In a front-wheel drive car, the engine\'s output power is transferred to the fro

Question

In a front-wheel drive car, the engine's output power is transferred to the front wheels. Similarly, in a rear-wheel drive car, the engine's power is transmitted to the rear wheels. Due to mechanical losses, front-wheel drive cars get more power to the drive wheels than rear-wheel drive cars, i.e., for the same engine, a front-wheel drive car's front wheels will have more power than the rear wheels in a rear-wheel drive car. Yet, race cars are almost always rear-wheel drive. Why is that? To answer hat question, we'll need to recall several physics concepts. The answer to this question can be given in a few sentences and a picture or two.

Begin by drawing a free body diagram of a car that is accelerating in a straight line. What force makes the car accelerate?

Where is the center of mass of the car (approximately)?

What happens as a result of the position of the center of mass relative to the forces acting on the car?

What happens to the normal force on the rear wheels vs. the normal force on the front wheels?

Why would you prefer a rear-wheel drive car for acceleration?

Explanation / Answer

Center of mass is almost in mid of length of car.
In front wheel drive if acceleration is very high it has a risk of toppling because rear wheel will be lifted above ground.

in rear wheel drive if acceleration is high it will press front wheels to ground more hard. And normal will be high on front wheel.
In case of high acceleration we prefer a rear wheel drive to prevent car from toppling or lifting of tyre from ground.

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