4WD vs. FR vs. FF vs. MR vs. RR

[Palleraa]

911... where ?

Anyway, to add to the FR vs. FF i was pretty chocked after watching the Best Motorring episode available at GTTV where they battle a standard S2000, S2000 Type S, Civic Type R, Mugen Civic Type RR and a Civic Type R with reworked aerodynamics like the Type S is to the standard S2000. The result was that the Civic Type R's won the 5 laps at Tsukuba racetrack. The Civic Type R's had a 2.0L 225PS engine where the S2000's had a 2.2L 242PS engine. There might me some differences in weight but to me it cleary shows that you shouldn't understimate the FF when it come to a slow and twitchy racetrack with "normal"-powered cars.

PalleRaa

 

[niky]

Man, didn't know that the FF reputation was this bad, only one vote?

That's because this is a GT5P question. In real life, it'd be vastly different.

On any videogame, you tend to be driving the car at 11/10ths all the time. This is why people beeyotch and moan about how twitchy cars like the Clio V6 (in GT4) or the Ford GT can be. Well... duh. They're mid-engined cars with hardly any aerodynamic downforce and engines that are pretty heavy compared to the rest of the car. A F430 Scuderia has more downforce and less weight over that rear axle than a Ford GT, and is understandably tamer, but I've still seen newbs go all over the place with it.

In real-life, however, a GT would feel epic to a first timer. Tons of grip. Great handling. Complete unflappability... at 8/10ths. Which is about as far as most people have ever driven.

At 8/10ths, a front-driver can feel manic. In fact, at 10/10ths, it can be downright fun. Trail-brake, lift-off, scandinavian flick... any of these techniques can be used to get a drift going through a tight corner. Of course, in a video game... you can't feel your way into a drift... all you know is that you're pushing 10/10ths (and badly, at that, diving too deep, turning too late, using too much lock) and the car is understeering like a pig.

Drive like a racing driver, and you can appreciate an FF's merits. It's light, nimble, tossable, no on-throttle oversteer on corner exits, which means it's more forgiving of poor pedal-work, and power-on understeer is a big advantage in real life when another driver tries to shunt you... keep your foot to the floor and countersteer and the car will eventually straighten out. In a RWD car, you have to let off gently (take your foot completely off, and the weight shifts forward, and you spin harder... use more gas and you increase the spin... whee.), countersteer and pray. I think the prayer part is the one that works best.

Of course, at racing car levels of grip, an FF just has too much grip to take advantage of lift-off oversteer (though some FF racers are incredibly twitchy off-throttle), and an FF will never have the off-the-line traction of a 4WD or even a RWD, but all else being equal, it can be competitive on the track with other cars.

----

After saying all of that... I prefer MR. But for the balance of predictability and nimbleness, in-game... I'd have to go with the generic FR platform... a little more understeer, which lets you take more liberties in corners, at the expense of off-the-line traction.

In real-life, having driven most everything (except an RR... though I'm waiting for someone stupid enough to offer me one... ) hard, I can honestly say that it really doesn't matter where the engine is and which tires are spinning, as long as the car doesn't steer like a pig, which it can do whichever axle is doing the locomotion. (Some RWD cars steer like absolute pigs compared to my FF at 10/10ths).

 

[91hondawagon]

MR, because they often tend to lose traction in the corners and spin if the throttle and brake aren't handled well, and the satisfaction of getting that balance right feels great. FR cars can be difficult too, but they usually don't let go if the throttle is let all the way off in a corner.

 

[homeforsummer]

Not been on GTP for a day and a half and there's a 4 page thread to answer in I've chosen MR because my favourite cars in GT5P are all MR. I do enjoy all formats though, and in real life I've driven a number of FFs, a couple of FRs and one 4WD. And to be honest unless you're pushing hard you'd never notice on the road in most normal conditions.

 

[santiagomo87]

I voted MR but i see mad matt's point, actually it's very easy to drive a FF fast, but it is very very hard to put an excellent lap time in an FF, wich can be very rewarding and requires lots of skill, in my opinion even more than a low power FR/MR. In my 2.0 FF Clio, i can go around a racetrack somewhat fast, with good lines and all, but if i try to beat my dad's time (which is 2 seconds faster), it seems impossible. When I drove an MX-5 last week , which was about the same hp than the clio, it was a lot easier to drive fast, but it was maybe that I wasn't all the time on the limit as it was not my car. I don't know if anyone else gets my point about how difficult it is to pu an excellent time in FF

 

[niky]

I know what you mean. Finding the proper lines in an FF can be frustrating, and it's one of those few cars where the more aggressive you are, the slower you get.

An FF car can be a great tool for honing racing technique, allowing you to learn how not to dive into a corner, how to judge a car's balance, and proper throttle-control and corner exit. You can even learn how to use the throttle and the brakes to trim a car's handling balance (from understeer to oversteer). In an FR car, you will go slower if you drive more aggressively, but having the tail come out slightly in turns is so much fun that people don't really mind that it happens.

With an FF car, you have to learn patience, pacing and accuracy. Of course, once you've learned that, you've really got to move on to an MR, which will teach you delicacy (I don't know how else to put it)... which allows you to drive within that razor-thin balance an MR has.

 

[brent4booyeah]

Anyway, my point was that FR is not in and of itself, superior to FF at all levels. On the other hand, while the FF layout is now able to be used with more powerful cars than before it is surpassed by FR above around 250 -300bhp (you can see that the upper limit is being pushed if you follow the development of the new Ford Focus RS, for example).

I was going to mention the RS! Looks amazing, lets hope it's in GT5.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/14193/2009-ford-focus-rs-official-details/ - Almost 300 hp out of the front wheels. RevoKnuckle!!

On topic, I profer 4WD, mainly because of the grip, but the layout dosent really bother me.

 

[CamryFan]

FF and MR

 

[Tired Tyres]

I've voted for FF because I love the FF handing in GT5P.

I've always hated FF in the previous games though.

 

[gator of kana]

I see that FR is rapidly voted for, 4WD playing catch up, MR is still going at a good pace from voters, and the RR and FF have no chance, looks like it will be a battle for 4th place for these two

 

[Rem20]

The difficulty driving the RR cars is going to be compounded by GT's new and improved physics engine. THE YELLOWBIRD

 

[MLMS_LRUBY]

I know on GT Sport i slide a '66 MK 1 GT40,F40, and they are just amazing and fun, but I feel like there's a weird kinda tension between FR, and MR cars and I don't get what the big deal is? I mean I remember drifting online and if everybody was at least using a car that was RWD (I'll regardless of the fact the motor is upfront behind you next to you etc.) you were golden, but as soon as a an individual comes in with an AWD all.hell would break loose, understandable because it AWD, doesn't usually go well. Now the only other thing is I'm on controller as well as many others, and then there's the wheels guys too. Not downing one over the other just trying looking for more insight.