Drivetrains and Handling

Which end drives the car can influence the way the car handles, at least when the car is accelerating. Acceleration may use up part of the tire’s available grip, which can cause the driving wheels to lose traction. Give a rear-wheel-drive car too much throttle coming out of a low-speed corner, and it is likely to oversteer or spin out. Doing the same in a front-wheel-drive car is likely to cause the tires to spin and prevent the car from responding to steering input until you let off the throttle. An all-wheel-drive car will often be able to put down more power in this situation and exit the corner with more speed, but giving it too much throttle may make either end come loose.

However, this is not the only effect that ...

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