Why a fwd car can not have a 50-50 % weight distribution?
In: Engineering
To get 50:50 weight distribution in a car, you need to be able to distribute the heavy components front and rear to spread the weight evenly.
So this means with a standard front engine car, to counteract the heavy engine in the front, in a rear drive car, components like the gearbox and differential can be moved towards the rear.
The problem with a front wheel drive car is that all of this stuff stays in the front – as the drive wheels are right next to the engine, you can basically bolt everything together as one unit which is great for manufacturing and installing in the factory, but bad for weight distribution. If you wanted to move some of the weight to the rear? That would make the design more complex than just making a rear wheel drive vehicle in the first place.
Front wheel drive makes great practical sense for everyday family cars – easy manufacturing makes for cheaper and smaller cars which everyone likes, but there is a limit to how far you can push the platform before it becomes impractical.
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