Since I can't go out to test and take photos, I'll just chat with you about the more interesting knowledge of car cooling at home, and also help cold teacher lead the class. Happy are the friends who like the car story and the knowledge about the side of the car! Today, we are going to talk about the "one dish, two meals" of the auto industry: those "same cars" that once had the same name of the same generation, but had differences in engine layout and structure. Just read this passage is not some confused? It doesn't matter. Today is the opposite of the so-called platform. The content is guaranteed to be interesting.
Let's take a look at some of the original "snake skin walking"
I remember that a few years ago, I talked about British cars with a colleague (yes, he is the British breeder I met in the long-term test). Talking about it, we turned to a model that had been sold in China for a short time: Roewe 750. After SAIC Group acquired Rover technology, the first model of Roewe brand was officially launched. At that time, the advertising hype about its British pedigree was not empty talk, because it was really a "bid change" British car - Rover 75.
In fact, after my in-depth study, I found that in the original Rover 75 series, there are two completely different engine layout forms and two completely different driving forms. They are the front drive models with transverse engines and the rear drive models with longitudinal engines. Is it amazing?
Yes, BMW has taken the situation of transverse engine into consideration when setting up the project. Theoretically, it is not a problem to be compatible with transverse engine. As for why there is such an idea, it is naturally because of the existence of brands such as mini and Rover. Although they share the same origin, they do not mean that their chassis is completely the same. For transverse and longitudinal engines, they have different designs in front, rear subframe, rear suspension and other aspects. There are also differences in part size and hard point design between different brand models.
Have you seen it? Interesting? Don't worry, we still have! For the next car, let's talk about Mercedes Benz V-Class (including the previous Viano) and Weiting. In fact, there are many cases of mixed use of horizontal and vertical engines in this type of car. Let's talk about Mercedes Benz today.
Although the two cars are super similar in appearance and similar in technical structure, because of this difference, many manufacturers, including Mercedes Benz, will carry out more extensive compatibility structure design for this model. In terms of products, there will be many different suspension matching forms and driving forms, matching according to different purposes.
In addition to these, you can also choose the long axle body for the blind window cargo version of Viton. If the front drive form of the transverse engine is installed, such upgrading will not increase a lot of costs. Of course, if you choose the manned use, you can also choose the chassis hardware level and rear wheel drive form similar to V-Class / Viano, as well as rich seat layout configuration, but the luxury level and power level are almost the same. Just like "Oka", you can choose whatever you want.
The next model may come as a surprise to many: the Porsche 356. Yes, it's the first mass production model of the Porsche brand. One might say, "don't be a liar. Isn't the Porsche 356 always a rear engine?" Don't tell me. There's really a little episode here.
This episode is here! In fact, when the Porsche 356 was just developed, its prototype car, Porsche 356 No.1, did not adopt the form of rear engine rear drive, but the layout of middle engine rear drive. However, in the subsequent mass production vehicles, it returned to the form of "the same old beetle" rear drive, to ensure that it can add two more seats and control the cost.
To put it another way: as for the inheritance of the Porsche rear engine, in fact, the engineering research and Development Department of Porsche has never denied the advantages of the central engine, and even had the idea of changing the layout of the Porsche 911 to the central engine. But this approach will be opposed by Porsche fans and lose its tonality, so let this "beautiful mistake" continue to be "wrong" on the 911. As long as it's not the 911, who cares whether its engine is rear or not?
Some original cars and group B rally derivative cars
Next, I'll talk about this car. I think many fans will know it: the cheapest Aston Martin. Did you guess? Yes, it's Aston Martin cygnet (also known as "Little Swan"), the only mini car launched by the brand, and also the most expensive imported mini car I know at present.
As like as two peas, TOYOTA iQ is the same as TOYOTA iQ, which is the same as TOYOTA 1.3L: the 1.3L engine is horizontal, the maximum power is 99Ps, the front wheel drive is the same, and the CVT transmission is matched. To be honest, I can't believe it's an Aston Martin when I hear about these technical indicators. It's simply out of production now.
