It's really a 'xxxx' underneath.

[dieselnutjob]

 

That is basically Peugeot 305 estate rear suspension which I think may still live on in the Berlingo ? The 305 had horizontal rear springs, not torsion bars. The 305 and BX were very similar mechanically.

 

I forgot about the 305. Wasn't the horizontal coil spring setup only for estates and vans?

 

I think the newest Berlingo, and various other small-medium PSA cars have VAG-style torsion beams with vertical coil springs.

 

Yep. The saloons had vertical struts. What about the C15 ?

[HBR]

They reckon that SAAB engineered alot of GM's offerings out of their cars, so how much of the SaaB 900/9-3 and 9-5 is actually Vectra?

 

Actually there's a shed load of shared bits & pieces! But SAAB did re-engineer a fair bit. The 1990s 900 & earlier 9-3 share the floorpan with the Mk3 Astra & Cavalier along with god knows what else GM sold elsewhere. The front suspension cradle from the SAAB will bolt straight into the Vauxhall but the suspension arms are 2 piece alloy instead of one lump of pressed steel, the engine & boxes will bolt right up onto the mountings, the steering rack, column & pedal box swaps right across, rear beam has extra bits in the mountings on the SAAB but looks like it'll bolt right on, brakes, hubs etc swap around.

 

I'm a VW fan but have to agree that they know how to stretch the use of a floorpan, had a good look aorund & under a Bently coupe & it's nowt but a big Audi/VW in a fancy suit! Everything marked with VW group badges, suspension systems just like the Audi etc. I knew that it was going to have a VAG influence but was suprised that it used so much.

[gtd2000]

Sorry to be really vague here but I remember something about a Saab??? being same floor pan as an Mitsubishi Evo? Someone pulled the carpets etc up and there was the pressngs where the rear diff/ subframe and that would mount?

 

Are you thinking about the Volvo S/V40 and Mitsubishi's Lancer-based Carisma which shared a platform and factory?

 

Ha yeah!!! Thats it!!! Thanks

 

And a fair few parts also fit the Proton Persona/Wira too.

[gtd2000]

Sorry to be really vague here but I remember something about a Saab??? being same floor pan as an Mitsubishi Evo? Someone pulled the carpets etc up and there was the pressngs where the rear diff/ subframe and that would mount?

 

I don't know about that, but something called the Saab 9-2x was sold in the States for a bit. It was more or less a Subaru Impreza wagon with a Saab front end:

 

 

 

Yeah we've had one of these since 2005 - great little cars too

 

[Betaphile]

Didn't SAAB 9000, Alfa 164 and Fiat Croma (and was there a Lancia involved) share the same floorpan? Code named the 'type 4' AISTR?

But then SAAB re did everything to their standards!

 

Yup. Sat in the ex-Bollox Croma yesterday so I could make comparisons with the Alfa and Saab I'd previously owned. There ended up being very little shared between the four cars other than the flat roofline! The Alfa is probably most different - the Croma body feels much more similar to the Saab than I expected. Saab did go their own way with the engineering though, and it feels a much more solid car. S'pose I'd better try and find a Lancia Thema now so I can complete the comparison.

Mate of mine used to run a wrecking yard specialising in Alfa/Lannie/Fiat and he assures me that there is loads of interchangeability re oily bits (suspension, mechanical, etc) on the Thema/Croma/164. One day his lads got offered a 9000 and figured they'd take it on, I mean, how different could it possibly be? As he tells it, there was not a single part that could be used on any of the Fiat Group cars. I read once that Saab were so obsessive about 'improving' what they considered the Italians' rather lackadaisical engineering efforts that there are a grand total of six shared parts between a 9000 and a Thema.

 

Which O/T reminds me. I saw a Lancia Thema 8.32 ESTATE the other day! Was driving a bus, so no chance of a piccy. Was on Italian plates.

You sure? There's only one genuine (factory-built) 8.32 Estate in the world and that was built for Gianni Agnelli... it's this job:

 

[Betaphile]

The Veyron really is just a glorified VW. Uses the B8 Passat's digital tripmeter, y'know.

 

Other phascinating phacts*:

 

The Synerlyss06 (and therefore the unchanged-underneath UlyC807, along with van variants) are based on the Tipo platform (or in fact strictly speaking, Tempra). Look at the rear suspension and the family lineage is clear.

 

Palio and derivatives, as well as the first-generation Doblò, are based on the Brazilian Fiat Uno platform, which dates back all the way to the Brazilian-market 147 (cheapened-up 127).

[Betaphile]

Sorry to be really vague here but I remember something about a Saab??? being same floor pan as an Mitsubishi Evo? Someone pulled the carpets etc up and there was the pressngs where the rear diff/ subframe and that would mount?

 

Are you thinking about the Volvo S/V40 and Mitsubishi's Lancer-based Carisma which shared a platform and factory?

 

Ha yeah!!! Thats it!!! Thanks

That story about the pressings sounds dodgy to me? The Carisma/S40 is a completely different car to even a basic Lancer, I'm pretty sure there isn't any parts commonality?

