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 Post subject: Can anyone explain why
PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 9:32 pm 
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Why front wheel drive cars have a transmission (propshaft) tunnel which reduces centre rear floor space?

(cant just be for the exhaust)

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 9:33 pm 
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wannabeeahack wrote:
Why front wheel drive cars have a transmission (propshaft) tunnel which reduces centre rear floor space?

(cant just be for the exhaust)


I've thought the same, the back floor could be flat.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:58 pm 
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Probably is for the exhaust, maybe it's for strength (a crease in a floor panel is stronger than flat).
Saying that, I have an exhaust and my back floor is flat.

Maybe the cars come in rear wheel/4wd variants as well, cheaper to stamp just the one floor panel rather than two different shapes.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 11:06 pm 
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Quick google explains.
To allow 4wd/rwd variants that share the same floorpan,safety and this ;

'Aside from packaging issues with prop-shafts going to rear axles, the primary purpose of the transmission tunnel is to stiffen the floorpan.
Lonitudinally, a transmission tunnel acts as a crush tube, which can initially be rigid and act as a safety cell, but once deformed absorb significant amounts of crash energy.
In a side impact situation, a transmission tunnel offers somewhere for the impacted seat to move into, away from the crash site.
In bending of the floorpan, the tunnel effectively replaces one large plate like structure with two half sized ones - this raises the first natural frequency of the floorpan significantly. As bending vibrations are the ones which couple most effectively with sound, this is also a good thing for NVH.
Going further, a stiff floorpan also reduces the problem of scuttle shake, and contributes to overall body stiffness. Where the ends of the transmission tunnel are effectivey built in to the remaining structure, there is an enhancement of torsional rigidity - if the ends of the transmission tunnel terminate in unsupported panels, there's no torsional rigidity gain.'


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:10 pm 
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I would've thought a straight one would have more rigidity than a bent one?


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:54 pm 
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Nidge2 wrote:
I would've thought a straight one would have more rigidity than a bent one?
Are we still talking about cars ? :wink: :shock:


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:30 am 
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sasha wrote:
Nidge2 wrote:
I would've thought a straight one would have more rigidity than a bent one?
Are we still talking about cars ? :wink: :shock:


No silly bananas


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 8:47 pm 
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id cut the hump out and plate across it underneath making the rear of the Superb even more spacious........

New car is RWD though........... :oops:

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