Quote:
Originally Posted by Calamity Jesus
You know.. if MINI had made their stupid little coupe version of the Cooper a mid-engined car.. it would have been incredible even at $30k... but they didn't.. and instead it's a stupid looking pointless car.
Subaru could have easily gone the MR route with the BRZ.. it would have been a modern day 200hp 914. The BRZ is good, but it's bloated.. if it had been a tiny MR runabout, I think they could have knocked a few hundred pounds off of it. It could have had a real front suspension, too..
Nissan could easily make a small mid-engined car with a VQ engine behind the front seats.. and sell it worldwide as both a Nissan and Renault... but no.
|
Totally with you, except the bloated part. It's reasonably light for a front engine RWD layout. Transverse transaxle layouts save weight. Subaru could've done it with a tremendous amount of parts commonality. Take the center diff and rear output shaft out of one of their existing transaxles- instant mid-engine setup. Who cares if it's a Cayman knock-off. I keep my cars a long time and I'll take maintenance on a 10 yr old Subaru over a 10 yr old Porsche any day.
Honda actually showed a concept of a new mid-engine S2000. Imagine an updated K20Z3 with direct injection making 220+ hp and spinning to 8,000 RPM in a 2,500lb mid-engine sports car. Drool...