just an idea.....

hey,
i came up with a thought yesturday and it might work. what would happen if u made a car with 2 engines (exactly the same model)
with 1 engine for front 2 wheels and another for the back two.
what would it do? would it work???
is this a good idea or am i :screwy: ?

not a good idea, youd run into all kinds of problem with the front pulling the back some, or the back pushing the front, etc. bearings would make you about bankrupt i think.

its been done before though:
http://www.hotrod.com/thehistoryof/92018/

http://www.oldsmobility.com/hursthairy.htm

Car and Driver magazine did this in the late 1980's with a Civic. If you can locate a copy of the particular issue it makes for an interesting read. Front wheel drive cars lend themselves well to this because a second engine and automatic transaxle is relatively easy to install in the back. However, you need huge amounts of engineering and fabrication skill, lots of money and time to do it.

i know ud need a crapload of money, but its just an idea.... the next step is pulling together that much money

a twin engine tiburon actualy made an appearance a few years back in SCC's shootout and did pretty well for itself

not a good idea, youd run into all kinds of problem with the front pulling the back some, or the back pushing the front, etc.

What a load of shit. engines dont dictate the rmp of wheels, they provide a force. the ground speed dictates the rpm of wheels. its just like having a 4WD setup with a bias towards one set of wheels. sure, if you jacked the car up, the wheels will turn at different speeds, but thats because its not on the ground...once on the ground, all wheels turn at the same speed and have the power delivered as such the bias's intent.

ive also seen a few cars do it, with good results. ive heard of some pikes peak hill climb cars using this architecture before with good results.

What a load of shit. engines dont dictate the rmp of wheels, they provide a force. the ground speed dictates the rpm of wheels. its just like having a 4WD setup with a bias towards one set of wheels. sure, if you jacked the car up, the wheels will turn at different speeds, but thats because its not on the ground...once on the ground, all wheels turn at the same speed and have the power delivered as such the bias's intent.

ive also seen a few cars do it, with good results. ive heard of some pikes peak hill climb cars using this architecture before with good results.
CarSuperfreak raised some good points. It's clear that you do not understand how force and power applied to the rear or front of a car can affect vehicle dynamics.
The concept here is synchronising the engines, their shift points (auto trans) and power to optimise vehicle handling.
In a single engine AWD car, one can design a transfer case to do this. In a 2 engine car, its more difficult.
For example. If you are going fast in a corner and one engine shifts gear before the other one does, the power output will change in an unexpected manner and upset the balance and control of the chassis.

Therefore, with all due respect, never call someone elses idea a 'load of shit' when you don't even grasp the concept at hand.

thanks MagicRat :thumbsup:

and you bring up the best point of all; the transmission(s)

I havn't done a lot of research on this, but it would almost seem that you would have to have a single transmissino to avoid for aforementioned problems.

So im curious, do any of you know how they did the powertrain on any of these cars? (the 442, civic, tiburon)

why does every1 think its so complicated?
if u have the same engines hooked up to the same accelorator theyll both do the same thing :screwy:
or at least i think.......

accelerator isnt the problem. on newer engines the throttle is either lectronically controlled or by a cable running to the accelerator pedal. The problem comes in that on the back of every engine, the crank has to connect to the flywheel, toque convertor, and transmission. and like magicrat said, to get the transmissions to work together would be a feat in itself. So i'm not saying it isnt possible, but it certainly wouldnt be easy.

and with the money you would spend on a twin-engined car, you could put into a normal drivetrain car, and it would beat on the twin engine car all day long

accelerator isnt the problem. on newer engines the throttle is either lectronically controlled or by a cable running to the accelerator pedal. The problem comes in that on the back of every engine, the crank has to connect to the flywheel, toque convertor, and transmission. and like magicrat said, to get the transmissions to work together would be a feat in itself. So i'm not saying it isnt possible, but it certainly wouldnt be easy.

and with the money you would spend on a twin-engined car, you could put into a normal drivetrain car, and it would beat on the twin engine car all day long
As I recall, the Car and Driver Civic just had automatic transmissions. They tuned them to coordinate shifts as best as possible. However, it would be possible with electronic controlled transmissions to get them to shift at the same time.
A 2 engined car would be more attractive for a 'gee-whiz' factor, as opposed to having a practical performance application

It would also be heavier than a conventional vehicle.

Check this out. Funny as hell. Done on the cheap but it looks like a blast. How long will it last??? I don't think it was made for road trips :-)

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/reverseracing.html

The Audi Bimoto has two engines @ 300HP each and Dubsport in the UK have built a MkII VW Golf with over 600HP that does 0-60 in 2.99secs and the quarter mile in 11.25secs