In Goodwood the year before last, Aston Martin released a cygnet equipped with a longitudinal V8 engine. This car can be regarded as an ultra short wheelbase version of Aston Martin V8 vantage s, with the maximum power of 436ps and rear wheel drive. In order to install the powertrain, engineers not only moved the firewall back, but also added roll cage to strengthen the rigidity of the vehicle, widen the track width, and completely replace the previous suspension system. Although there is only one, which is meaningless, we can see the "British humor" of these engineers: to die for ridicule and environmental protection!
The next thing to be said is that this model is well-known in China: Volkswagen Golf. From the first generation to the eighth generation, the production version of golf always adheres to the front transverse engine structure, but in 2007, the story seems to have changed.
Like Aston Martin cygnet V8, it's possible that Volkswagen engineers just built such a golf with 12 cylinder engine in order to show off their skills, and chose the mid engine scheme considering the balance weight and spatial layout. Although only one car has been built, VW is not the first brand to change the front engine model to the middle engine layout, because the next story will let you know what is the real blood.
The "monsters" transformed by the game
There is a very exciting event in the world, called WRC (World Rally Championship). In this event, there was a legendary group - group B, that is, group B rally. On the one hand, the birth of this "myth" is due to the arduous conditions of watching and competition in that year, the lack of safety design and people's lack of safety awareness; on the other hand, because the FIA has less restrictions on group B vehicles, many car companies have developed many daunting "monsters" in order to participate in this crazy competition, yes, even today's abnormal cars.
Of course, because of less restrictions, many car companies are willing to pay a lot of money to transform their own vehicles in order to win the competition. What I'm talking about here is not simply upgrading the suspension, braking, power, etc., but rebuilding a super beast that looks harmless to people and animals, but whose power doesn't match it: it's recorded that the major car companies in group B are still at the level of 250ps at the beginning, and they are basically aiming at 500ps in the last year (except for the small displacement group), or even In addition, there are monsters whose "breaking hundred" is less than 3S, while things like ABS do not exist at all. They only depend on the technology and courage of drivers and pilots.
Since talking about rally, my first "big move" is of course one of my favorite brands - lanqiya. Although the former blue Qiya has been in a state of "half dead and half dead" in recent years, you need to know that it once used the rear blue Qiya 037 to pull the Quattro four-wheel drive Audi down to the championship, which is a super strong player, like a spire in the WRC arena.
Put the engine in the back seat and even put it on the road for mass production, which really conforms to the style of blue Qiya in those days. Of course, in order to prove the strength of the brand and desperate manufacturers can not only be lanqiya, next into the "high-energy link", please bring your own tissue and lemon, I will start to show you the monster!
Renault is the brand that inherits the layout of the mid engine for the longest time among the B-group steel guns. Even after the cancellation of the B-group rally, Renault still mass produced the road version of the mid engine layout in the "Millennium". To tell you the truth, sometimes the French thought is quite unexpected.
The story is not over yet. There are so many companies participating in group B rally. How can there be only two "magic transformation" mid engine racing cars? Next, we will invite Renault's "sworn enemy" to the stage.
For example, Dafa's charade 926r (the car series is closely related to Xiali, so I'm joking that Xiali is a rally car), Alfa Romeo's Alfasud sprint C6 and so on. Whether it's on the court or not, there are so many models that made such transformation at that time. It's hard to fully cover them in one inventory. All of these amazing engine layout modifications are due to the existence of group B rally, which also created the crazy era and those crazy mid engine models.
Having finished group B, let's take a look at group a rally. Although not as extreme as group B, in order to win, there are also some models that change the engine layout in group a rally, the most representative of which is Ford Escort.
The car was originally designed to take over from Ford's Sierra RS Cosworth and continue to participate in the rally, but in view of the good reputation of the road version of Sierra RS Cosworth, they intend to use some of the previous structure of Sierra RS Cosworth to make a vertical engine road version of the escort RS Cosworth. Of course, this specially developed high-performance version is also highly praised in the European car fans' circle. The famous British car host Jeremy Clarkson (nickname: gorilla) is one of the car's loyal fans.
Fanwai: transformation cases of some refitting plants
It's not uncommon for the refitting factory to change the direction of the engine. Here are two representative Japanese refitting factories and their representative works for you to share.
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