Quote:
Originally Posted by Dimman
I still think it's doable. Engine and transmission mounting/cross members in the open front side is less of a deal than reworking the underbody part of the chassis for driveshaft tunnel, space for pumpkin and rear control arm mounts. The more expensive/complex (in my opinion) parts of the chassis are already ready for rwd.
|
It's not doable due to where the firewall is relative to the front wheels. Front-drive layouts put the engine way out in front of the front wheels to get the 60/40 - 65/35 weight bias they need. Firewall is IMMEDIATELY behind the front wheels.
If you built a rear-drive car on that platform, with a longitudinal engine, the front weight bias would likely move forward a bit from an already very heavily front-biased situation.
60/40 - 65/35 weight distribution for a rear drive car would be a disaster.
If you moved the front wheels way forward of the firewall like you'd really need to do, that totally changes the front structure of the car and the relationship between where the road loads are introduced into the chassis and where the firewall/bulkhead is. To the extent that I don't think you could call it the same platform anymore. Not to mention the very different proportions for the engine compartment for a transverse engine setup vs. longitudinal.
A 2-door sedan version of the fwd-chassis Rogue is not going to cut it for me, even if they gave it awd.