Does the layout of a car affect performance?

[FIA]

Does the layout of a car affect performance?

Whether the drive is:-
RWD
4WD
FWD

Whether the engine is:-
Front End
Mid-Ship
Rear End

Does it affect anything?

[Tomski]

Yes

[FIA]

How, and in what way?

eg.
Speed
Accelaration
Torque

[MrJan]

All to do with weight distribution and handling. Obviously moving the engine can't affect set things like power and torque but it can mean faster cornering speed.

RWD is also very good at exceleration as when you floor it the weight transfers to the back. Basically RWD has better traction while FWD scrabbles for grip.

As far as straighline speed goes it wouldn't make any difference really but for the most part overtaking is done in the braking zone and through corners so it is handling that is the most important feature.

[FIA]

So basically they cancel each other out, on different things. Or is there a superior WD or Engine Placement to have.

[AndySpeed]

Audi were so strong in Super touring around the world in 1996 running a 4WD car that for 1997 they had weight penalties to attempt to even the field out.

[MrJan]

So basically they cancel each other out, on different things. Or is there a superior WD or Engine Placement to have.

I suppose the best would be mid-engined, 4WD.

I wouldn't say that they cancel each other out in any way. Weight distribution is one of the most imporant things in going fast and Ford have spent a fortune lowering the centre of gravity on their World Rally Cars.

There will always be arguements over drivetrains and engine placement as to which is quicker but ultimately it comes down to how fast the driver can go in them and that will depend on the driver. RWD is more tail happy and FWD has a tendancy to understeer. Likewise if you have the engine in the front then the weight will push the nose out (understeer) and in the rear it acts like a pendulum trying to spin the car (oversteer).

Ultimately the speed and torque which you asked about just come from the tuning of the engine in respect of induction, echaust and size of engine.

[Eurotech]

Judging on F1, the best combination would be to have Mid-Engined and RWD for best balance. When was the last thime you saw a Front Engined FWD F1 Car?????

[Marc W]

There was a FWD Front engined F1 car once;

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2911/Ferguson-P99-Climax.html

F1 is dictated by the rules and FWD is outlawed. In touring car terms FWD would definately be and advantage but as far as I remember it's also outlawed in S200 rules. You also don't tend to get many mid engined saloon cars!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

There was a FWD Front engined F1 car once;

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2911/Ferguson-P99-Climax.html

F1 is dictated by the rules and FWD is outlawed. In touring car terms FWD would definately be and advantage but as far as I remember it's also outlawed in S200 rules. You also don't tend to get many mid engined saloon cars!

You mean 4WD not FWD ;)

[Robinho]

they both start with F don't they? :confused: ;)

[Marc W]

oops sorry, I was tired!

[stevevxr]

Well along time.time ago.. a chassis engineer from a leading Uk motor manufacturer based in BHAM (longbridge)told me at the time that left hand drive cars handle and are better balanced than right hand drive cars.... For what reason i can't remember...

For FWD cars its all about the chassis - if the chassis can't handle the power then it's gonna be a torque steer / oversteering beasts like the Astra VXR / Alfa 147 and most hot hatch's at the moment.

4x4 Chassis cars like Audi are great for all round performance in all conditions, in the dry they can be bogged down a bit but other than that good allrounder.

RWD - BMW rule this one - great traction and corner out performance - very scary in the wet though... but a proper drivers car. Holden are close contender on RWD chassis- driven a Monaro whilst i worked for VX - great car. But the BMW is best i've driven with the flappy paddle gearbox... pure class !!!

At the end of the day i believe it's down to how good the chassis is... regardless if it FWD, RWD, 4WD,

[VX_Rules]

Isnt the reason being an engine isnt centred, is it slightly more to the right (from a drivers perspective) so having the wheel and driver on the left, balances it our more? That could be utter BS im not sure.

[ChrisS]

All to do with weight distribution and handling. Obviously moving the engine can't affect set things like power and torque but it can mean faster cornering speed.

engine/drive configuration does affect things like power. obviously the engine will make the same power no matter where it is but a FR car will lose more power than a FF car because of the way the engine is mounted, the long Driveshaft, the differential etc.

An AWD car will also lose more power because the power has to go to 4 wheels

[Abo]

An AWD car will also lose more power because the power has to go to 4 wheels

True but it has a traction advantage. The solution of course is to make the car as RWD as possible until conditions require power to be sent to the front wheels as well, which is what car makers are doing

[MrJan]

engine/drive configuration does affect things like power. obviously the engine will make the same power no matter where it is but a FR car will lose more power than a FF car because of the way the engine is mounted, the long Driveshaft, the differential etc.

An AWD car will also lose more power because the power has to go to 4 wheels

Never really thought about it that way. How much power can be realistically lost through this though, considering that proper racing cars will have finely tuned diffs etc? I wouldn't have thought it'd be much more than 10bhp which is quite a lot but I've always been under the impression that FR is a better handling setup that FF which would make up for it.

[ChrisS]

I'm not sure of how much power would be lost on race cars.

On road cars the actual horsepower delivered to the driving wheels is about 15% less than the engine brake horsepower on FR cars and about 20% less on AWD cars, not sure how much lose there is on FF cars

all the other benefits of the FR setup more than make up for this