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Concept
Front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout
Summary
In automotive design, a front-engine, front-wheel-drive (FWD) layout, or FF layout, places both the internal combustion engine and driven roadwheels at the front of the vehicle.
Historically, this designation was used regardless of whether the entire engine was behind the front axle line. In recent times, the manufacturers of some cars have added to the designation with the term front-mid which describes a car in which the engine is in front of the passenger compartment but behind the front axle. The engine positions of most pre–World-War-II cars are front-mid or on the front axle.
This layout is the most traditional form and remains a popular, practical design. The engine, which takes up a great deal of space, is packaged in a location passengers and luggage typically would not use. The main deficit is weight distribution—the heaviest component is at one end of the vehicle. Car handling is not ideal, but usually predictable.
In contrast with the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RWD), the FWD layout eliminates the need for a central tunnel or a higher chassis clearance to accommodate a driveshaft providing power to the rear wheels. Like the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RR) and rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RMR) layouts, it places the engine over the drive wheels, improving traction in many applications. As the steered wheels are also the driven wheels, FWD cars are generally considered superior to RWD cars in conditions in which there is low traction such as snow, mud, gravel or wet tarmac. When hill climbing in low-traction conditions RR is considered the best two-wheel-drive layout, primarily due to the shift of weight to the rear wheels when climbing. The cornering ability of an FWD vehicle is generally better, because the engine is placed over the steered wheels. However, as the driven wheels have the additional demands of steering, if a vehicle accelerates quickly, less grip is available for cornering, which can result in understeer.
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