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Michael makes excellent points regarding FWD vs. RWD
However, one has to be careful doing this on
slippery roads with
front-wheel-drive cars. Downshifting on slippery
roads can cause a
skid. If this occurs with rear-wheel drive you
probably still have some
steering control with the front tires. If this
happens with front-wheel
drive you have lost steering until you recover from
the skid. If you
have time and a good touch on the accelerator you
can match the wheel
rotation to the road speed and come out of the skid
fairly well. If you
have no time, or if you do the wrong thing,
downshifting can get you
into some pretty serious trouble (on slippery
roads).
When my son was learning to drive on slippery winter
roads with a
manual-transmission front-wheel-drive car, I
suggested that he not
downshift because I believe in those circumstances
you lose more control
than you gain.