Front vs rear wheel drive
The eternal debate.
Conventional wisdom tends to favour rear wheel drive (RWD) for track and fast driving based activities, this is because the grip requirements of the tyres are spread between all four wheels - front for steering and rear to put the power down. In theory, this division should provide a more balanced and composed car than front wheel drive (FWD), which have to deal which have the steering and driven wheels on the same axle. A powerful FWD car can also suffer from 'torque steer' which means drivers have to fight with the wheel when accelerating hard.
Fast front wheel drive cars tend to handle in a more neutral manner, but trying to accelerate and steer can sometimes result in understeer, as the total available grip can be used up trying to do both these activities at once, resulting in a car which continues straight on despite turning the wheel. However, accelerating while on a corner with rear wheel drive can result in oversteer. But which of these is more desirable on the track?
Well, both of these effects will lose you time if you're trying to be competitive - but it could depend on the track and conditions. Less experienced drivers will find understeer more natural to correct - simply ease off the gas and apply a little more steering lock to bring you back on course. Oversteer can be more of a shock to the system as the back of the car tries to catch the front, but with practise can also be controlled easily too.
Another factor to consider is 'turn in' (i.e. the willingness of a car to change direction quickly when cornering). As FWD tend to have more weight at the front (due to the drive train and engine in the same place), this can provide high levels of grip at tun in especially if combined with a brief lift off the throttle to cause forward weight transfer. In addition, as the driven wheels are pointing in the direction of desired travel this can have the effect of pulling the car round.
When thinking a track car, it might be worth considering front wheel drive after all!
