First Car. Ideas on Rwd ?

Question

I'm 18 and soon to be passing my licence and i've been looking around for different cars. So far i'm thinking of getting a Vw lupo as its a small engine and good all round. But lupo's are FWD and i wanted to know are there any other low cc engine, non turbo RWD cars ?

Answer 1

Fireball: Honda S2000 as a small engined RWD car for a new driver? It's a Honda, not some stodgy American heap - it's 2 litre, normally aspirated engine gives 237bhp & 0-60 in 6.2 seconds.

Sorry, I'll continue: I'd look at a Mazda MX-5 or a BMW 1 or 3 series: Plenty about, reliable, economical, well made, all great fun. Shouldn't be a problem insuring any of them, my nephew had a BMW 318i at 17, no problems insuring it, he's had two more since (the current one's a convertible), never had a scary moment!

Answer 2

The simple answer is no.

Stick with the Lupo, its a wise choice. Honestly, I know its boring but your priority is to drive safely, get used to the variety of road conditions and traffic, and get your insurance premium down.

If you want small RWD you are looking at very old cars where you would spend half your weekend maintaining it, not really want an 18 wants eh ?

Answer 3

The original fiat 500 is rear engined and rear wheel drive, early Beatles are also below 1500cc and rear wheel drive the Morris 1000 and minor of the 50's would fill the bill along with lots of classic cars, they also have the advantage that no road tax is payable.

Answer 4

I would actually say that rwd cars are less safe up in northern areas, where you can loose control more easily when going up a hill. On Mythbusters, they tested rwd cars in the snow, and there was no difference in handling. But if you are a young driver looking for a rwd car, then I would probably suggest a used BMW or so, they are very cool and are very safe.  

Answer 5

I don't think the Lupo is available in the US. I also don't think the Fox, successor to the Lupo, is available here either.

I think you may be hard-pressed to find a small displacemnt, RWD car today as most cars sold in this country are FWD. When you do find a RWD car, it is ussually a luxury, sport or full-sized car. If you are willing to wait a few years, you may be able to pick up a GM car on a Zeta platform. I know for a fact that the Camaro will be on the Zeta and I have heard that the Impala will switch over to the Zeta, as may some of the Pontiac G series.

Finding a small engine RWD car will be almost (if not entirely) immposible.

Answer 6

RWD cars are much more fun to drive, as it puts you as the driver in the center of gravity when you turn.  FWD cars are much easier to control and will not drift nearly as easialy as a RWD car, but are also not as fun to drive.  Most cars with a low cc and low horsepower are FWD, but some (like a Honda S2000, Saturn Sky, or Mazda Miata) have smaller engines and are RWD, but are considered sports cars and thus will have a higher insurance and a higher purchase price.  

Answer 7

why are you just getting ur licence at 18?...anyway rwd is good but fwd feels like you have more control of the car plus they normally have less problems with them not as many parts to make the wheels move

Answer 8

The only sorts of RWD ars you'll be able to get insurance for (let's face it BMWs are nice, but you'd never insure one as an 18 year old new driver) are older ones. Think classic cars like Morris Minors, Triumph Heralds and Toledos, VW Beetles etc.

Now while these cars will need regular maintenance, I reckon an old car is much cooler than some scabby old Fiesta/Corsa thing, and learning to look after it will teach you a bit about how cars work and how to fix them. It's either that or a boring FWD box.