RWD | LENSPEED

An age-old debate: front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive?

By The Lenspeed Team

What drives you? It’s not only Caltex, according to Lenspeed

“There are certainly ingredients to help us achieve this intangible blend of mechanical pleasure geared towards putting a smile on your face”

A lazy and humid Sunday afternoon led to this entry, very possibly fueled by thoughts on what makes a car tick all boxes when Lenspeed embarks on an unceasing search for the perfect driver’s car. This time, we delve deeper into the mechanical insights of a vehicle’s drivetrain. More specifically, we leave out the transmission and focus only on driven wheels.

Yes, we will omit all-wheel drive for a full-fledged three-way impression, and will save this comparison for a rainy day (rightly so!). So now we are left with rubbers that are in charge of powering the car from either end of the chassis.

One might opine that RWD will be the obvious choice for car enthusiasts, as most cars of a sportier nature comes with this configuration in default mode. We wouldn’t disagree, because Lenspeed had plenty of fun in cars set in motion by the rear wheels. They typically offer a well-balanced ride, since the weight distribution is often engineered to be more neutral as the bulk of the drivetrain’s weight is tilted to the rear to counter the heft up front for a front-engine vehicle.

There are also advantages for a RWD drivetrain even when the engine is mid or rear mounted. This sensation is more apparent in high-powered vehicles. Cars tend to squat when it starts to accelerate as they labour for grip from the rear rubbers. It plays to their advantage because the engine’s weight helps the car to gather traction on the wheels that are powering the vehicle. This, we feel, makes RWD such a special drivetrain if engineered by the right minds.

Precious wheel time with RWD machines yield positive results most of the time. We spent a day with the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, and were impressed by how adjustable the chassis is, and its ability to handle 335bhp just by two rear rubbers. Mid corner adjustability is superb – you can get the tail wagging with electronic aids switched off just by teasing the throttle and letting the front rubbers work only on directional changes. It’s a natural way of enjoying poise and control in a very confident manner. RWD proves to be triumphant over other drivetrains time and again, and will still be a petrolhead’s default choice in the foreseeable future.

That should leave cars with a FWD drivetrain biting the dust, yeah? Not quite. Lenspeed feels that FWD will always have a place in our heart, not because we spent most of our time driving them, but some are indeed seriously fun propositions. While most FWD cars tend to lean towards understeer when driven on the limit, there are a handful engineered to tackle corners with as much intent as RWD vehicles. Yes, steering inputs can be intrusive at times due to the front rubbers having to cope with changes in direction and sending torque to the tarmac, but this arguably intrusive and synthetic feel can be forgiven as some cars, hot hatches in FWD configuration in particular, offer a particularly unique experience only FWD cars can afford.

We zoom in on hot hatches because they tend to have a shorter wheelbase, and this is key for FWD enjoyment. You can benefit from lift-off oversteer when tackling a sharp bend by going in hard and fast, and subsequently easing off the pedal and directing the front wheels to the intended path. You can cork the inside rear wheel, get it standing on a “tripod” and allow the chassis to work its magic. Of course, this requires more work from “external resources” – narrow and less grippy tyres on a damp surface are preferred. A good example would be the Suzuki Ignis Sport Lenspeed had access to last month, when we took it out for a spin up North in a Gymkhana-like circuit.

There is no secret recipe for absolute driving fun. But there are certainly ingredients to help us achieve this intangible blend of mechanical pleasure geared towards putting a smile on your face. You wouldn’t go wrong with a sporty RWD drivetrain. They can be a handful and a tad too playful at times, but dial it down a notch when that happens, keep all electronic aids on, and you will enjoy a neutral driving experience at a comfortable tempo just like any other drivetrain. If you are in the market for FWD fun, opt for a short wheelbase car, preferably a hatchback (Suzuki’s Swift Sport would fit the bill!), and dispel the myths regarding your daily hauler being relegated to just a boring mode of transport.

A GREAT VANTAGE POINT

By The Lenspeed Team

Lenspeed takes the 330km/h V12 Vantage S out for a spin

Every man, even with just a passing interest in cars, would have heard of Aston Martin. A nameplate with a reach that extends beyond its physical presence in Gaydon and into the shared subconscious of the world, Aston Martin has the advantageous position of being envied and desired before one even considers its automobiles. It is a sweet, delicious bonus then, that it also makes one of the most beautiful coupes in the world.

The Vantage has already been around for a good nine years, since its unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show in 2005. However, it is a car that has not aged one bit on the outside. There is a purity to its lines that speak of perfect (and I mean perfect) proportions and a careful trimming of any excess bodywork. Just imagine all of car design put into a beaker and distilled – arguably, the Vantage will be the purest form to emerge from the admittedly rudimentary experiment, but you get my point (Chor: I believe the 458 stands as a strong challenger in this regard!).

Continuously improved over the years, the most extreme road-going version – the V12 Vantage S – was announced in 2013 and nearly a year after we’ve got the keys to one. It is capable of 330km/h (or 205mph in “British speak”), which makes it the fastest series production Aston Martin ever. But Aston Martins are never about class-leading speed or performance. If that is the yardstick, then there are plenty of competitors that can offer far more for the same money, or less. Will the V12 Vantage S be any different from its brethren?

