KIA's First Rear-Wheel-Drive Concept (3.3-liter turbocharged)

[INFO]

KIA’s First Rear-Wheel-Drive Concept (3.3-liter turbocharged)

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...133993253.html

[Cavi Mike]

All any company needs to do is just take the small FWD car they already have and make it RWD. Why is that so frigging difficult?

[5150 Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Cavi Mike

All any company needs to do is just take the small FWD car they already have and make it RWD. Why is that so frigging difficult?

are you talking about designing a new chassis and keeping the sheet metal, or just modifing an exhisting chasis and throwing a rear axle and drivetrain? Cause if thats the case, Maybe because it is difficult. In many cases it might be better to just start with a new platform/chassis. Which takes time.

[Cavi Mike]

It doesn't take much to modify the floorpan of a car to accommodate the extra bits for a rear drivetrain, if any modification even needs to be done. Cars still have a tunnel down the center whether they're FWD or not. Bolt in a different rear sub-frame, turn the engine the right way and voila. The R&D involved is really not much. I'd buy a $17k Kia Koup in a heartbeat if it was RWD but a $30k Kia? Don't make me laugh.

[5150 Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Cavi Mike

It doesn't take much to modify the floorpan of a car to accommodate the extra bits for a rear drivetrain, if any modification even needs to be done. Cars still have a tunnel down the center whether they're FWD or not. Bolt in a different rear sub-frame, turn the engine the right way and voila. The R&D involved is really not much. I'd buy a $17k Kia Koup in a heartbeat if it was RWD but a $30k Kia? Don't make me laugh.

So that's it huh? Just turn the motor , bolt on a new sub frame with a differential and your done? Wow. Never knew it was that easy.

Unfortunately, it isn't. In most cases serious work needs to be done to accommodate a rear drive platform (especially one that intends to be mass sold) on a vehicle that never intended to have a longitude mounted engine. Just cause a car has a tunnel going down the center, doesn't mean its ready for a rear drive shaft either. And in most cases the rear floor pan would have to be completely ripped out to accommodate a rear differential.

If i ever win the lottery, perhaps one day I'll build one of these..

http://www.streetracersonline.com/articles/rs8/

I remember ford also sold a kit that included a front and rear sub frame that would accommodate a V8, as well as the drive train needed to make a focus rear drive. It wasn't cheap either. The kit alone was around 10K not including the engine and transmission. There was also alot of fabrication still needed. But still an interesting step in getting a compact car to rear drive.

[BigGameHit]

very amusing indeed.

[Cavi Mike]

Completely ripped out? Ripped out of what? The car isn't built yet. I'm not talking about some random person doing this, I'm talking about this being done in an assembly line at a plant. You do know that cars are just spot-welded and glued pieces of stamped sheet-metal, right?

[5150 Cruiser]

If its as easy and cheap as you say, then why don't manufactuers do it?
All i'm saying is that its not as simple as just thoughing a diff in the back and turning the motor sideways. If that were the case, then i'm sure we'd see alot more manufactuers go this route rather than designing a completely new car.

[Cavi Mike]

Because it's easier and cheaper to produce FWD cars. That's common knowledge. The entire drivetrain can fit on a single pallet and be bolted in place with a handful of bolts. If you don't make anything except for cheap econo-boxes, it's the obvious choice of drivetrain. If you only make cheap econo-boxes, the choice is also obvious to not try to make a sports-car.