Why are most sedans front wheel drive?

There are three main reasons:

1. Low cost and high efficiency

When manufacturers design and produce automobiles, the first consideration is the cost, and the front-wheel drive is lower than the rear-wheel drive compared to the rear-wheel drive, both design and production. Front-wheel drive vehicles do not need a different transmission shaft, rear drive shaft, rear gearbox, transmission system, and rear wheel drive, and the transmission and differential are assembled in a single housing, and the components are few and concentrated, and the power transmission directly reduces losses, and the operation efficiency is high.

2. Weight Reduction:

The lighter the weight of the same displacement power car, the easier it is to accelerate, the shorter the braking distance and the more fuel-efficient, the mechanical components of the front-wheel drive car are less and simpler than the rear-wheel drive car, and because the weight of the engine drive axle is loaded on the front wheels as the driving wheels, it helps to increase the traction of the vehicle, which is very advantageous on smooth roads.

3. Increase the interior space

This can be said to be one of the biggest advantages of front-wheel drive cars over rear-wheel drive cars, front-wheel drive cars do not have a drive shaft so there is no need to leave space on the floor for rear-wheel drive equipment like rear-wheel drive cars, so there is a lot of leeway in the use of space, and at the same time, front-wheel drive cars do not have rear differentials, and the space in the trunk has also increased a lot.

Extended Information: Advantages of Rear-wheel Drive Vehicles:

1. Good handling:

The rear wheels are responsible for driving, allowing the front wheels to concentrate on steering, so the vehicle reacts more quickly when steering.

2. Good starting acceleration performance and high comfort: because the center of gravity of the vehicle is shifted backward when starting, accelerating or climbing, the rear wheels as the driving wheels have enhanced grip, which is conducive to the vehicle starting, accelerating or climbing, providing better driving stability and comfort;

3. Easy maintenance:

The layout of the control mechanism and the structure of the steering mechanism are simplified, which facilitates the maintenance and repair of the vehicle.

The reason why ordinary cars use rear-wheel drive is because the load objects are in the rear cargo box, and the car must be driven from the rear wheel to move forward. The load of the car is basically in front, so the driving wheels must be set in front, so as to ensure the normal play of the driving force.

Because car front wheel drive has the following advantages:

1. The transmission shaft device is omitted, the weight of the vehicle is reduced, and the structure is relatively compact.

2. The space of the engine room is effectively utilized, and the space in the cab is relatively spacious, which is conducive to reducing the floor height and improving the ride comfort.

3. The engine is close to the driving wheel, with high power transmission efficiency and good fuel economy.

4. The engine and other assemblies are front-mounted, which increases the load on the front axle and improves the handling stability of the car at high speed and the directional stability during braking.

5. Simplified rear suspension system;

6. When driving on snow or slippery roads, pull the body by the front wheel, which is conducive to ensuring the stability of the direction.

7. The car radiator is arranged in the front of the car, the heat dissipation conditions are good, and the engine can be cooled enough.

8. The trunk is arranged in the back of the car, so there is enough luggage space.

1.For passenger cars, the engine is front-loaded and front-wheel-drive, without the use of intermediate drive shafts, which is conducive to saving materials and compact space, and is the most cost-saving and space-saving way.

2.Front-wheel drive models suffer from severe understeer when the driving force is close to or greater than the adhesion force. Rear drive cars, on the other hand, oversteer.

For most motorists, understeer trends are safer. The exception is a small number of cases where professional drivers pursue oversteer to achieve drifting.

3.Because the front wheels are far away from the steering center and require a large lateral force on the ground, the front wheels of the front-wheel drive vehicle are responsible for providing both steering and driving forces, and it is easier to break through the adhesion limit. Therefore, for large passenger cars, rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive is often used.

The front-wheel drive makes the automobile transmission system concentrated near the cab, and the noise generated by its power transmission, coupled with the combined effect of the movement frequency of the suspension system, causes the working environment pollution and physical injury to the driver, so the interior cost of the cab is higher.

Here's why:1Low cost:

When designing and producing cars, manufacturers first consider the cost. Compared with the rear-wheel drive, the front-wheel drive design is less expensive than the rear-wheel drive in terms of design and assembly. Front-wheel drive vehicles do not require a rear drive shaft or rear gearbox, and the drivetrain is different from that of the rear wheel-drive, with few and concentrated components.

This makes it easy for other parts of the car, such as the braking system, oil circuits, and exhaust system to be arranged in the lower part of the car.

2.Weight reduction: With the same displacement and horsepower, the lighter the weight of the car itself, the easier it accelerates, the shorter the braking distance, and the more fuel-efficient. The mechanical components of the front-wheel drive are few and simpler than those of the rear-wheel drive, so the weight can be reduced considerably.

3.Increased interior space: The front wheel drive does not need to leave space on the floor for the rear wheel drive equipment like the rear wheel drive does.

There are four types of driving modes involved here, namely front-rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive, mid-rear-wheel drive, and rear-wheel drive. With the development of automobiles, the layout of the engine of the car has been changed in a variety of ways according to the actual advantages and disadvantages.

