I know that with RWD there is power loss through the drivetrain. This doesn't occur in FWD does it?

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'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
FLOWMASTER, NO CAT
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
2:73 GEARS
Rebuilt 700R4, with manual valve body
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite
Soon to be installed
3:73 Richmond Gears and 3" Hooker Aero Chamber
Corvette Servo & .500 boost valve
15.61@ 95.2mph G-Teched, 1-2 shift slippage, and just replaced a burnt plug wire
"There is nothing more addicting than speed"

 

Sure it does, it takes some power to turn a tranny and axles. But when you've only got 50hp to begin with, if you loose 10hp you're still basically left with no horsepower

0 - 0 = 0 Right!
A little - a bit = not much Right!

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91 B4C 305 TPI - SOON TO BE 383
TREMEC 5-SP, STOCK 1-BOLT REAREAND w/342 GEARS, K&N, AIRFOIL
EDELBROCK HEADERS, DUAL CAT TO HOMEMADE Y-PIPE & 3.5" SINGLE PIPE W/ FLOWMASTER, CRANK PULLEY, MSD, FUEL PRESS REG, COWL HOOD, WELD WHEELS
14.1@ 98MPH
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OTHER RIDE
67 CAMARO - STREET CAR, BIG BLOCK, PUMP GAS
350TH w/ATI 10", 12-BOLT w/373 GEARS
10.47@129 1.55 60FT. ON MOTOR - ET-STREETs w/MUFFLERS

 

Why wouldnt it? They have transmissions, axles, bearings...

 

It occurs.. There's still extra rotating mass and friction present in front wheel drive engines.. But generally less of it.

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89 iroc-z 305 tbi
k&n filtercharger, open element air filter. nuffin' else

 

Sorry, I wasn't sure, that's why I figured some imports were actually a little quick for small engines.

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'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
FLOWMASTER, NO CAT
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
2:73 GEARS
Rebuilt 700R4, with manual valve body
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite
Soon to be installed
3:73 Richmond Gears and 3" Hooker Aero Chamber
Corvette Servo & .500 boost valve
15.61@ 95.2mph G-Teched, 1-2 shift slippage, and just replaced a burnt plug wire
"There is nothing more addicting than speed"

 

There are 2 major reasons why some FWD imports are kind of quick.

1) They're pretty light compared to F-bodies. My 84 VW GTI is somewhere around 2000 pounds.

2) Extremely short final drive ratio's. The average FWD car has the equivalent final drive ratio of an F-body with 4.11's.

 

Gears will always result in some power loss. Rear wheel drive uses hypoid gears to change the rotating direction from axial to transverse: Hypoid gears are less efficient than straight cut teeth (some hypoids are more efficient than others - a GM 12-bolt loses less power than a Ford 9", for instance).

Transverse mounted FWD uses a chain to transfer the power from the engine to the transmission. Since the rotating direction is already tranverse, and fewer gears are involved, the power loss is lessened.

The transverse package is also more compact, allowing the vehicle in which it is mounted to be lighter. All of these things combine to produce better efficiency out of a FWD vs. RWD, all other things being equal.

Now, in terms of relative STRENGTH, that dual-turbo'd, intercooled, sprayed, supposedly 11-sec Accord at Test & Tune in June proved why most drag cars are RWD...

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R4. 2.93 limited slip. Cat-back from '91 GTA, ZZ3 intake, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LG4 w/'87 LB9 block, ZZ3 cam, ported World 305 heads, Hooker headers & y-pipe, 3" Catco cat & 3" cat-back, Spohn SFCs).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. '66 396, 9.7 CR forged TRWs, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet (Holley 3310 on the way), GK 270 cam, Magnum rockers, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" Hedders & 3" Warlocks, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, MegaShifter, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Idles smooth @ 600 RPM in D. Best 15.02/95.06 @ 5800' Bandimere (corrected 13.93/102.4 @ sea level).