Converting a RWD muscle car to AWD Hybrid w/ front wheel electric motors?

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quad

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What's the feasibility of this being an option in the future? It would perhaps allow RWD cars to launch better and thereby close the gap with electric cars?

Back in 2012 students converted a front wheel drive car to a hybrid with two electric motors:

Turn Your Car Into a Plug-In Hybrid for $3,000
Students at the University of Middle Tennessee have installed a full plug-in hybrid kit in a stock 1994 Honda Accord. The setup gives between 50 and 100 percent better gas mileage with two electric motors delivering power directly to the rear wheels, leaving the engine-powered front wheels to work with little effort. The price of all the parts comes to about $3,000 and can be applied to almost any car.

Turn Your Car Into a Plug-In Hybrid for $3,000

https://www.proteanelectric.com/f/2018/04/In_Wheel_Electric_Motors_AFraser_ProteanV4.pdf
 

UncleSAm

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With time and money, it's possible but I don't see where there is much room on the front end
 

derklug

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I would think that it would be easier to go full electric on a rear wheel drive car. Motor in the front and one in the rear, invertor and cooling in the front, battery in the trunk. There is already a kit to convert a rear wheel drive into electric with just one motor going into the existing transmission.
 

tistan

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HMM, my wife has a mini cooper that I absolutely hate that she'll never get rid of. Could make it a bit more fun.
 

quad

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I kinda feel like the person who would convert there V8 RWD muscle car into a AWD Hybrid most likely has dildos and a gimp mask in the trunk as well.
That makes no sense. Why are you thinking about dildos and gimp masks? Are there things we should know about?

I am just curious if this would be feasible and if it would improve performance. We all know RWD ICE cars suck from a dig unless you are on the right tires and heat them up and you know how to launch. Meanwhile a Tesla beats the crap out of most RWD and even AWD ICE cars from a dig.

So what if the rear wheels are powered by ICE and the front wheels by electric motors. Wouldn't that help as far as performance goes? You still get the engine / exhaust noises of the ICE and another boost from in wheel electric motors at the front? Perhaps there is no benefit and this is not feasible at all? That is what I am curious about.

 
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quad

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I would think that it would be easier to go full electric on a rear wheel drive car. Motor in the front and one in the rear, invertor and cooling in the front, battery in the trunk. There is already a kit to convert a rear wheel drive into electric with just one motor going into the existing transmission.
Yes, but I want the engine and exhaust sounds of the ICE. That is what would appeal to me. Otherwise just go with an all out electric and skip the conversion and leave the ICE car as is. Only thing that sucks is you'll be losing all dig races against electric cars.
 

Black02GT

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That makes no sense. Why are you thinking about dildos and gimp masks? Are there things we should know about?

I am just curious if this would be feasible and if it would improve performance. We all know RWD ICE cars suck from a dig unless you are on the right tires and heat them up and you know how to launch. Meanwhile a Tesla beats the crap out of most RWD and even AWD ICE cars from a dig.

So what if the rear wheels are powered by ICE and the front wheels by electric motors. Wouldn't that help as far as performance goes? You still get the engine / exhaust noises of the ICE and another boost from in wheel electric motors at the front? Perhaps there is not benefit and this is not feasible at all? That is what I am curious about.


At that point aren't you conceding that the AWD eletric has better performance and you are now doing all this for the vroooom? Seriously though, I'd say it's easier to do on a Civic since the back wheels are essentially just rollers i.e. limited movement as far suspension and no steering. All the RWD cars with hybrid electric front drives I can think of are mid-engine so you have some room for gear up front. I get the motor is in the wheel but have to power them some how, need places to put storage, DC runs to the motors, etc. Cool concept but it's going to change a lot of the character of the car just in unsprung weight alone, not to mention rolling resistance. You plan on having regen braking? I dunno seems easier said than done and don't want it so not putting too much thought into it.

I'd love to see someone else give it a go though. By no means a bad idea. Just think it's not going to be easy and straight forward but what performance related it right?
 

quad

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At that point aren't you conceding that the AWD eletric has better performance and you are now doing all this for the vroooom? Seriously though, I'd say it's easier to do on a Civic since the back wheels are essentially just rollers i.e. limited movement as far suspension and no steering. All the RWD cars with hybrid electric front drives I can think of are mid-engine so you have some room for gear up front. I get the motor is in the wheel but have to power them some how, need places to put storage, DC runs to the motors, etc. Cool concept but it's going to change a lot of the character of the car just in unsprung weight alone, not to mention rolling resistance. You plan on having regen braking? I dunno seems easier said than done and don't want it so not putting too much thought into it.

I'd love to see someone else give it a go though. By no means a bad idea. Just think it's not going to be easy and straight forward but what performance related it right?
Yes, it would also be interesting to see the braking performance at the front wheels.

AWD electric 0-60 performance is better obviously. They have electric cars now approaching 0-60 in 2 seconds or less (Rimac and the Tesla Plaid + & Roadster). A hybrid will not be able to reach these kind of 0-60 performance levels. But I am curious if ICE RWD 0-60 performance could be improved with in wheel electric motors at the front.
 

AustinSN

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When the government at some point says only cars that are road legal are fully electric or hybrids, a 5hp electric motor attached to the output of the transmission would definitely warrant a cammed boss 429 "range extender."
 

thomas91169

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Yeah launching is cool, but I remember reading these EV's dont withstand continual abuse well. The amount of power discharge and regen at speed creates tons of heat and sends the car into limp mode within minutes during open track days, and cuts range down by huge margins every time.
 

quad

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Yeah launching is cool, but I remember reading these EV's dont withstand continual abuse well. The amount of power discharge and regen at speed creates tons of heat and sends the car into limp mode within minutes during open track days, and cuts range down by huge margins every time.
Rimac brought a C1 to Milan Dragway in Michigan and raced a Porsche 918 Spyder and the Porsche was the one with heat issues.

 

thomas91169

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Rimac brought a C1 to Milan Dragway in Michigan and raced a Porsche 918 Spyder and the Porsche was the one with heat issues.


I meant more road course than drag. Drag is where they shine as they're done by the time heat starts building up.
 
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