What If the TR7/8 was rear-engined?

[PeterTR7V8]

This morning I drove past a gaggle of MR2s that were sitting on the side of the road assembling I assume for a club run. They saw me approach, looked at me expectantly thinking I was a MK1 then wondered why I wasn't stopping as I sailed past. I had better things to do than do tea & biscuits with a bunch of Jappers cos I was on my way to some white-knuckle autocross action. Ironically there were a couple more MR2s there as well & I couldn't help but notice they were having more success than me. Granted, these were 2nd generation versions with 20 years of development but it got me wondering...

What if the TR7 had been built as a rear-engined car like the MR2? Would it have been a transverse or a longitudinal setup. If the 2-litre had been transverse then how would they have done the TR8? The development costs for the transmission would've been a big hurdle. The more you think about it the more you understand why BL Triumph didn't bother.

Nevertheless, would our cars be better if they were rear or mid-engined? Or would they just be different.



The map: http://tinyurl.com/wedgemap . The blog: http://www.forum.triumphtr7.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8548

[john 215]

Hi,

We got the MGF / TF eventualy. With all things and BL money just was not there. The AC ME3000 had a mid mounted Ford V6 with a BL Maxi based gearbox, had a chain drive down to the gearbox in the sump ! -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_3000ME

Was on a MGF training course once and saw a MGF with a Rover KV6 in the back and apparently went like the smelly stuff of a shovel [8D]

Cheers John


LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!

1976 Speke FHC Beauty

1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6,ON THE ROAD NOW KICKING AR5E !!!!

[Triumph TR7V8 coupé]

Well there was the mid engined Fiat X1/9 don't know about road handling but they are as rare as a TR7 overhere now...

greetings, J.

[stevie_a]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by PeterTR7V8</i>

<b>What if the TR7 had been built as a rear-engined car like the MR2?</b> <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

<font color="teal"><b>Was that not called the Fiat X1/9...[:)]</b></font id="teal">

edit:

I see we both had the same thought at the same time..
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<font size="4"><font color="green"><i>If it's not broke don't fix it.</i></font id="green"></font id="size4">

http://www.smallbiztranscripts.co.uk

[john 215]

Hi,

And they raced them too -



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7k-YpXBHjc

Cheers John


LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!

1976 Speke FHC Beauty

1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6,ON THE ROAD NOW KICKING AR5E !!!!

[gaz]

there might be a Fiat X19 bertone on the Bright Light City run....

http://mytr7.weebly.com/blackpool-lights-run-2012.html

1981 DHC 2.0 Litre
1980 DHC pedal car
1976 FHC 2.0 Litre

[PeterTR7V8]

Ahh, the snorkels.

I was thinking of something a bit more muscley than a 1.5L Fiat. [;)]



The map: http://tinyurl.com/wedgemap . The blog: http://www.forum.triumphtr7.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8548

[HowardB]

I always wondered about the space the fuel tank fits in. It seems to be about the same size as the MGF engine bay...

[FI Spyder]

The X1/9 was very skittery on the highway and cornering because of their mid engine. This is due to their low moment of inertia which made it very easy to change direction where as the TR7 with engine in front and diff in back has a high moment of inertia which makes the car more stable. A few cars had the engine in front and transmission at rear wheels to increase this (as well as give 50/50 weight distribution) but you run into problems with high speed turning of drive shaft and balance. Mind you given enough time and development just about anything can be engineered out (or in) as Porsche did with the 911 with the engine hanging out over the back of the transmission. Although mid engine being exotic is often looked at as being preferable it comes with it's own set of problems that have to be addressed.



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[Cobber]

<font size="2"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Well I can speak from first hand experience of the Fiat X1/9.

I loved the X1/9, yes needed more power but it handled magnificently.
I didn't find it too skittery at all.
The go is to use the twin cam 2liter engine and transaxle from the Fwd Lancia Beta to convert the X1/9 into the car it should be.
Then if you want more grunt, use the supercharged version of the Lancia engine!

As for the MGF, well the more I drive it the more I like it.
It's another bloody good but very under-rated car, like our TRs a victim of over zealous bean counters that made poor decisions that hurt the cars image of reliability, once fixed properly, they suffer no more reliability issues than other cars. Indeed they're often more reliable than other cars.

Funny that John 215 should mention a MGF with a Rover KV6 engine in it, as I've been wondering about the possibilities of the same set up. [:p]
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"Keep calm, relax, focus on the problem & PULL THE BLOODY TRIGGER"

80'Triumph TR7, 73'Land Rover (Ford 351. V8),
'89 Ford Fairlane
'98 MG-F, 69'Ford F250.
76' Ford F100

[Chris Turner]

Fortunately for BL there was the Honda Beat, this meant it was quite cheap to make the MGF as a lot of the development work had already been done. Otherwise I think we would have had another conventional sports car in its place.

www.triumphtrs.co.uk
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[silverseven]

having driven a first gen MR2 on a few occasions , I can honestly admit it left quite a soft spot in my heart for one of these!

Not only is having the engine right behind you is like music to the ears, but Toyota reliability is second to none .....

Ron.

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

V8? You would have had the Poniac Fiero!



Clay

[url="http://www.jclay.me/"]My Triumph Site[/url], [url="http://www.triumphtechnical.me"]Technical Stuff[/url], [url="https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B8MWEvqOpX3udEF4SmFQUW9RS09hbU5uNW5Wd0xrUQ/edit"]My Public Folder[/url],

[Hasbeen]

If it were I wouldn't own one.

It was seeing a Fiat X19 that started me off on the idea of getting back to sports cars. Living in the islands, then in North Queensland I had not even seen an X19, or a 7 in their day. There were no dealers up there.

I helped a bloke who was restoring an X19 for a some time, & that decided me I was all ready too old to do much work on mid engined things.

That led me to the 7, which was a happy result for me. Much as I liked the little Fiat, the 7 is much more practical.

Hasbeen

[claypole1360]

http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Leyla ... elease.htm

Rover V8, Mid-engined, they have had experience of making them. Can be seen at Gaydon.

Clayps

What's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster?