with RWD, and it shows in the snow -- besides, all modern RWD cars come with some form of tc so driving a rwd car should be no more difficult than a FWD.
Hmmm, yeah Traction Control...
I had to TRY and push a Mercedes SLK-230 in the snow a few years ago. The TC kept on kicking in to the point the wheels would simply not move. If you have NO traction, all the TC in the world will NOT help.
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Originally posted by Andy W.: Originally posted by ODC: You have the best throttle control with RWD....
Really, enlighten me!
-Andy
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