Other than Porsches and the Corvair, the only other other rear engine car I can think of is the VW Beetle. Back in it's day the Beetle was one of the best winter cars you could own. The engine weight behind the rear axle gave it a big traction advantage in snow over its contemporaries.

Andrew

 

I'm sure everyone knows how great the Corvair handled...

I'm very interested in driving a few mid/rear engined cars. I'd like to see how they feel and if there's really a difference from a well setup FR.

 

Actually the later Corvairs handled just fine. The earlier ones had basically the same rear suspension as a Beatle and had the same handling traits. The Corvairs were actually considered to be good handling at the time. The issue was the at the limits handling of the rear suspension.

 

The car's weight is distributed differently during acceleration, be that positive or negative. Constant speed holds the car's true weight distribution.

 

...and that air-cooled engine heated up pretty fast.

 

Yes there is a difference. Turn in, response to trail braking, traction out of the corner (when driven properly) would be better. You do have to drive it a bit differently though to make full use of the balance.