rwd vs fwd - again and again

[Jay Negrin <jmnegrin@domain.elided>]

We have been down this road before.  We whine that rwd is 'better' than
fwd, and vice versa.  Whine some more, because whatever we want,
whatever we have gotten used to, doesn't make a hill of beans in the
board (bored) rooms of GM, Fiat, Daimler and Ford.  They want a car that
they can mfg, cheaply, and with minimal warantee returns.  So much the
better if the PR clowns can make the public think that their latest pig
can fly.

Cars today are built with idea that they won't break.  Remember the
axiom, "Maintenance-free just means that when it breaks, you have to
throw it away."  Take a Ford Escort, please.  The dash lights winked
out, one by one, over the period of a couple of months.  Now it is time
to replace them.  All five.  $10 each!!  The instrument panel has to be
removed to replace the freakin' dash bulb(s).  A bitch for maintenance,
but cheap to make.  FWD is the same, as far as I can tell.  It is easier
to mfg than rwd, and more space efficient, too.  What more could the avg
consumer want?  Smaller on the outside, and bigger on the inside.  Make
the parts stout enough, and nothing will break while the original owner
(leasor) pilots the thing around town.

Trouble with this group is that we are not the average consumer.  Are
we?  We want flavor in our lives.  We want spice.  Yeah, fwd drive may
be better in most cases, on the street.  We want RWD, please.  If we
didn't want, or didn't care, then Lexus/Toyota, Infiniti/Nissan, BMW,
MBz, and others would all be making fwd, and the to hell with all of
us.  There are people who care, though.  We want cars that let us know
what is going on down at the contact patch.  We want cars that talk to
us as we drive.  We do NOT want isolated, well-mannered, extensions of
the living room, floating along from point to point.  Getting there is
more than half the fun.  How we get there is important for us.  Sadly,
we are such a small minority, we must now make do with sporty
derivatives of average, every-day automobiles.

The VW GTI and Audi A4, which have been given a fair amount of *ink*
here in the ALFA Digest, are rather mundane designs which have been
tuned to give good ride and response.  I have a VR6 GTI, and like it a
lot.  It is no Alfa, trust me.  It is quick, quiet, and willing to do
more than I will likely ever ask of it.  Character?  Soul?  That resides
in my other car, the Alfetta GT.  It is noisier, doesn't handle as
quickly, gets about the same fuel economy (on a good day) and rides
rather stiffly.  But, it is FUN.  It puts a smile on my face, even when
I am not driving it.  If I read a majority of you folks correctly, that
is what you want; that smile, about your cars' mere presence in your
garage.

Alfa and fwd?  If and when GM/Fiat ever decide to bring the new ones
over, I will go look.  No promises or commitments.  Until then, I will
have to content myself with a daily driver and Al Fetta, with all of the
quirks and amusements of a fun car.

Speaking of which, it is about time to check the oil, tire pressures,
wash the windshield, and go generate some smiles for myself.

Rant over

Jay Negrin
ARO So Cal
76 Alfetta GT

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