It's been for sale a month!
And it bombed.
LOL!
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- posted
20 years ago
Re: Mid-Engine Placement Ideal
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- posted
20 years ago
Everybody is wondering why the Crossfire flopped. After much pondering and
> dickering, I have the obviously correct answer and will share it to my
> loving audience.
>
> The engine is in the front and differential in the rear. The polar moment
> of inertia has been maximized. Thus, it is no wonder this bomb handles
> like a barge. It is essential a one-dimensional vehicle.
>
> You can test the science yourself at your next shopping trip to Wal-Mart.
> First load up a shopping trolley with a hundred pounds of dog food. Then
> push and steer it. You will note the ease of control in two dimensions:
> foward, backward, left, and right. Now take out the dog food and get a 10
> year old boy to stand on the front of the cart and hold on tight. Now try
> the same maneuvres and you will the upmost difficulty in getting it to turn
> to and fro. It will be almost impossible and you will be frustrated out of
> your goard. Reason: polar moment of inertia. You cannot overturn the Laws
> of the Universe as established by Isaac Newton and expect to get away with > it.
>
> You want as much of the vehicle's weight concentrated towards the mass
> center. Any heavy components will benefit by this central placement.
> Especially the engine and differential since those are the single most
> heaviest and most massive components.
>
> Remember the illustrious Pontiac Fierro? That beaut had its engine located
> directly behind the two passenger seats. Perfect. It handled great. And
> was safe too, for in a major head-on, there was no chance for the engine to
> be pushed back into the driver or passenger. That is exactly how ZsaZsa
> Gabor was seriously hurt - the engine impacted her. Indianapolis 500 cars
> also have mid-engines for the same reason: handling and safety. >
> Chrysler, get with the program. You made your Crossfire in the mold of a
> '53 Corvette when you should have been thinking of a winner like the > Fierro.
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- posted
20 years ago
Did you ever stop to think that perhaps mfgrs. build cars with high polar moments on purpose? What do you think would happen if you put the average John Q. Driver behind the wheel of a darty car like a Porsche 914 or Fiat X1/9? I'm not saying mid engine is *bad* but it certainly helps to have good recovery skills, because once they spin, they *spin.* I personally like 'em, but I wouldn't recommend one as a mid-life-crisis mobile, which I believe is a larger market than the true sports car.
nate
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- posted
20 years ago
Like the (mini-based kit-car) Unipower I used to have, the Fiat X1/9 (which I have driven) and the Toyota MR-2, the Fiero was certainly mid-engined from a technical perspective, but I think all of these use a transverse configuration, so the weight was not central and the load was not 50/50 front to back. They were "light" at the front end and this affected steering in water, snow and slush. There was also not much to protect you in a front end collision, though (at least the Unipower and Fiat) were extremely nimble and may have been able to avoid some accidents that may catch other vehicles. They certainly didn't have an engine up front that may encroach on the passenger compartment, but many vehicles are designed with the intent that the passenger compartment rides up over the engine. It may not always work.
-- Rickety
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- posted
20 years ago
Porche's 928. 924 and 944 all had rear transaxles. They were very popular cars and handled quite well. Alfa Romeo also used a similar setup with their Milano/75 and GTV. The drivetrain layout alone is not responsible for the car not selling well. There is more involved. For the crossfire, I'm sure the price kept the numbers down.
------------- Alex
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- posted
20 years ago
It has to do with weight distribution. That's why a Corvette can outhandle a Camaro even if they have the same LS1 engine.
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- posted
20 years ago
So, Student Mechanic's got another new email address? Get a stake!
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- posted
20 years ago
[snip]
Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd....
It has generally been accepted that, Norman Nabisco is not to be taken any more seriously than, well, you!
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- posted
20 years ago
Are you saying Lloyd is the troll living under our bridge?? Barry A. Lee
Neil Nels> >
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- posted
20 years ago
Nope. Two entirely separate individuals.
Definitely a parallel stupidity though....
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- posted
20 years ago
That should read "the same LS1 engine in the same configuration."
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- posted
20 years ago
A car doesn't have the turning force applied from the rear. Try experiment but pull and turn from the front of the cart.
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- posted
20 years ago