<VV> drive wheels

[Padgett]

>Yes, but the pendulum is swinging back. See the Cadillac CTS-V, the Lincoln
>LS, and many other RWD cars emerging now.

It does not make a whole lot of sense to me, for everyday driving FWD puts 
the weight over the drive wheels and is probably the most compact system 
possible, the idea was a "power module" that could be easily swapped and 
used in many different body configurations because wheelbase was easy to 
change.

OTOH it is hard to service except as a module and clutch changes in a Fiero 
are dreaded. Then again, in 1959 GM didn't have Falcon or Valiant in their 
sights, it was VW and Renault and FIAT and their low line models were all 
rear engined, RWD. The only place GM went out on a limb was with air 
cooling but Chevrolet had an incredible amount of engineering knowledge on 
the subject starting in the 1920s and had been chomping at the bit to give 
it a try.

The real problem in 1966 was the issue of CV joints and their lifespan. the 
Toronado was first with the Eldo a year later and I suspect GM chose those 
two because there was a lot of profit in those lines in case warrenty was 
an issue. By 1980, MPG was king and the FWD X-bodies were way lighter than 
the RWD versions they replaced (which all stemmed from the Vega) so that a 
2.8 V6 in a Citation was faster and got almost double the gas milage of the 
260 and 305 V-8s of the Monza (Spyder) they replaced.

So from a cost standpoint, it makes a lot of sense except for one problem: 
packaging big inch motors. Take a look at an Archie V-8 Fiero if you want 
to see a serviceability nightmare. It is a good thing the radiator is in 
front because there is no way to put one in the same end as the engine.

At the same time Chrysler is going great guns with their hemi V-8s and the 
Viper V-10. To put one of them in a FWD transverse configuration would 
require clearance lights. Ask someone who knows about the maintenance costs 
of an Alliante which had a sideways FWD V-8 or an Aurora (derivative of the 
same engine)

I know, they could use the same longitudinal arrangement as the Toro and 
Eldo (and GMC motor home) but the THM 375 is long gone.

So my guess is that GM is pinning their hopes that the American public (at 
least the ones who do not need to ask "how much") want their big V-8s which 
won't fit transversely in the front and no-way they are going in the rear 
so what's left ?

Which of course leaves the question of the "Kappa" platform (Solstice, Sky, 
Lotus) which makes no sense to me but is obviously a lot of fun.

Padgett