[dollywobbler]

 

Which O/T reminds me. I saw a Lancia Thema 8.32 ESTATE the other day! Was driving a bus, so no chance of a piccy. Was on Italian plates.

You sure? There's only one genuine (factory-built) 8.32 Estate in the world and that was built for Gianni Agnelli... it's this job:

 

 

Well, it was that colour...

 

I didn't hear it but it did wear an 8.32 grille badge and it definitely was an estate. Could it have been that car?!

[ashmicro]

My Jaguar S Type had quite a few Ford labelled parts

 

the label on the wiring in the bottom right of shot said Jaguar and Ford on it

 

 

The label on the front crossmember was labelled Jaguar, but also had the platform name on it, DEW98 in this case. The platform name is on quite a few bits, including the brake calipers and the expanded polystyrene thing that the jack and wheelbrace live in.

 

I read on a German Jaguar forum that the X Type and Mondeo have at most 17% commonality of parts.

[retrogeezer]

[Jack_Harpers_Teeth]

 

Best looking S-Type I've seen in ages.

[ashmicro]

It is a marmite kinda car. I wasn't sure about its looks even after I'd bought it, but it kinda grew on me.

[Betaboy2.0]

Well what about the Fiat Tipo...

Tipo

Tempra

Delta mk2

Dedra

Alfa 145

Alfa 146

Alfa 155

Fiat Coupe

 

And certainly between the Fiat and Lancia versions there is a huge amount of interchangability. With the exception of the Fiat Coupe, they all basically utilised the same seat runner arrangements, column stalk set up (minor difference but the same principles) as well as underpinnings.

 

Then Fiat twigged that someone buying an Alfa Romeo doesnt want it to ride and handle like a Tipo, so things got beter for the up market cars as time went on and interchangeability of parts decreased!

 

Also, Barchetta was based on Punto mk1 floorpan, as was the Lancia Ypsilon (the one after the Y10, which was on the Mk2 Panda floorpan with identical suspension set up at the rear end)

[pompei]

There are probably bits of Fiat that can be traced back to the 600 in the 1950s ...

[tonedepear]

I can vouch for there being plenty of common parts between the 9-3 "ss" and the Vectra, seeing as all the things that have broken on it (so far) have been common Vectra faults. (Or common Fiat diesel faults). At least it has a new water pump and cambelt, which should stop it eating itself for another 20k or so... It's certainly prettier and a slightly nicer place to be than a Vectra though. But then so's Handsworth.

[fiatdaft]

There are probably bits of Fiat that can be traced back to the 600 in the 1950s ...

 

 

Aye nae bother !

[ProgRocker]

I was surprised to find out once that the now almost extinct Daewoo Nubira was based on the GM 'J-Car' Vauxhall Cavalier/Opel Ascona. It came to the UK SEVEN YEARS after the mark 2 Cav ceased production but it still looked alright to me in a nineties kinda way.

[406V6]

While you're talking about the Saab 9-3, don't forget the shite-tastic Cadillac BLS which is based on it.

[chaseracer]

There are probably bits of Fiat that can be traced back to the 600 in the 1950s ...

 

 

[Cavcraft]

/\

They looked like that when they were less than a month old.

 

Seem to recall the Calibra was just a Cavalier in a shell suit.

[cort16]

You wouldn't believe it but an Allegro is actually one of these underneath.

 

Allegro

 

Potato

[pompei]

LOL

[idiotboy]

The VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) only had 5 platforms (until recently) covering all VW, Audi, SEAT, Skoda cars.

[John F]

/\

They looked like that when they were less than a month old.

 

Seem to recall the Calibra was just a Cavalier in a shell suit.

 

Yep, to some extent. The Calibra's floor pan is the same as the Cav saloon (= IRS suspension), and it shares the same engines, gearboxes, drive train, door handles and dashboards as the Cav range, but the rest of the body and interior are different.

[RedSparrow]

Is the MG-F floorpan really a Metro one turned backwards?

I've heard variying tales about this.

[Lacquer Peel]

I don't think so, but they did use Metro/100 subframes.

[ashmicro]

IIRC the rear subframe on an MGF is similar to but not exactly the same as the front subframe on the R6 Metro.

[gtd2000]

/\

They looked like that when they were less than a month old.

 

When my dad bought one, due to rising fuel costs in the earlier part of the 1970's, his certainly rusted at the front despite all of the Ziebart stickers on the windows!

 

I truly disliked that car...the worst car he ever owned in my opinion.

 

I'll need to look out some pics of old NSG 916 M next time I'm home.

[Ian Nexus]

You wouldn't believe it but an Allegro is actually one of these underneath.

 

Allegro

 

Potato

 

Lol...it reminds me of something that Wayne Alexander (he converts petrol cars to electric) said about modern cars all look like potatoes!

 

http://www.projectooc.com/evtv/index.php?showid=55

[<type username here>]

Vauxhalls latest Corsa, meriva and the Fiat Grande Puntos are built on the same floorpan as the Suzuki Swift

(GM and Suzuki worked on it together, then GM tweaked it and used it on the above, called the scs platform or something)

 

Mitsubishi Colt and Smart ForFour are the same car underneath

 

Mitsubishi Carisma and Volvo S40, same underneath