Originally Posted by Kestrel
But not with this current frame. The point I was making is that with the current RL design, there's no way to jam a transverse V8 in there with the AWD gearbox splitter dealie.
I honestly have no idea what amount of room is available in the RL engine bay. But allow me to indulge in some hypothetical reasoning for a moment.
The XC90 initially came out an inline-6, and all wheel drive. A transversely mounted inline-6 is even wider than a V8 placed in the same position.
Let's assume that the difference in width between an awd and fwd transmission is about the same as the difference in width between an I6 and a V8. So, a V8 with awd would be about the same width as an I6 with fwd.
The XC90 is based on the S80 platform, and the S80 was available with the same I6 with fwd. The S80 is about the same size as the RL. So, it seems reasonable enough that Honda should be able to design a V8 and awd transmission that is sufficiently compact to fit in the existing RL body.
Let's look at a couple pictures. First, the S80 with fwd I6.
Now, the RL with awd V6.
Looks to me like all that plastic in the RL is hiding a bunch of empty space into which Honda could shoehorn a suitably compact V8. :dunno: