Front engine
Front engine is the designation for an engine that is installed in the front part, i.e. in the area of the front axle, of a motor vehicle . This is the most common type of construction used in motor vehicles . For buses , this design was common only until the 1950s, when trucks until the 1960s.
In addition to the front engine, there is also the mid-engine positioned between the axles and the rear engine on or behind the rear axle.
Although in a front-wheel drive vehicle with a gearbox in front and the engine behind the front axle, the engine-gearbox unit is located between the axles, this is not called a mid-engine.
Designs
Front engine transverse
In small cars and vehicles of the lower middle class with front-wheel drive, the design with the engine and gearbox arranged next to one another (usually in front of or above the front axle) has established itself, which enables a short engine compartment. There are also vehicles with this engine arrangement and all-wheel drive (for example VW T4 Syncro or Fiat Panda 4 × 4), but this requires a complex drive train. In the past, there were also models with the gearbox in the oil pan (BMC, Peugeot), but they did not catch on.
Front engine lengthways
Until the 1930s, most vehicles had front engines behind the front axle and rear wheel drive. This was also called the "standard drive". For vehicles of this type, the designation front mid-engine has been used since the 1990s. The gearbox can be interlocked directly with the engine, but was also installed separately: either under the front row of seats (for example in the BMW 501/502 ) or with the final drive and differential combined in one housing as a " transaxle " in front of or behind the rear axle. Then the drive shaft to the gearbox is not so heavily stressed and can be designed more easily than a cardan shaft between the gearbox and differential.
With front-wheel drive with a motor behind the axle, the gearbox was in front (Stoewer, Adler, Citroën Traction Avant ), but also behind the axle. ( Cord ) This construction with a motor behind the axle has not been used in passenger cars since the 1990s.
In vehicles with rear- wheel or all-wheel drive , since the end of the 20th century mainly in vehicles of the upper middle class and luxury class , the engine is installed lengthways over the front axle, the transmission behind it or as a transaxle on the rear axle. This engine arrangement was rarely used in front-wheel drive vehicles. The gearbox is usually next to ( Cadillac Eldorado ) or under the engine ( VW K 70 , Saab 99 ), which is then installed at a steep incline to save height.
In many front-wheel drive models with engines installed lengthways, the engine sits in front of the front axle and the gearbox behind it. For a long time, short boxer and V engines were preferred (Citroën, Panhard, Lancia, Ford, Alfa Romeo) in order not to make the front overhang too big and the vehicle not top-heavy. In-line engines in front of the axle were rare ( Citroën H , Fiat Topolino ), only the three-cylinder two-stroke engines in Saab and DKW vehicles with the radiator behind the engine were common. Four cylinders in a row in front of the axle in front-wheel drive cars emerged in the 1960s (Audi F103 1965, Ford Corcel 1968). Since then, larger engines have also been placed in front of the front axle; these are now almost only available with all-wheel drive (Audi).
literature
- Hans-Hermann Braess, Ulrich Seiffert: Vieweg manual automotive technology. 2nd edition, Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn Verlagsgesellschaft, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 2001, ISBN 3-528-13114-4
