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Why BMW Needs To Do Front-Drive Cars

Why BMW Needs To Do Front-Drive Cars | The Truth About Cars

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For many of the brand’s faithful, a front-driver BMW is a revolting prospect. It’s the four-wheeled equivalent of tofu-based bacon or a cigarette without nicotine. But BMW is banking on small cars in a big way – their new front drive architecture, dubbed UKL, will underpin as many as 12 front-drive products from BMW and Mini. And frankly, not doing a front-drive range would be a display of poor judgement on the part of management.

Lest anyone accuse me of apostasy, let’s look at the facts. Mercedes-Benz did a front-drive platform and survived. Audi is making some of the most significant advancements in modern automobile production with the new A3 which uses – you guessed it – the front-drive MQB platform. Both of these auto makers have BMW squarely in the sights. They want to overtake BMW as the number one premium auto maker, and they can easily do it – unless BMW builds a front-drive car of their own.

Notice how the front-drivers from Mercedes and Audi are all compact hatchbacks while the serious stuff, the models we all know and love, use longitudinal layouts and rear or all-wheel drive? That’s not going to change any time soon at those two companies or BMW. All three of them are smart enough to know that their core vehicles need to retain this layout for a number of reasons.

But the post-recession era has seen a whole new segment of luxury vehicles pop up; the premium small car. Many are tempted to write off cars like the Mini, the Fiat 500 and the Opel Adam as limp-wristed compacts for self-concious urbanites who wouldn’t dare condescend to a mainstream economy car. In many parts of the world, it’s not just strivers who buy these cars, but financially secure (and even the truly wealthy) consumers who don’t want or need a larger car. Parking, vehicle taxes, fuel consumption, emissions and other factors can all be taken into account as well, but sales of these cars are on the rise and BMW wants a piece of the action. And it doesn’t look like it will be so terrible. European media have already driven powertrain mules of the new 3-cylinder engine set to be used in the UKL cars. How does a 221-horsepower turbocharged three-banger sound?

The only way to build any kind of car these days is maximize the economies of scale. The development of a new car costs billions, and the best way to amortize this is to do what Volkswagen did – build everything from the Polo to the next-generation Passat on one modular architecture. Ironically, Volkswagen took their cues from BMW, who had a “1.0″ version of the modular platform in effect with the 3-Series and 5-Series.

For BMW to make the investment in an all-new architecture worthwhile, they’re going to have to spread UKL around as much as possible – that means a new 1-Series with sedan, coupe, convertible, hatchback and crossover variants (1-Series GT anyone?), as well as a new MINI and all the variants that entails. This is the kind of thing that makes “enthusiasts” (of the sort with very narrow definitions of what a car should be) roll their eyes, but for better or worse, this is the way things are done in the automotive world these days. And if BMW’s projections are correct, you better get used to it real fast – an interview with Automotive News has one BMW exec stating that UKL vehicles are expected to account for 40 percent of BMW Group’s global sales within a decade.

Sounds like the same rationale that Porsche used to make the Cayenne SUV. As much as we all dread a FWD 1 series, BMW has made the Mini Cooper for 6 years now, and needs to continue to make FWD to stay profitable.

AWD > RWD > FWD

It is all about the feel of the ride.

Quite frankly, I'm surprised such an article even needs to be written in the first place. All things being equal, FWD are cheaper to manufacture than RWD or AWD. BMW (and the majority of other German luxury marques) have been expanding their entry level portfolio in attempt to grow their business. And they already need an FWD platform for the Mini.

Can't understand why we need to be shown stuff as obvious as 1+1=2... :failed:

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Originally Posted by knight604 (Post 8088961)

AWD > RWD > FWD

It is all about the feel of the ride.

4x4 > AWD > RWD > FWD :fullofwin:

^Genuine question, what is the difference? Between 4x4 and AWD. Also, 4WD = AWD?

All wheel drive is always all four wheels. 4x4 you can switch back and forth.

Love awd in the winter but its pretty boring on dry pavement.

afaik, 4x4 requires some sort of transfer case to be manually engaged in order to get the 4 wheels going. with awd, all the wheels are constantly powered with torque being distributed as needed.

4x4 is also 50/50 where as most awd systems have some sort of power bias.

atleast thats how i learned it :pokerface:

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Originally Posted by knight604 (Post 8088961)

AWD > RWD > FWD

It is all about the feel of the ride.

AWD Feel > RWD Feel?

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Originally Posted by ilvtofu (Post 8089009)

AWD Feel > RWD Feel?

RWD > AWD > FWD

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Originally Posted by ilvtofu (Post 8089009)

AWD Feel > RWD Feel?

