Delahaye Delahaye 178 1950
The Delahaye 178 is a 4 door saloon (sedan) style motor vehicle with a front positioned engine supplying power to the rear wheels.
The Delahaye 178's engine is a naturally aspirated petrol, 4.5 litre, 6 cylinder with 2 valves per cylinder. This powerplant has an output of 138 bhp (140 PS/103 kW) of power at 4000 rpm.A 4 speed manual gearbox transmits the power to the driven wheels.
Its claimed weight at the kerb is 2100 kg.
The Type 175, 178, and 180 DeDion system featured a rigidly mounted differential in a cast aluminum housing containing a Gleason hypoid final-drive gear-set, with a curved large diameter tube connecting both rear hubs. The rear wheels were driven by splined half-shafts. The semi-elliptical rear leaf-springs were conventional, and damped by lever-arm hydraulic shock absorbers. The new inline six-cylinder overhead-valve engine produced between 140 and 160 brake horsepower, depending on whether a single Solex or triple Solex carburettors were fitted, and the standard compression ratio was a modest 6.8:1. The optional Type 175-S had an increased compression ratio, for higher performance. The Type 175-S racing engine employed by France's champion driver, Eugene Chabaud, had a claimed 9.1:1 compression ratio, and with its three horizontal Stromberg carburtors, produced 220 brake horsepower. The higher performance Type 175-S came with two factory options: Rudge wire-wheels; and, three Solex down-draft single-venturi carburetors. The front-end and new postwar grille's design were executed by Delahaye's young in-house designer, Philippe Charbonneaux, in a corporate effort to develop a particular Delahaye "face" after the war. Delahaye required coachbuilders to use the corporate grille design, although several of the more famous ones such as Joseph Figoni (of Figoni et Falaschi), Jacques Saoutchik, and Henri Chapron were given some leeway for artistic license. The new 4.5-litre engine used in these cars carried the "183" engine-block casting code, and was made in two visually distinct forms. The first series were stamped Type 1AL-183, as were found in the six preproduction chassis known about by 1946; and, the Type 175-S racing engines provided to Charles Pozzi and Eugene Chabaud, but the majority of the production motors were Type 2AL-183, produced from the same but revised engine-block casting mold, with modifications made for ease of production, modest cost saving, and internal reinforcement of the bottom end. The transmission was a Cotal, this being a semi-automatic electrically shifted solenoid-actuated four-speed epicyclic gearbox. The shift lever protruding from the transmission operated forward and reverse only, the car being capable of being driven in either direction with the same four gear-ratios - only to be attempted by the brave or fool-hardy, as proven by racing-team owner Rob Walker
The Production Build List confirms that there were 37 of the 3.15-metre wheelbase Type 178 built, and 17 Type 180 chassis and 180 (333.5 cm) were produced, mainly for heads of state, dignitaries, and the like. Two Henri Chapron-bodied, fully armoured 180 limousines with divisions were built for the leadership of the French Communist Party in 1948. A prototype "Delage D180" was also developed on this basis, but never entered production as Delahaye focused its Delage production on their D6 model. The total produced in the three-chassis series was 105 chassis.
| DELAHAYE 178, 1950 MY DATA | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| bodywork | |||
| body type | 4/5 seater sedan/saloon | ||
| number of doors | 4 | ||
| designer | |||
| dimensions & weights | |||
| mm | inches | ||
| wheelbase | 3150 | 124 | |
| track/tread (front) | 1450 | 57.1 | |
| track/tread (rear) | 1525 | 60 | |
| length | |||
| width | |||
| height | |||
| ground clearance | |||
| length:wheelbase ratio | |||
| kerb weight | 2100 kg | 4630 lb | |
| weight distribution | |||
| fuel tank capacity | 115 litres | 25.3 UK Gal | 30.4 US Gal |
| aerodynamics | |||
| drag coefficient | |||
| frontal area | |||
| cda | |||
| engine | |||
| engine type | naturally aspirated petrol | ||
| engine manufacturer | Delahaye | ||
| engine code | |||
| cylinders | Straight 6 | ||
| capacity | 4.5 litre 4455 cc (271.861 cu in) |
||
| bore x stroke | 94 × 107 mm 3.7 × 4.21 in |
||
| bore/stroke ratio | 0.88 | ||
2 valves per cylinder 12 valves in total |
|||
| maximum power output | 140 PS (138 bhp) (103 kW) at 4000 rpm |
||
| specific output | 31 bhp/litre 0.51 bhp/cu in |
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| maximum torque | |||
| specific torque | |||
| engine construction | |||
| sump | |||
| compression ratio | 7:1 | ||
| fuel system | 1 Solex 40 AIP carburettor | ||
| bmep (brake mean effective pressure) | |||
| maximum rpm | |||
| crankshaft bearings | 7 | ||
| engine coolant | Water | ||
| unitary capacity | 742.5 cc | ||
| aspiration | Normal | ||
| compressor | N/A | ||
| intercooler | None | ||
| catalytic converter | N | ||
| performance | |||
| acceleration 0-80km/h (50mph) | |||
| acceleration 0-60mph | |||
| acceleration 0-100km/h | |||
| acceleration 0-160km/h (100mph) | |||
| standing quarter-mile | |||
| standing kilometre | |||
| maximum speed | |||
| power-to-weight ratio | 66.63 PS/g 49 kW/g 65.71 bhp/ton 0.03 bhp/lb |
||
| weight-to-power ratio | 20.41 kg/kW 34.09 lb/bhp |
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| fuel consumption | |||
| fuel consumption | |||
| universal consumption (calculated from the above) | |||
| litres per 100km | |||
| km per litre | |||
| uk mpg | |||
| us mpg | |||
| carbon dioxide emissions | |||
| carfolio calculated co2 | |||
| ved band (uk) | |||
| co2 effizienz (de) | |||
| chassis | |||
| engine position | front | ||
| engine layout | longitudinal | ||
| drive wheels | rear wheel drive | ||
| torque split | N/A | ||
| steering | |||
| turns lock-to-lock | |||
| turning circle | |||
| front suspension | |||
| rear suspension | |||
| wheel size front | |||
| wheel size rear | |||
| tyres front | 6.50-18 | ||
| tyres rear | 6.50-18 | ||
| brakes f/r | Dr/Dr | ||
| front brake diameter | |||
| rear brake diameter | |||
| gearbox | 4 speed manual | ||
| top gear ratio | 1 | ||
| final drive ratio | 4.20 | ||