Why Rear Wheel Drive Cars?
The idea for the site
was hatched on a business trip to Australia. In Australia,
GM's Austrialian Division Holden
and Ford Australia are
making midsize rear wheel drive cars. The cars are family
sized cars similar to the Chevrolet Malibu or
Ford Fusion. They are modern cars with
independent rear suspensions and stability control
systems. Driving the cars I quickly realized that the ride,
comfort, and handling of the cars is far superior to the front
wheel drive cars we have available in the U.S.
Here is snippet from
the full story :
"After managing to park the car in a very tight "car park"
(parking garage) I decide to have a look. Opening the glove box I
see a Holden is really GM car. Since the car is about the size of
a Lumina I figure it probably has Lumina guts. I pop the hood. No
hood rod, instead little pneumatic pistons hold it up. The label
on the side says "Ecotec V6" so I expect to see a little 3.1 Chevy
motor. Instead, I stare in disbelief. I am mildly surprised to see
a 3.8 Buick motor, but I am amazed to see that the engine is
mounted for and aft proper like. The CAR IS REAR WHEEL DRIVE! I
poke my head under to see a drive shaft. No straight axle rear end
here - instead a fully independent setup. No DRLs either. While no
one is looking I peek under a bunch of cars and find most are rear
drive. Wow! These are modern everyday sedans that are rear wheel
drive. What have we done wrong in America? "
The cars were so much better that I
decided then and there to make my next car rear wheel drive. I
decided to buy a family car that is rear wheel drive. I also
wanted four doors and manual transmission. These were readily
available in Australia - a country with only 17 million people.
Surely, I could buy one in the U.S.?
It is very difficult to find this type of car in the U.S. Until
the summer of 1999 you could not buy a four door, rear drive,
manual transmission car from any U.S. automaker. Now there is one.
The Lincoln LS6. Unfortunately, that car is over $30,000. At least
Lincoln gives us the choice.
Most rear drive cars in the U.S. are Luxery or Sports cars. One
cannot find a reasonably priced four door sedan. Hopefully, we can
change that.