The front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine layout and transmission used in motor vehicles, where the engine only drives the front wheels. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles have a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement commonly found in the rear wheels and four-wheel drive vehicles.
Video Front-wheel drive
Front wheel drive settings
Most FWD layouts are front engines. The rear dimension is possible, but rare. Historically they fall into three categories:
- Front engine mounted transversely/Front wheel drive
- Longitudinal front-engine driver/front wheel drive
- Front Mid-engine/Front-wheel drive
Maps Front-wheel drive
History
Before 1900
Experiments with front wheel drive cars are dated for the early days of the car. According to various sources, sometimes between 1895 and 1898 GrÃÆ'f & amp; Stift builds voiturette with a one-cylinder De Dion-Bouton engine mounted on the front of the vehicle, turning on the front axle. It could thus be regarded as the world's first front wheel drive car, but never saw mass production, with only one copy ever made. In 1898, Latil, in France, devised a front-wheel drive system to drive the horse-drawn carts.
SociÃÆ' Â © tÃÆ' Â © Parisienne - Victoria Combination
In 1898/9, the French manufacturer Socià © à © tà ©  © Parisienne patented their front wheel drive articulation concept they produced as a Victoria Combination. The range is powered by 1.75 or 2.5 horsepower (1.30 or 1.86 kW) De Dion-Bouton engine or water cooled 3.5 horsepower (2.6 kW) Aster engine. The engine is mounted on the front axle and rotated by the steering wheel. The name Victoria Combination describes a lightweight trailer, two seats commonly known as Victoria, combined with the rear axle and a propulsion mechanism of the three-wheeled motor that is placed in front to reach the front wheels. It's also known as Eureka .
In 1899 Victoria Combinations participated in an automotive event like 371 km Paris-St Malo, completing 23 overall and second (last) in class. In October, Victoria Combination won its class at Paris-Rambouillet-Paris, which included a 100 kilometer course at 26 km/h (16 mph). In 1900 completed 240 kilometers (150 mi) non-stop at 29 km/h (18 mph).
When production stopped in mid-1901, over 400 copies had sold for 3,000 francs (about $ 600) each. 1900_.E2.80.93_1920 "> 1900Ã, - 1920
J. Walter Christie of the United States patented the design for the front axle, the first prototype he built in 1904. He promoted and demonstrated the vehicle with races at various speedways in the United States, and even competed in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup and the French Grand Prix. In 1912 he began producing a series of wheel tractor machines using his front-wheel drive system, but due to lack of sales, the business failed.
1920Ã, - 1930
The next successful front-wheel drive application is the supercharged Alvis 12/50 race car designed by George Thomas Smith-Clarke and William M. Dunn from Alvis Cars of the United Kingdom. The vehicle was incorporated in 1925 Cl Hill Hill Climb at Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire on March 28, 1925. Harry Arminius Miller of Menomonie, Wisconsin designed the Miller 122 wheel-drive racing car entered in 1925 Indianapolis 500, held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1925.
However, the idea of ​​a front-wheel drive languished outside the motor racing arena because no major automobile manufacturers were trying the same for production cars. Market experiments in the United States were handed over to small businesses like Ruxton (200 cars in 1929), and Cable L-29 in 1929. Automakers did not succeed in the open market. Alvis Cars introduced the front-wheel-drive commercial model of Alvis 12/50 in 1928, but it also did not work.
1930Ã, - 1945
The first successful consumer app came in 1929. BSA (Birmingham Small Arms Company) produces a unique three-wheeled BSA front wheel. Production continued until 1936 during which time sports and tour models were available. In 1931 DKW F1 from Germany debuted. Buckminster Fuller adopted the rear engine, front-wheel drive for its three Dymaxion Car prototypes. Other German automakers follow: Stoewer offers cars with front-wheel drive in 1931, Adler in 1932 and Audi in 1933. In 1934, the highly successful Avant Traction car was introduced by Citronne of France. Cable 810 from the United States managed a little better in the late 1930s than its predecessors a decade earlier. This vehicle features a layout that puts the engine behind the transmission, runs "backwards," (save for Cable, which drives transmission from the front of the machine). The basic front-wheel-drive layout provides sharp changes, and better weight distribution creates "positive handling characteristics" due to low polar inertia and relatively good weight distribution. (The heaviest component is near the center of the car, making the main component of the moment of inertia relatively low). Another result of this design is the extended chassis.
1945Ã, - 1960
The front-wheel drive continued with 1948 CitroÃÆ'¡n 2CV, where flat, air-cooled, flat aluminum twin engines were installed in front of the front wheels, but using joints with the universal Hooke driveshaft type, and 1955 CitroÃÆ'¡n DS, featuring mid-engine layouts. Panhard from France, DKW Germany and Saab of Sweden offer exclusive front wheel drive vehicles, starting with Saab 92 in 1948.
In 1946, Lloyd Cars, the British car company, has produced a roadster drive-drive roadster, the Lloyd 650. Two-stroke, two-cylinder motor mounted across the front and connected to the front wheels through a four-speed synchronized gearbox. The high price and the lackluster performance have made its production destroyed. Only 600 units were manufactured from 1946 to 1950.
