So the best place would be to position a slim inline engine as low as possible between driver and passenger in the center of car. As crazy as it sound vans used a similar concept in the 60s and Toyota hand a PS of one in the 80s or early 90s.

 

Can't do this in my S2k, but when we take my wife's Boxster to the market, you should see the looks we get when we open the front trunk and fill it, then open the back trunk and fill it too. Pretty entertaining!

 

I prefer the engine in front of me for reasons of safety.

 

... so you think it's more likely to have a frontal crash than to be rear ended?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tox
[B]

 

Those of you who think it's properly considered mid engine, I'd like to see an authoritative source. The S2000 is front or front-mid engine; a true mid engine car has the engine between the passengers and the rear axle.

 

You're probably right about these things being the primary advantages to mid-engine race cars. When your car weighs 1200 pounds and has 900 hp, anything that helps you get the power down will be a big advantage. (As will a more slippery shape.) Of course, this difference in rear weight bias has no relevance to 2800-lb. street cars with 240 hp, and I doubt that the aerodynamics are much different between an S2000 and, say, a Boxster.

Your observations about the axis of rotation are also excellent. Once it's clear that the car's axis of rotation is normally in the rear (obvious once you think about it, which I wasn't) it's easy to see why a mid-rear car should change direction more easily. And it's also clear why this advantage only pertains until the back end begins to slide.

Because of this, I suppose a front-engine car will always feel a bit more ponderous than a mid-engine car of equal weight and quality. And heaven knows, the Boxster's steering and chassis response are certainly superb. But between these two cars the difference in feel is small, and the difference in performance is nonexistent.

 

ah, ah, not so quick, Tox

If you stick in tyre slip angles (which you must, otherwise the car won't turn), then the centre of curvature wanders all over the place. You can easily get tyre slip angles of 10 to 15 degrees when cornering at 1G. As the slip angle increases, the centre of curvature moves forward. As the steering angle increases the centre of curvature moves rearward. Try it on a piece of paper and you'll see.

I agree with you this all a bit too academic. You can build excellent road cars any other way.

 

I think this sums it up well

 

A graphical explanation on how the centre of curvature moves around with tyre slip. As you can see the advantage of rear or mid rear engine layout diminuishes as you push harder. On the picture on the right, tyres have developped some slippage and the car no longer moves in the direction the tyres are pointing.