1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an automotive transaxle (such as that suitable for use in an "FF" type, viz., a front engine front wheel drive, automotive vehicle) and more specifically to a final drive arrangement for such a transaxle which minimizes the engine shaking effect produced when torque is applied to the driven wheels of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In previously a proposed "FF-transaxle" arrangement 1 such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a transversely mounted engine and transmission unit 2 has been mounted on the vehicle chassis vehicle through elastomeric mountings 3 and buffer rod 4. However, this arrangement has suffered from the notable drawback that upon application of torque to the wheels 5 via a final drive unit 6 and drive shafts 7, (such as during acceleration, braking etc.) a reaction is produced which is transmitted back through the final drive unit 6 to the transmission and engine unit 2 causing same to displace the unit against the bias of the engine mountings 3.
To overcome this problem the hardness of the elastomer used in the engine mountings 3 has had to be selected somewhere between that suited for vibration damping and that suited for pitching or other relatively large amplitude movements of the engine in order to maintain a suitable degree of engine vibration damping while preventing the engine and transmission from being displaced relative to the vehicle chassis. This compromise however, has not enabled the desired amount of engine vibration damping which can only be achieved through the use of elastomers softer than that possible with the prior art arrangement and has not enabled the achievement of the desired riding characteristics of the vehicle.