Exactly - RWD feel is much better than AWD - the front wheels are just steering, instead of powering...

How about in snow :O

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Originally Posted by heleu (Post 8089039)

Exactly - RWD feel is much better than AWD - the front wheels are just steering, instead of powering...

The thing is unless you're on a track, 99% of the time you're not using enough power or taking corners with enough speed to even notice the difference between the three systems.

Even in normal city driving the difference between RWD and FWD is like night and day. When taking corners FWD hesitates or doesn't seem to want to turn in at all due to understeer. Lots of FWD drivers inevitably "cut the corner" in 90 degree turns when driving. The only FWD car I've driven that doesn't do this as much is the Mini.

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Originally Posted by Lomac (Post 8089074)

The thing is unless you're on a track, 99% of the time you're not using enough power or taking corners with enough speed to even notice the difference between the three systems.

I don't agree. I've driven my buddies Mazdaspeed 3 - it's roughly the same weight, power and size of my Legacy. But the torque steer in that car is overwhelming. Even in second gear, I hesitate to go full throttle because the steering tugs so much in either direction. This is amplified going around any corner - it's a slow-in, fast -out type of car.

Yes, I know the speed3 is know for torque steer, but it does make a difference if you are comparing cars that have more power than econoboxes.

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Originally Posted by Energy (Post 8089085)

I think if you're getting understeer in a corner on the street you probably are going a bit too fast no?

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Originally Posted by knight604 (Post 8089057)

How about in snow :O

The debate about RWD performing in snow? I would say often misunderstood.

Throw on some snow tires, don't drive like a retard and you're set. Anybody else who says otherwise is a noob at driving, retarded and should take what is called public transit.

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Originally Posted by heleu (Post 8089095)

Lift some fucking weights.

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Originally Posted by N8 (Post 8089117)

I think if you're getting understeer in a corner on the street you probably are going a bit too fast no?

It has nothing to do with the speed even if RWD can carry a higher speed through a corner.

Try taking a 90 degree corner and try to turn into the curb lane with a FWD vs RWD car. Even going 30km/h you'll find that the FWD car has to brake earlier and turn in just feels sloppy. You can actually feel that you are being pulled through the corner as opposed to being pushed through it.

Of course none of this matters if you're just DDing or don't want much excitement in your drive.

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Originally Posted by Energy (Post 8089085)

Understeer is the front tires no longer holding grip. Your saying that you are breaking loose the front tires just around corners while normal city driving?

rwd seems to feel more natural around a turn.. at least from the rwds I have owned so far..

I was test driving cars this summer and was excited to drive my first rear-drive car (Genesis Coupe). I didn't notice a big difference from driving a front wheel drive for my entire life. Maybe it was because of the heavy car or traction control voodoo. I wasn't pushing it too much around corners tho. I found the Veloster Turbo just as fun for DD-ing.

The BMW thing is kinda funny because they bragged rear-wheel-drive in ads during the 90s. But it makes sense. FWD can be ok too and they're not converting any M3s or performance models to front wheel drive so the only impact is on entry-level cars.

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Originally Posted by tofu1413 (Post 8089145)

rwd seems to feel more natural around a turn.. at least from the rwds I have owned so far..

Totally agree, Stock for Stock RWD cars generally “feel” better. Part of that is the feeling and control of being “shoved” rather than “pulled”, but add to it that most RWD cars today make a point of being a bit more performance oriented than your average grocery getting FWD hatchback. This is more about suspension setup and chassis stiffness. But I’m not sure I understand how someone would be getting understeer during normal city driving in a corner.

If your comparing the turn in response at 25-30kmkm per hour of a stock Honda Civic and a stock BMW, the BMW will always have a sharper turn in and better steering response, but not because of an understeer situation. Or at least, it SHOULDNT be becouse of understeer.

yep. feels more natural than front driving wheels: driven 3 series xi and rwd models and the 4matic / rwd benzes.. rwd just feels nicer.
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lol is everyone in here a race car driver or something? It really shouldn't be possible for one to experience the difference in fwd and rwd handling. I've personally driven a 4wd for one year and a rwd for two years and I can say there is little to no difference in cornering or anything else in city conditions. Electric aids such as the new electric power steering numbs the road feel even more so which I believe contributes the most to 'feel'. Suspensions and everything else is for track use only, hence why most manufactures are moving toward torsion beam rear suspensions. Cause in reality there is no difference; evident in the Volkswagon Jetta. So to sum it up, no, rwd and fwd will not change driving dynamics for the daily commuter. And to bring this back on topic, I think it'd be great to have a fwd in the BMW line up besides the cooper.