Engine Position And Drive Mechanism

Advantage Of Engine Position And Drive Mechanism

 

Design with the engine at the front driving the front wheels has a number of advantages:

●     It provides protection in the case of a front-end collision.   

●     Engine cooling is easier because of the air flow.   

●     Cornering can be better if the weight is at the front.   

●     Front-wheel drive adds further advantages if the engine is mounted sideways- on (transversely).   

●     there is more room in the passenger compartment.   

●     The power unit can be made as a complete unit.   

●     The drive acts in the same direction as the steered wheels are pointing.

A long propeller shaft from the gearbox to the final drive, which is part of the rear axle, is the main feature. The propshaft has universal joints to allow for suspension movement.

Rear wheel drive advantage

●     Weight transfers to the rear driving wheels when accelerating.   

●     Complicated constant velocity joints, such as used by front-wheel drive vehicles, are not needed.

Four-wheel drive combines all the good points mentioned above but makes the vehicle more complicated and therefore expensive. The main difference with four-wheel drive is that an extra gearbox known as a transfer box is needed to link the front- and rear-wheel drive.The rear engine design has not been very popular but it was used for the bestselling car of all time: the VW Beetle. The advantages are that weight is placed on the rear wheels, giving good grip, and the power unit and drive can be all one assembly. One downside is that less room is available for luggage in the front. The biggest problem is that handling is affected because of less weight on the steered wheels.

Fitting the engine in the mid-position of a car has one major disadvantage:

●  it takes up space inside the vehicle.

● This makes it impractical for most ‘normal’ vehicles.

However, the distribution of weight is very good, which makes it the choice of high-performance vehicle designers. A good example is the Ferrari Testarossa. Mid-engine is the term used to describe any vehicle where the engine is between the axles, even if it is not in the middle.