A&Q about 350Z
Q:
Hello, i was wondering if there was a ferrari (or any car) that has the engine in front, and the transmission in the reer, because i thought i saw a picture that had that. I may be wrong, because i dont even see how it's possible, but then what was that thing in the rear, a weight ballast or something??
Thanks in advance, G-man422
A:
lots.
they often put the gearbox at the rear to get better weight distribution.
off the top of my head i can think of the 275, 365 gtb/4, 550/575, 456, 612.
porsches 928, 944, 968
basically, everytime you see someone mention "transaxle" that's what they mean.
A:
OK, thanks man.
A:
All C5 and C6 corvettes do that; engine in the front that runs a driveshaft to a clutch and tranny (or TC and tranny) in the rear.
A:
i saw a pic of the 'vettes drivetrain with the large "tube" surround for the driveshaft, does that also aid torsional rigidy, by connecting the entire drivetrain/powertrain?
A:
torque tube.
because you have the engine at the front and the gearbox at the rear, the prop shaft is always spinning at engine speed and it is that little bit more difficult to align things in a gear shift. The tube is there to make it easier for things to line up.
A:
there are also some JGTC cars that do it, i know that one of the nissan 350z teams does, saw it on a tv show. other than that i don't know of any other production cars that do. the 350z's did it to get better weight distribution.
A:
I remember seeing somewhere a while back where someone used a vette transaxle inline after the transmission in the front to create some very high and low gear ratios, almost the same thory as most diesels use.