Mike Smith > wrote in message >...
> Juhan Leemet wrote:
> >
> > I guess I don't understand this. I've experienced a flat rear tire (on an
> > American rear wheel drive car many years ago): the car started to "swim"
> > (i.e. oversteer?). Wouldn't that cause the car to spin?

What causes a spin is the rear wheels. Period. Doesn't matter if
they're driven or not. If your front end slides, the front end stays
in front. If the rear end slides, the rear end tries to pass the
front (a spin). The real cause is, sliding friction is less than
static friction, so the sliding wheels tend to go faster than the
non-sliding wheels, but we're not going into all that. Just remember
that the end where the wheels are sliding will go to the front in the
direction of the slide.

> Does FWD or AWD make it work differently?

None whatsoever.

> I would agree with this. I've had blowouts on both front and rear
> tires, and the front-tire blowout was much more difficult to control.

The problem with both your analyses is that you're assuming the only
time this matters is with a blowout. You can count the number of
times you've experienced a blowout on one hand (I hope!). At least I
can, in about 35 years of driving, including a number of teen years on
'Bald Eagles'.

Having less (or worse) traction at the rear of the car is something
you have to deal with *every single time you reach the limits of
traction*! For the average driver, that occurs most often in reduced
traction conditions like rain, snow, or loose surfaces. It also
happens whether you're turning or going straight. It can even happen
under acceleration in a RWD or AWD car if the rear loses traction.
Acceleration is the *only* condition under which it matters where the
drive wheels are, and a FWD will have a natural directional advantage
here that's not negated by having better tires on the rear.

Because of the tendency of the lower traction end of the car to lead
in a slide, if the rears break traction under braking, the car can
swap ends. If the rears break traction while cornering, they tend to
slide off the outside of the turn in a perpendicular (to the tangent)
line from the point at which they broke loose. Either way, you end up
with the taillights leading the way. Most people think of this as a
Bad Thing (TM).

> I'd say you want your best tires on the front with any kind of car, but
> *especially* a front-wheel-drive.

That depends on whether you prefer sliding butt-end first or whether
you want to *see* what you hit. Frankly, if it's raining, I want the
back end of the car to stay back there, so *my* good tires are always
on the rear, no matter what the drivetrain configuration happens to
be.
--
C.R. Krieger
(Been there; done that)