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bucuz weelspin
Nah, RWD is just nice. It'll be something which perhaps might stand out from the rest of the range, and a stylish Volvo with RWD does sound appealing.
The remake car thread
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bucuz weelspin
Nah, RWD is just nice. It'll be something which perhaps might stand out from the rest of the range, and a stylish Volvo with RWD does sound appealing.
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Because WWD FTL.
Though I honestly never understood why that Volvo is that loved. It is pretty, but the Aston it so clearly copies was prettier; and I think the Volvo looks better in the wagon version.
I'm not seeing what difference it makes. It's not like GM had a foreign company bring back the Caprice name on a car that is FWD and only offered with an I4 or something like that.
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Well, why is current Mini FWD then? It could as well be FR because BMW owns it.. And isn't the AWD Mini practically BMW X1..?
But, IMHO the P1800 has to be RWD in order to stay loyal to the original "Saint" Volvo. It's a sportscar, it doesn't need to be practical space wonder with million hidden compartments.
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The BMW MINI is FWD because it's easier to package a cheap car in FWD. Fiat's new Cinquecento is also FWD, mind you, despite being an homage to a rear-engined car. FWD is what originally helped Issigonis package so much car into so little space. Too bad BMW's rear-wheel drive sourced rear suspension makes the new one so cramped.
The Countryman is all MINI. It's transverse-engined, and even has the same engine as the rest of the MINI range. This allows it to have a smaller engine bay, a smaller driveline tunnel and different hardpoints and mounting points, and more interior space. I have nowhere heard the MINI sharing chassis with the X1, but I doubt it would, since BMW would have to almost completely re-engineer the chassis for either application, down to the pillar location and crash structure.
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I'd argue an S60-based coupe would make an excellent P1800 continuation. They're not bad cars, and are oodles more fun to drive than old Volvos have been. An AWD T5-based S60 coupe? Yes please.
The Countryman is all MINI. It's transverse-engined, and even has the same engine as the rest of the MINI range. This allows it to have a smaller engine bay, a smaller driveline tunnel and different hardpoints and mounting points, and more interior space. I have nowhere heard the MINI sharing chassis with the X1, but I doubt it would, since BMW would have to almost completely re-engineer the chassis for either application, down to the pillar location and crash structure.
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I'd argue an S60-based coupe would make an excellent P1800 continuation. They're not bad cars, and are oodles more fun to drive than old Volvos have been. An AWD T5-based S60 coupe? Yes please.
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Yeah, but there is one problem with Volvo's AWD systems, and it's same as with VW/Audi.. Front-biased Haldex system which will only transfer power to the rear if front ones lose traction.
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As Niky says, packaging. And cost, for that matter - RWD in a MINI would make an already small interior even smaller, and bump up the already expensive pricetag by another few grand.
Still, it doesn't need to be RWD. The P1800 was never really a "sports car", just a glamourous coupe.
If anything you should be wishing for FWD because Volvo are overwhelmingly more likely to produce a car if they already have a platform for it, than they are to develop a new rear-drive platform at massive expense.
Still, I suppose we're talking entirely theoretically anyway, so go nuts. But at the same time, 90% of rear-drive cars on sale today don't really feel rear-drive in normal driving anyway (BMWs, Mercedes etc). I couldn't see Volvo making something with particularly sporty handling or 50/50 weight distribution...
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Plus, the Haldex system is no longer reactive, not with current electronic controls.
Perhaps the only flaw with a Haldex system is that it can't do rear-bias, but then, like HFS, the P1800 wasn't really a sports car, anyway.
An S60-based P1800 homage would be fantastic. Thanks to torque-vectoring, even in front-drive trim, the new S60 is wonderful to drive. Not quite as pointy, perhaps, as a 3-series, but not any worse than, say, a C-Class.
Perhaps the only flaw with a Haldex system is that it can't do rear-bias, but then, like HFS, the P1800 wasn't really a sports car, anyway.
An S60-based P1800 homage would be fantastic. Thanks to torque-vectoring, even in front-drive trim, the new S60 is wonderful to drive. Not quite as pointy, perhaps, as a 3-series, but not any worse than, say, a C-Class.
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I'd want it based on the V40, something a bit more compact, and lighter. Modern coupes are getting too big... and nobody really needs rear seats capable of more than brief trips...
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It doesn't need to be FWD either. Modern I4's are more compact than the ones in the 60's while developing way more power. The original design plan of P1800 required that it would be simple, reliable, relatively powerful RWD sports coupe while being able to carry 2 people and their golf bags. And that's what it did, and the ES model even more so.
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Well if you're going to be pedantic it doesn't need to exist in the first place.
My point was that RWD has no real user benefit in a car like the P1800, or a new version of such a car. Whereas FWD's benefit is that the company already has a whole range of platforms from which to choose. If the driver doesn't miss out, and the company is able to produce a car with greater economies of scale, then what would RWD gain?
Little I suspect, apart from kudos to those who wish to impress other people who think that RWD is automatically the bee's bollocks, regardless of what car it is.
Also, this:
...is debatable. A modern engine block might be smaller like for like, but generally modern engines are pretty massive compared to their older equivalent, thanks to the masses of ancillaries that go with it.
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Long-mount I4s require more underhood real estate than long-mount V6s. You need a bay that's long enough to house a V8 for that, and it needs to be taller to clear the cam covers and injection hardware.
Resorting to a longitudinal mount would force Volvo to completely redesign their current platforms. Even worse, their I5 would not fit unless they made the hood even longer (sayonara weight savings). Not that a long hood short deck is not desirable from a design point of view, but fitting an I5 under there would make it a long, TALL hood to meet crash regs.
For something low slung, sexy and affordable, Volvo would have to source a low engine. Maybe a flat four. Then build a rear wheel drive chassis around it with rear seats. Or they could just buy licensing rights to the 86 and wrap a body around the shell and call it a day.
I'm not against a new rear drive Volvo GT car. But that was never what Volvo was about, anyway.
Resorting to a longitudinal mount would force Volvo to completely redesign their current platforms. Even worse, their I5 would not fit unless they made the hood even longer (sayonara weight savings). Not that a long hood short deck is not desirable from a design point of view, but fitting an I5 under there would make it a long, TALL hood to meet crash regs.
For something low slung, sexy and affordable, Volvo would have to source a low engine. Maybe a flat four. Then build a rear wheel drive chassis around it with rear seats. Or they could just buy licensing rights to the 86 and wrap a body around the shell and call it a day.
I'm not against a new rear drive Volvo GT car. But that was never what Volvo was about, anyway.
The Vanishing Boy
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-> BMW did Mini right on the R53 (size) and R56 (design) guise but completely ruined it afterward. Sure the latest offering has more diversity (I love the Clubman), but its overall size made it ridiculous! If only BMW reverts the Hardtop/Cabrio size back into an R53 or even better, the Rocketman sizing!
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