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You are allowing yourself to be fooled by the engine cover. The engine is mounted transversely, not longitudinally.
Yeah, that's a styling-trick I've seen a number of times in my auto reviews. Why automakers want to disguise the powertrain layout beats me. For the way the average American drives, most of the time, there's no need to.
Yeah, that's a styling-trick I've seen a number of times in my auto reviews. Why automakers want to disguise the powertrain layout beats me. For the way the average American drives, most of the time, there's no need to.
To many drivers, me included, they just look better.
Your photo shows that S90 has longitudinally mounted in-line four in front of the front axle similar to Audi's MLB longitudinal platforms used in A4/A6/A8 etc.
That large engine cover hides a lot and disguises the orientation of the engine. But the fact that it is offset to the right of the engine bay is an indication that it is transversely-mounted engine -- the cover is over the engine on the right-hand side of the car and the transmission is on the left-hand side of the car.
Originally Posted by Johnhav430
p.s. imho there is no advantage to FWD...
For the ordinary driver -- the majority of drivers on the road -- the understeering nature of a FWD car is safer than the oversteering nature of RWD cars.
Well, there you have it OP.
It's a transversely mounted FWD - so that's much easier to give it a RWD look.
Here's how they made it look RWD.
1) Keep front overhang short.
2) Round or bevel off the front corners to make the front overhang appear short.
3) However, despite the Volvo S90 having a forwardly positioned front windscreen base just like other FWD cars, their biggest trick of all was to move the leading edge of the front door posteriorly from the front wheel arch to certainly appear RWD-like.
Thus, on plan view, the 5 Series below, the base of the front windscreen almost lines up with the leading edge of the front doors.
Meanwhile on the Volvo S90, the base of the front windscreen is well forward of the posteriorly repositioned leading edge of the front doors!
However, I wonder whether this design makes it any more difficult to enter and exit the front seats?
Although that engine cover disguises a lot, this picture shows the engine sitting far forward of the strut towers (the front axle), suggesting that it is still a normal, FWD car.
Volvo accomplished the RWD look then, of the long hood and long dash-to-axle ratio (distance from the base of windshield (the A-pillar) to the centre of the front axle), by moving back the A-pillar. If an automaker moves the A-pillar of transverse-engine FWD car back, I would expect to see wasted space between the engine and the firewall, which I do not see here, but the large engine cover and the black plastic cowl behind the engine may be hiding a lot.
So I am left to speculate. My guess is that perhaps Volvo places a long exhaust manifold at the back side of the engine, like Mazda does (if I remember correctly) with its SkyActiv-G engines. If I remember correctly, Mazda explained the long hood of their SkyActiv-G cars because their long 4-2-1 exhaust manifold exits out the rear of the engine.
But volvo didn't do it like mazda. Volvo actually moved the wheels forward.
If you look at the measurements, it's only 1.5" different from a 5 series.
on the other hand, The mazda 6 still has a huge front overhang. Volvo managed to shorten the overhang.
Honda and toyota still can't achieve these proportions with their 2L engines.
I included the grid-overlay picture of the 5 series and S90 to show that the A pillar isn't pushed back and that is has a normal size cabin compared to the 5 series.
Compared to the Accord, hood length isn't much different, and clearly the volvo wheels are pushed forward .
That large engine cover hides a lot and disguises the orientation of the engine. But the fact that it is offset to the right of the engine bay is an indication that it is transversely-mounted engine -- the cover is over the engine on the right-hand side of the car and the transmission is on the left-hand side of the car.
Excellent point. That didn't hit me until you pointed it out. The only way to get around that would probably be to make an engine cover itself that is offset from the engine....to give people a false visual-impression.
For the ordinary driver -- the majority of drivers on the road -- the understeering nature of a FWD car is safer than the oversteering nature of RWD cars.
In my experinence, most American-market RWD vehicles also have some degree of understeer.....though, of course, to a less extent than is typical with FWD. There are exceptions, of course...mainly rear-engine Porsches. Older rear-engine Porsches, before the advent of truly modern tires/suspensions and electronic traction-aids, were especially tricky with drop-throttle snap-oversteer...as many an overconfident or careless driver found out.
It seems that S90 is using a RWD design just like 5 Series, but with an in-line four squeezed-in transversely in front of the front axle.
However that 5 Series-like long wheelbase will flex & twist, hence thicker gauge metal or thicker box sections must be used - so no tight turning circle, no weight savings, nor cost savings with this RWD based FWD type of design - as opposed to conventional Honda Accord FWD design.
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But volvo didn't do it like mazda. Volvo actually moved the wheels forward.
If you look at the measurements, it's only 1.5" different from a 5 series.
on the other hand, The mazda 6 still has a huge front overhang. Volvo managed to shorten the overhang.
Honda and toyota still can't achieve these proportions with their 2L engines.
I included the grid-overlay picture of the 5 series and S90 to show that the A pillar isn't pushed back and that is has a normal size cabin compared to the 5 series.
Compared to the Accord, hood length isn't much different, and clearly the volvo wheels are pushed forward .
I am speculating again, since I do not have insider knowledge of Volvo's engineering (but I do find it fun, as an engineer, to speculate). So here are my thoughts:
The most obvious may be that Volvo moved whatever underhood components that normally would sit at or near the front of the engine bay to the back, opening up space in the front.
Volvo may have made the engine cooling system -- radiator and fan -- smaller and more compact, thus reducing the space at the front. From the pictures, this seems a distinct possibility.
The longer front overhang on the other cars that you mention -- Toyota, Accord and Mazda -- may be required for pedestrian protection. There needs to be soft space around and above the engine to prevent a pedestrian (especially the head) from hitting against the hard engine if the pedestrian is hit and thrown onto the hood of the car. An automaker may provide that by passive empty space or active empty space. Active space could be provided by airbags or popping the hood further off the engine upon impact. Passive space is just space with no hard, uncrushable components in it. If an automaker could make the components (engine, cooling system, etc.) shorter in height or sitting lower in the engine bay, that could reduce the size of the engine bay while still allowing for the needed empty crush space.
Let's hope that Volvo's designers have not compromised structural or pedestrian safety as they tried to disguise a transverse-engine FWD car in the proportions of a RWD car.
All of this does not matter to me; it is merely external styling. What concerns me first and foremost is that it is a safe and efficient car. This Volvo may have wasted a lot of space in the engine bay to produce this styling effect.
It seems that S90 is using a RWD design just like 5 Series, but with an in-line four squeezed-in transversely in front of the front axle.
However that 5 Series-like long wheelbase will flex & twist, hence thicker gauge metal or thicker box sections must be used - so no tight turning circle, no weight savings, nor cost savings with this RWD based FWD type of design - as opposed to conventional Honda Accord FWD design.
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You cannot just "[squeeze]-in transversely in front of the front axle" a FWD drivetrain into a RWD car platform.
03-03-18 | 07:29 AM