In 1954, Alfa-Romeo had experimented with the first front-wheel-drive compact front car named "33" (unrelated or called a sports car called "33"). It has the same layout, advanced-motor that crosses as a modern front-wheel-drive car. It even resembles a smaller version of the popular Alfa Romeo Giulia. However, due to financial difficulties in post-war Italy, 33 never saw production. Had Alfa-Romeo managed to produce 33, it would precede the Mini as the first "modern" front-wheel-drive compact car.
In 1955, one of the first Japanese manufacturers to use front-wheel drive with a transverse-mounted engine was Suzuki Suzulight, which was a small "town" car, called a Japanese car kei .
In 1959, the Austin Mini was launched by the British Motor Corporation, designed by Alec Issigonis in response to the first 'oil crisis', the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the explosion of bubble cars that followed. This is the first production-driven front-wheel drive with an inline four-cylinder cold-water engine mounted transversely. This allows eighty percent of the floor plan for passenger and luggage use. The majority of modern cars use this configuration. The progressive rubber level sprung an independent suspension, a low center of gravity, and wheels on every corner with radial tires, providing a huge increase in grip and handling of all the most expensive cars on the market. It uses GKN which is designed Constant-speed shaft joint with universal drive.
1960 - 1975
The transverse mounted engine combined with the front-wheel drive was popularized by the 1959 Mini; there is a transmission built into the sump of the engine, and the drive is transferred to it via a set of primary gears. The concept of transmitting other variants used by Simca in the 1960s kept the engine and transmission in line, but mounted transversely and with unequal long driveshafts. It has proven itself as a model in which almost all modern FWD vehicles are now based. Peugeot and Renault jointly developed their small car engine in the 1970s where a 4-cylinder block was inclined to reduce the overall height of the engine with the transmission underneath (PSA X engine). This layout tendency to generate unwanted "whining" transmissions has made it unpopular. Also, clutch changes require engine removal.
The 1965 Triumph 1300 is designed around a longitudinal engine with transmissions underneath. Audi also uses a machine mounted lengthwise on the front wheels since the 1970s. Audi is one of the few manufacturers that still use this particular configuration. This allows the use of the same half-length shaft and the easy addition of an all-wheel drive, but it has the disadvantages that make it difficult to achieve 50/50 weight distribution (although they fix it in a four-wheel-drive model by installing a gearbox on the back of transaxle.) The Subaru 1000 appeared in 1966 using a front-wheel drive mated to a 4-flat engine, with driveshafts of the same length extending from the transmission, which answered some of the problems of the powertrain to be somewhat complicated and unbalanced in the engine compartment - Alfa Romeo Alfasud (and its successor, Alfa 33 in 1983) also used the same layout.
Honda also introduced several small front-wheel vehicles, with the N360 and N600, Z360 and Z600 in 1967, Honda 1300 in 1969, followed by Honda Civic in 1972 and Honda Accord in 1976.
Also in the 1970s and 1980s, Douvrin machines used in larger Renault (20, 21, 25 and 30) used this advanced "forward" layout. The first generation Saab 900, launched in 1978, also used longitudinal engines with transmissions underneath with helical gears. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado is the first US front wheel drive car since the Cord 810. It uses longitudinal engine placement for its V8, coupled with an unusual "split" transmission, which changes the power of the engine 180 degrees. Power then goes to the differential mounted to the transmission box, from which the half-axle takes it to the wheel. The driveline is adjustable enough at the center of the wheel for better weight distribution, although this lifts the engine, requiring a lower intake system.
Innovation Giacosa
The front-wheel drive layout has been greatly influenced by the success of small, inexpensive cars, especially the British Mini. Engineered by Alec Issigonis, the compact structure lies in transmissions and engines that share a single oil container - although lubrication requirements are different - and has engine radiators mounted to the side of the engine, away from fresh airflow and heated images rather than cold air above the engine. The layout often requires the machine to be moved to service the clutch.
As designed by Dante Giacosa, Fiat 128 features transverse mounted engines with unequally long drive shafts and innovative coupling disposal mechanisms - arrangements strategically tested by Fiat in the previous production model, Primula, from its less critical market subsidiary , Autobianchi.
Ready for production in 1964, Primula displays the offset of dental gears from differential and final drives with unequal long drive shafts. The layout allows the engine and gearbox to be placed side by side without sharing the lubricating fluid while directing the cooling fan toward the fresh air flow. By using Primula as a test bed, Fiat is able to overcome the lack of layout well, including uneven side-to-side power transmission, uneven tire wear and steady torque potential, the tendency for engine power alone to direct the car under acceleration weight.
After 128, Fiat further demonstrated layout flexibility, reconfiguring 128 train-drives as a mid-engin layout for the Fiat X1/9. The compact and efficient Giacosa layout - a machine mounted transversely with a transmission mounted on the side of the engine that drives the wheel front through unfair final-drive offsets and driveshafts, combined with MacPherson struts and radiators located separately - then become common with competitors and arguably the industry standard.
