Transaxle - Front-engine, Rear-wheel Drive Transaxles

Front-engine, Rear-wheel Drive Transaxles

Front-engine, rear-wheel drive vehicles tend to have the transmission up front just after the engine, but sometimes a front engine drives a rear-mounted transaxle. This is generally done for reasons of weight distribution, and is therefore common on sports cars. Another advantage is that as the driveshaft spins at engine speed it only has to endure the torque of the engine, instead of that torque multiplied by the 1st gear ratio. This design was pioneered in the 1934 Škoda Popular, and then in the 1950 Lancia Aurelia, designed by the legendary Vittorio Jano.

Since this placement of the gearbox is unsuitable for a live axle (due to excessive unsprung weight), the rear suspension is either independent, or uses a de Dion tube (notably in the Alfa Romeos). Rare exceptions to this rule were the Bugatti T46 and T50 which had a three speed gearbox on a live axle.

The Nissan GT-R is unique in that it uses a rear transaxle with an AWD layout, the transaxle in this case also contains the differential sending power back to the front wheels via a separate driveshaft.

Notable Front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout vehicles with a transaxle design include:

• 1898-1910 De Dion Bouton
• 1914–1939 Stutz Bearcat
• 1929–1936 Bugatti Type 46
• 1934–1944 Škoda Popular and Škoda Rapid
• 1946–1952 Škoda Tudor and Škoda 1101
• 1950–1958 Lancia Aurelia
• 1951–1956 Pegaso Z-102
• 1957–1970 Lancia Flaminia
• 1961–1963 Pontiac Tempest
• 1964–1968 Ferrari 275
• 1963-1968 Ferrari 330
• 1968–1973 Ferrari Daytona
• 1972–1987 Alfa Romeo Alfetta
• 1974–1987 Alfa Romeo GTV/Alfa Romeo GTV6
• 1976–1988 Porsche 924
• 1976–1991 Volvo 300 series
• 1977–1985 Alfa Romeo Giulietta
• 1978–1995 Porsche 928
• 1982–1995 Porsche 944 and Porsche 968
• 1984–1987 Alfa Romeo 90
• 1985–1992 Alfa Romeo 75
• 1989–1991 Alfa Romeo SZ
• 1992–2003 Ferrari 456
• 1996–2005 Ferrari 550/575M
• 1997–up Chevrolet Corvette
• 1997–1999 Panoz Esperante GTR-1
• 1997-2002 Plymouth Prowler
• 1998-2005 Shelby Series 1
• 2003-2006 Chevrolet SSR
• 2003–on Aston Martin DB9
• 2004–on Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
• 2004–on Maserati Quattroporte
• 2005–up Aston Martin V8 Vantage
• 2006–up Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
• 2008-up Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
• 2009–up Lexus LF-A
• 2010-up Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG