<VV> Bordering Comical...

[Andy Clark]

Yes, but the pendulum is swinging back. See the Cadillac CTS-V, the Lincoln
LS, and many other RWD cars emerging now.
I just got rid of my '95 Olds Aurora and replaced it with a Lincoln LS.
Apart from all the failures the Aurora had, it was FWD. My driving style is
much more suited to RWD, hence the Lincoln feels so much better to me. I
guess all those years of racing a Corvair have imprinted certain reflex
actions in me that do not go well with the handling characteristics of FWD,
i. e., I'm comfortable with oversteer.
Andy Clark
1966 140/4 Monza Sedan
1966 140/4 Yenko Clone
1966 180/4 Cord 8/10 #60
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charles Lee at Prop Per"
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 2:53 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> Bordering Comical...


> If the engine "belongs" in the front, why are (nearly) all true
performance
> cars rear-engined (or at least mid-engined) ?
>
> Had anyone noticed that the first American campaign for front-engined cars
> were "luxury cars" (Toronado, Eldorado) were not met well by the
car-buying
> public, and that people opted for "normal" cars ?
>
> Then I guess "they" then decided not to give us a choice, because the next
> time they tried to foist FWD on us, they gave us little choice, and all
car
> were, all of a sudden, front-wheel-drive.  This limited the car buyers'
> choice, and eventually made FWD common, and therefore acceptable.
>
> It's no different now, buyers (in 1960's) were spending a couple of grand
on
> a new car, and were told that there just "might" be something wrong with
the
> Corvair. Which car would you buy, assuming you knew as little as an
average
> car buyer knows about cars ?
>
> I think they realized that GM's real fault in 1960 was building a car that
> was different, and figured that "this time" the new configuration (FWD)
> would not be different, because everyone is going to making the same thing
> !!!
>
> And now all you can find are front wheel drive cars, which for the most
> part, understeer, which is far easier to predict than oversteer for the
> (less than) average driver, right ?