Mazda Motor Corporation

Taichi Kobayashi

Katsumasa Sogame

Isao Tohda

Masayoshi Sannomiya

Yukio Nakamura

Shirou Nakatani

Osamu Kishi

Yukiichirou Shimada

Nobuyuki Ikemoto

Akifumi Ohno

Yasuhiro Kouhara

A tunnel-expansion portion is provided at a front portion of a tunnel portion. The tunnel-expansion portion projects upward greatly and widely so as to provide components of an exhaust system that extend rearward from an exhaust manifold therein (outside a vehicle compartment). Accordingly, there can be provided a front structure of a vehicle, in which an engine is laterally disposed in an engine room at a front portion of the vehicle, an intake pipe is disposed in front of the engine, and an exhaust pipe is disposed in back of the engine, which can improve an exhaust efficiency and a vehicle safety against a vehicle crash, without providing an improperly-large longitudinal space between the engine and the dash panel.

Front structure of vehicle

An engine positioning structure is used for a rear wheel drive automobile, with an engine mounted in an engine compartment driving the rear wheels. In the automobile having a passenger compartment and the engine compartment, where the two compartments are separated by a dash panel, the engine is positioned so that a rotation axis of the engine is at a position higher than the height of a floor panel of the passenger compartment, and a rear end part of the engine is positioned behind a general plane defined by a position corresponding to the position of a passenger relative to a dash panel. The engine positioning structure enables a retreated layout of the engine to be obtained. It also reduces Yaw moment of inertia, and improves the steering stability.

Engine positioning structure for an automobile

Growing community of inventors

Higashihiroshima, Japan

Taichi Kobayashi