front engine, rear wheel drive a-series....
Turbo Mini Forums

has anyone ever done a front engine rear wheel drive mini? i have been thinking alot about this recently, everyone is trying to be quicker why not rear wheel drive? surely it would be good on track as well as on the road?

both the Frog and early midget have nearly the same wheel base as the mini +/- a little. is it the gearbox which is the limiting factor for people doing this conversion? i know quite abit of work would need to be dont to the tunnel to get a box to fit in but why not? we tub arches, weld in bulkhead boxes and all sorts.

just think 200hp front engine rear wheel drive turbo mini, that would be a supercar beater surely?

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

i bet somone has done it,
but theres just so much more out there now..

is this a joke question?

Then think if you used a honda S2000 engine or something and tuned that to give whatever you feel you can handle.

It is nice idea in theory, by keeping it a-series but I don't think the result would be worth the effort, considering the range of other power plants out there.

i have not seen it in a mini but on here( un sure of the username) i have seen a turbo rwd ( non mini) but still
a series i remember asking said person about the strength of the gearbox and 240bhp springs to mind, gone for a dig

tadaa...http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=222717
and i was wrong

Edited by Brett on 25th Feb, 2010.

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

a35 brett?
tadge44 i think,

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

Why not buy a midget? Rather than try to make one?

There's also Steve1275 with his turboed midget

just a thought really why not? i like mini's and the way they look more than a midge or sprite just thought it would be really good fun, ford 5speed i think they use on thoes engines and bob's your uncle, use like a z3/e30 rear lsd tie that in with a suspension/subframe setup? could work right? also i love traffic light races with bigger cars and beating them, why not go one step further with a setup like that?

Edited by Paul R on 25th Feb, 2010.

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

Opops

Edited by wil_h on 25th Feb, 2010.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

or poke your eyes out, thats like having a midget.....

brown eyes?

I've pondered on this before, I think its an awesome idea, but...

The minis wheelbase is short, I know you say its not far off a midget wheelbase but short wheelbase RWD cars always seem to have quirky handling.

On 25th Feb, 2010 mini13 said:
brown eyes?

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

http://www.rabdunn.co.uk/

Mk1 Mg midget Wheelbase 80 in (2,032 mm)
Mk1 frog eyed sprite Wheelbase 2,032mm (80.0 in)

mini 2.04 m (80.3 in) (saloon)
2.14 m (84.3 in) (estate and commercials)

and the width is about the same, mini is a little shorter than the two but the estate and elf are roughly the same.

i geuss you never know untill you try...

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

What are you going to use as rear hub carriers/drive shafts/diff in the space available.Nothing other than IRS would be acceptable and the intrusion of engine and gearbox into the cabin would make it very cramped. Issigonis produced a perfect package so why try and wreck it ?

It is not just the wheel base, it is the weight distrubution. To get it the same as the spriget the gearbox would be in the car and you would be sitting near the back seat. If you are going to do it do it with a GRP shell and leave the decent minis for the real men.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

i just wanted other peoples views on it really, no point in doing it if everyone thinks its a shit idea. just a pie in the sky

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

good idea paul ,do it ,prob knock a second of the quarter mile.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

there is at least one sucessful A series Fe RWD mini running in the US SCCA,

Bill Gilcrosse?

do you have anymore info on that car?

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

Now I did here a few years back that the special tuning department of rover did create three Minis. These were front engine A series powered cars. From what I can gather the gear box had a specially designed diff housing to incorporate the prop shaft to the rear diff assembly.

The problem with this rather rigid 4wd system was that on tarmac there was a lot of wind up in the transmission which would cause the wheels to spin up once unloaded.

Apparently one of these cars did take part I the RAC rally in the final year non production or historical cars were allowed to enter the rally but not compete in the actual world rally.

Again the details are sketchy but it would seem that rover has done this. I would like to know for sure if they had and would love a look.

Own the day

looks like i'm throwing a curve ball,

it seems the car i'm thinking of is FWD.