1975Ã, - 1990
Average Fuel Economy Standards The company encourages the mass changes of cars in the US to the front-wheel drive. This change began in 1978, with the introduction of American-made transversal engines, Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni (based on the European design of Simca Horizon), followed by 1980 Chevrolet Citation and a number of other vehicles. Meanwhile, European automakers, who have moved to the front-wheel drive decades earlier, began uniformly setting up their engines in just this decade, leaving Audi (and Volkswagen) alone with Audi's longitudinal drive-ahead layout. Years before this was the most common layout in Europe, with examples like Citroen DS, Renault 12, Renault 5, Renault 25 (Chrysler LH ancestors) Alfa Romeo 33, Volkswagen Passat, etc. This transition can be exemplified in Renault 21 which is offered with different engine configurations. The 1.7-liter version features an 'east-west' (crossed) engine, but Renault does not have a gearbox suitable for a more powerful transverse engine: therefore a faster version features a longitudinally installed engine (south north).
By reducing the weight of the drivetrain and space requirements, the vehicle can be made smaller and more efficient without sacrificing acceleration. Integrating the powertrain with a transverse as opposed to a longitudinal layout, along with unibody construction and the use of a constant-speed axle drive, along with the front-wheel drive has evolved into a modern mass-market car. Some suggest that the introduction of the modern Volkswagen Golf in 1974, from traditional US competitors, and the introduction of the 1973 Honda Civic, and the 1976 Honda Accord serves as a wake-up call for "Big Three" (only Chrysler has already produced a front-wheel-drive vehicle in operation they are outside North America). The Ford Fiesta Ford 1976 was Europe's first front-wheel drive car, GM even later with the 1979 Vauxhall Astra/Opel Kadett. Imports of prisoners are the early response of US carmakers to an increase in demand for economy cars. The popularity of the front-wheel drive started to gain momentum, with the 1981 Ford Escort, Nissan Sentra 1982, and the 1983 Toyota Corolla. The front-wheel drive became the norm for medium-sized cars ranging from Chevy Chevrolet 1982, Toyota Camry 1982, 1983 Dodge 600, 1985 Nissan Maxima, 1986 Honda Legend, and 1986 Ford Taurus. In the mid-1980s, most of the Japanese model cars using the rear wheels were front-wheel drive, and by the mid-1990s, most American brands only sold some rear-wheel drive models.
1990 - present
The majority of current front-wheel-drive vehicles use transverse-mounted engines with "tip-on" transmissions, pushing the front wheels through driveshafts connected via a constant speed (CV) connection, and electronically controlled cooling fans. This configuration was spearheaded by Dante Giacosa in 1964 Autobianchi Primula and popularized with Fiat 128. Fiat was promoted in its advertisement that the mechanical feature only spent 20% of vehicle volume and that Enzo Ferrari drove 128 as his personal vehicle. 1959 Mini, while the pioneer front wheel drive vehicle, uses a very different setting from the transmission on the socket, and the cooling fan draws hot air from the side-facing location.
Volvo Cars has replaced its entire range after the 900 series to the front-wheel drive. Swedish engineers at the company say that the transverse-mounted engine allows the area of ​​the crumple zone to be more in direct collisions. American car manufacturers are now shifting larger models (such as the Chrysler 300 and most of the Cadillac range) back to the rear-wheel drive. There were relatively few rear-wheeled cars that were marketed in North America in the early 1990s; Chrysler's line-up of the car was fully front-wheel drive by 1990. GM followed it in 1996 where its B-body line was removed, where sports cars (Camaro, Firebird, Corvette) were the only RWDs that were marketed; in the early 2000s, Chevrolet Corvette and Cadillac Catera were the only RWD cars offered by General Motors until the introduction of the Sigma platform. After the discontinuation of the Ford Panther platform (except the Mustang), Ford cars (including Transit Connect vans) produced for the 2012 model that will be present are front wheels; Its D3 platform (based on the Volvo platform) has an optional all wheel drive.
Recordings
- Nissan GT-R racecar LM Nismo holds the record for being the most powerful front-wheel drive car, with an engine burning output of around 500 hp (370 kW; 510 PS) while the flywheel system is intended to have an additional output of about 750 hp (560 kW; 760 PS). This account is for a total of 1,250 hp (930 kW, 1,270 PS). The power of the flywheel is meant to be split between the front and rear wheels, making the all-wheel drive car in this configuration. However, as it is unreliable the car drove without a flywheel and with 500hp just riding the front wheel.
- However, 1970 Oldsmobile Toronado remains the most powerful front-wheel drive production vehicle to date, with the W-34 option producing 400 hp (298 kW).
- The Cadillac Eldorado, with front-wheel drive introduced in 1967, holds the largest engine record in front wheel drive vehicles, at 8.2 L (500 inches), starting with a 1970 model, lasting up to 1976 model year.
- The Dodge Neon SRT-4 production from RaceDeck Racing broke ground speed records for its class at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on August 16, 2006. Driven by Jorgen Moller Jr., the record set at an average speed of 221 mph for both runs on track five miles.
See also
- Car layout
- Rear wheel drive
- Four wheel drive
- FF layout
- Category: Front wheel sports car
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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