If you just drag the rear axle of a car along so that the exhaust doesn't scratch the floor, then I like to speak of a housewives mobile. These housewives' mobiles are characterized by front-wheel drive and the natural living space between Edeka, kindergarten and beauty saloon.
The real cars show that there is another way. Cars for “real guys” - with rear-wheel drive and in the best case with a transaxle system.
Transaxle?
The classic drive means: the motor delivers power to the gearbox, the gearbox creates the right gear ratio and passes the power on to the wheels. In the front-wheel drive model par excellence, the VW Golf, the engine is at the front and the drive is also via the front axle. In this case, the gearbox sits directly on the engine. The advantages of this division are the compact unit of motor, gearbox and differential that sits close to the drive axle. Efficient vehicle bodies are thus possible. The disadvantage is that the entire weight is also on the front axle. What ensures good driving characteristics in winter drives the sporty driver's frustration into the steering wheel.
If the front wheels have to steer and at the same time have to put the drive torque on the road, then that is twice the work for the tire and in sporty cornering is then at some point only one of both possible and understeer the car. Therefore: front-wheel drive = housewife technology.
(Disclaimer: Please do not overlook the slight irony in the frequent use of the synonym “housewife”;))
The classic layout in the automotive industry places the engine at the front and the drive at the rear. Generations of old gentlemen drove through the area. Traditional limousine manufacturers such as BMW and Mercedes rely on this concept.
But with the structure of the front engine and rear-wheel drive, there are also problems. If you place the gearbox directly on the engine, as is usual, and transfer the power to the rear wheels, the problem with the division of tasks between drive and steering has been solved, but a large part of the weight is still on the front axle. This can be a lot of fun on slippery roads, as one likes to have in winter - or, for people who don't feel like hustling, it can also end in frustration. Namely when the housewife in the VW Golf drives easily out the mountain, while the male driver with rear-wheel drive only conjures entertaining pirouettes in the snow.
Quite unusual at first glance: ALFA ROMEO of all people is celebrating 40 years of the “transaxle era” this year.
With the Alfetta, Alfa Romeo launched a limousine that relied on the ingenious technology of the transaxle drive. Front engine and gearbox with clutch and differential on the rear axle. The sedan, which weighs only 1.080kg, has become a sporty Italian with a balanced weight distribution. What not everyone is aware of, even after that, Alfa Romeo stuck to the transaxle principle for many years.
For example the Alfa 90, the smaller Giulietta, the Alfa 75, the two pointed sports models SZ and RZ. From 1992 there was a break. Alfa models were screwed up with front-wheel drive and placed on boring FIAT platforms.
With the 450PS strong Alfa Romeo, the manufacturer of Italian sports cars remembers back to this old tradition and revives the transaxle technology.
Luckily. I hope that Alfa Romeo will trust more in their own technology, their own past and their own engine culture in the future. No Alfa fan needs an umpteenth wash of FIAT or, even worse, Chrysler technology!