FRONT ENGINE FRONT WHEEL DRIVE

Front engine front wheel drive

Front-wheel drive is the most common form of engine/transmission layout used in modern passenger cars, where the engine drives the front wheels only.In this layout a front mounted engine-clutch-gear box unit drives a beam type rear axle suspended on leaf sprints through a propeller shaft with two universal joints. Most front wheel drive vehicles today feature transverse engine mounting, though many in prior decades were positioned longitudinally instead.

Advantages

• Balanced weight distribution between the front and the rear wheels.
• Easy front wheel steering.
• Behind the rear seats, large luggage space is available.
• Accessibility to various components like engine, gearbox and rear axle is better in comparison to other layouts. The control linkages-accelerator, choke, clutch and gearbox are short and simple.
• Full benefits of the natural air stream created by vehicle’s movement is taken by the forward radiator resulting in reduced power losses from a large fan.
• Small length of the propeller shaft permits the angularity of the universal joints to be small and easily provided by simple types.