For one, it certainly has got the numbers on paper to back it up. With an increase of 55bhp and 20Nm from the standard V12 Vantage, the S is capable of doing 0-100km/h in just 3.9 seconds. That makes it nearly as quick as the 997.2 GT3 4.0 RS or the Pagani Zonda Roadster. But plant your foot down and you may wonder whether that figure is achievable. While it is unquestionable that it has a lot of power – you can get in-gear wheelspins even in third gear, above 4,000rpm – the way the car goes about delivering it does not do a convincing job of making the car feel 3.9-seconds fast. Of course, that is not to say there is any lack of power. It’ll be more than you ever need, and certainly feels a tad excessive in the pert Vantage with such a short wheelbase. As if the V12 Vantage wasn’t mad enough! But alas, it does fall short of delivering its promise on paper, even if it is a superfluous point.

One reason this sensation is exacerbated is its gearbox. Despite being equipped with the ‘new’ 7-speed Sportshift III automated manual transmission, the shifts are slow and slurred. We at Lenspeed always believed in manual gearboxes, or an excellent automatic like the ZF 8-speed, and the Sportshift transmission did nothing to make us think otherwise. It really feels quite antiquated, and does not even blip on downshifts, which erases the sporty edge that really is the only thing going for such gearboxes in full-on driving situations. Given that the V12 Vantage S is supposed to the ultimate sport model in the entire range, we feel it’s inadmissible, as far as we can tell from our test drive. Maybe being on the track would change our mind.

While the car doesn’t really have the perfect drivetrain, it certainly gives feedback to the driver in an old-fashioned way that we like. From the alcantara-clad steering wheel, you can feel the rear wheels digging for traction when the engine fights to deliver all 565bhp and 620Nm to the back, and it is comforting that you can still read this from the driver’s seat. The steering feels genuine in feel and response as well, but what really stands out are its carbon ceramic brakes, which offer a brake feel that is uncharacteristically good. With huge reserves of braking power, it does not give it all to you in one frantic burst, but in a gradual, linear manner that swells confidence in the driver (Chor: the ability to provide such an effective braking system without compromising the driving sensation, is a testament to Aston Martin’s dedication in preserving the ‘true’ driver’s car). Did we forget the sound? With an exhaust system that is reportedly derived from the One-77’s, it is a stellar vocalist, as with all Aston Martins; it does not intrude into the cabin either. As a whole, the V12 Vantage S certainly feels old-school in the way it engages the driver on an emotional level, which is a breath of fresh air in these days of synthesised experiences. However, being old-school does not disguise the fact that it is still a flawed sports car. If it does not fulfill that remit convincingly, does it still possess the traditional Aston Martin grand touring values?

It’s definitely a comfortable car, one in which you wouldn’t mind doing a long road trip in. Whatever damping setting you put it in, it’s still a supple car that will find a fluid rhythm with the road. That said, its front carbon fibre splitter is set so low that you will think twice attacking nip-and-tuck roads at speed, which is a pity as it dampens its daily driving ability somewhat.

Inside, the seats are comfortable and supportive, and there is no shortage of room despite the car’s compact size. However, the interior architecture has hardly been changed and its age is showing. The instrumentation, while nice to look at especially at night, has fonts that look decidedly dated. The pop-up satnav is a Garmin-sourced unit, which looks out of place in a car worth almost a million Singapore dollars. There also lacks a certain sophistication in the execution of the cabin, although there is no denying the quality of leather used is excellent.

For long-haul trips, the V12 Vantage S certainly can deliver with an engine that is tractable from low-revs, aided by rather long gearing. However, driving around town requires a delicate handling of the gearbox, which requires you to understand it, sometimes in frustration. Overall, the car fulfills its GT credentials pretty well, perhaps in a better way than its sporty side.

The V12 Vantage S has its work cut out to take the fight against the best performance cars in the business. The Ferrari 458 Italia, for example, excels in both the sport and GT aspects. We turn now to where we began: would the Aston Martin’s charm, looks and inexplicable allure be enough to win buyers over?

It’s been working for Aston Martin, but there is a worrying trend downwards. Sales peaked in 2007 with 3,963 units sold worldwide, but it only sold 1,853 units last year, despite the introduction of the four-door Rapide, which should have garnered more buyers for Aston Martin in the Asia Pacific markets. Being a small-volume manufacturer, it lacks the economies of scale in research and development, which is why cars like the DB9 have been soldiering on since 2003, why the same 5.9-litre V12 has been used relatively unchanged for almost a decade, and why the V12 Vantage S has a Garmin unit plonked on its leather-lined dashboard.

Until Aston Martin finds a much larger manufacturer to economise the extremely pricey world of automotive development, it will have an uphill climb ahead. That said, Aston Martin is proudly independent “in spirit and ownership” and it recently announced a tie-up with Mercedes-AMG in a drivetrain partnership. There is still life in this company yet. However, in this time of transition, the V12 Vantage S remains a flawed machine, albeit we admit a very beautiful one to tide the company over – and sometimes, we have to look beyond the blemishes to appreciate the big picture.

Posts tagged ‘RWD’