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the principle is simply that it makes the car weigh more; however, for most people this is not an appropriate solution today.

in earlier cars, the transmission transferred the power from the motor to the rear axle causing the rear wheels to spin. The front tires did little more than steer. In icy conditions, cars would slid for two reasons. First, the trunk is the lightest area of a car so the least amount of weight was focused over the actual driving axle. Secondly, the rear axle was "pushing" the car which is much more likely to cause the front to slide from side to side. To combat the first reason, drivers would add weight over the rear axle to help the car avoid sliding.

In most of today's cars, it's the front tires that are engaged. The rear tires do nothing but follow along. So, not only is there already a considerable amount of weight already over the front tires (a motor and all) but the tires are "pulling" car rather than pushing it. As a result, front-wheel drive cars perform better in icy conditions than rear-wheel drive cars.

A follow-up question for those out there...

Does putting sand bags in the trunk of a front-wheel drive car negatively affect its performance on icy roads? the principle is simply that it makes the car weigh more; however, for most people this is not an appropriate solution today.

in earlier cars, the transmission transferred the power from the motor to the rear axle causing the rear wheels to spin. The front tires did little more than steer. In icy conditions, cars would slid for two reasons. First, the trunk is the lightest area of a car so the least amount of weight was focused over the actual driving axle. Secondly, the rear axle was "pushing" the car which is much more likely to cause the front to slide from side to side. To combat the first reason, drivers would add weight over the rear axle to help the car avoid sliding.

In most of today's cars, it's the front tires that are engaged. The rear tires do nothing but follow along. So, not only is there already a considerable amount of weight already over the front tires (a motor and all) but the tires are "pulling" car rather than pushing it. As a result, front-wheel drive cars perform better in icy conditions than rear-wheel drive cars.

A follow-up question for those out there...

Does putting sand bags in the trunk of a front-wheel drive car negatively affect its performance on icy roads?

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16y ago

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