The rear-wheel drive layout is not without use, the Volkswagen Beetle, Fiat 500 and other models in the 80s of the last century basically use the way of the rear layout of the engine, the engine is placed behind the rear axle, and the space of the cab is relatively large, but because the trunk is placed in the front of the car, and the front part is also integrated with the steering system of the car, the trunk space will become smaller.

This layout also has a big disadvantage: the front part of the car is too light, and when driving at high speeds, the grip of the front part will be reduced, and the steering stability will decrease, which will have a greater impact on the stability of the car at high speeds. In addition, because the engine is placed at the back, in order to improve the heat dissipation performance of the engine, it is necessary to introduce air from the front of the car to the rear for heat dissipation, which increases the complexity of the car design to a certain extent.

As a result, today's cars are largely not used in this way.

At present, family cars are mostly "front-wheel drive".

Before the 80s of the last century, almost all family cars were driven by front and rear drive, the engine and gearbox were front-loaded, and the rear-wheel drive was used, which required the engine to be longitudinally placed and the gearbox to be longitudinally positioned.

The advantages of this layout are: the front and rear weight distribution of the car is more even, it has good handling stability, and when starting and climbing, due to the backward shift of the center of gravity of the car, the grip of the driving wheels can be greater. But the disadvantages are just as obvious:

Due to the longitudinal arrangement of the engine, there is a high demand for space, which requires power to the rear wheels and requires a propeller shaft, which can encroach on the cab space, especially for small and medium-sized cars, where this layout cannot be used.

After the 80s of the last century, the demand for vehicle miniaturization is enhanced, and the traditional front-rear-wheel drive model can not be used on the small car due to structural reasons, so there is a front-wheel drive model, this layout engine front-mounted transversely, gearbox, steering system, are concentrated in the front of the car, the center of gravity of the car will be concentrated in the front, its advantages are: the car structure will be more compact, conducive to the miniaturization of the car, and the transverse layout of the engine can reduce the encroachment of the engine on the cab space.

Many cars nowadays have a front-wheel drive layout because of some advantages.

Power transmission: Front-wheel drive vehicles have more direct power transmission than rear-wheel drive vehicles, so acceleration is better.

2.Handling: The front wheels of the front-wheel drive car are responsible for the drive, and the rear wheels are responsible for the steering, which improves the handling of the vehicle.

3.Space utilization: Front-wheel drive vehicles have a more compact engine space, which allows for better use of vehicle interior space, especially in smaller vehicles.

However, rear-wheel drive cars also have some advantages, especially when it comes to high-performance vehicles and sports cars, as rear-wheel drive in rear-wheel drive can lead to better handling and driving pleasure. Overall, whether or not to choose a front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive vehicle depends on individual needs and budget.

Because the cost of front-wheel drive is low, the body weight is small, the interior space is large, the heat dissipation conditions are good, the directional stability is high, and the fuel economy is economical.

Most family cars are front-wheel drive, and only some sports cars and ultra-luxury cars are rear-wheel drive. There is actually a big difference between front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive. The engine of a front-wheel drive vehicle is generally transverse, and the transverse engine is mounted in front of the front axle, so that most of the weight is concentrated in the car.

Most of the engines in rear-wheel drive cars are longitudinally positioned, and the engine can be placed further back so that the front and rear weight distribution of the car will be more balanced.

In China, cars are generally front-wheel drive.

Front-wheel drive vehicle: the first consideration of automobile manufacturers is the cost of the car, the design of the front-wheel drive car is lower than the cost of the rear-wheel drive car compared to the rear-wheel drive car, both at the design level and the cost of assembling the car, the front-wheel drive car does not need the rear drive shaft and rear gearbox, and the assembly parts are relatively few; Front-wheel drive vehicles weigh less than rear-wheel drive vehicles, which makes front-wheel drive vehicles accelerate faster, the easier they accelerate, the shorter the braking distance, and front-wheel drive vehicles are relatively more fuel-efficient than rear-wheel drive vehicles. At the same time, the front-wheel drive car increases the interior space of the car, and there is no need to leave space for the rear-wheel drive equipment like the rear-wheel drive car, and the rear space is more sufficient.

The biggest disadvantage of the front-wheel drive car is its handling, because the car parts are relatively concentrated in the front of the body, the rear becomes very light, the rear wheels are easy to lose grip, and the front axle of the car is overburdened when accelerating and braking, and the lifting is obvious, which affects comfort.

Rear-drive car: the car in the earliest time is the use of rear-drive, the advantage is that the rear-drive car handling performance is better, the front and rear distribution ratio of the car is close to 50:50, which greatly improves the car's own balance and handling performance, which is the reason why many sports cars are rear-drive, the car front-rear-drive is easier to accelerate on the road and climb the driving wheel adhesion pressure, but also has good handling performance.

Of course, rear-wheel drive vehicles also have their shortcomings, which make the cost higher, and there are more parts in the rear area, and the space is not as good as that of front-wheel drive vehicles.

Photo by Pacific Automobile Network Q&A).