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It does give them very unique handling. It's fun to drive an unstable car, and "fun to drive" is one of the main differentiators of sports cars from more mundan

It does give them very unique handling. It's fun to drive an unstable car, and "fun to drive" is one of the main differentiators of sports cars from more mundane options.

jonplackett 6y ago
I did a silverstone track day a few years ago in a single seater f1 style (but much slower) car with the engine at the back. It was super fun I agree, but also terrifying when I accidentally put it in 1st instead of third at the end if the straight and just instantly spun out. Luckily didn’t hit anyone or anything.
- Lio 6y ago
  F1 cars in general are mid-engined (like Porsche Le Man cars) rather than rear engined like the 911. So the engine is behind you but in front of the rear wheels. This is generally thought to be optimal layout for a super car. Porsche used the mid-engine layout for the 959 for example.
- felipelemos 6y ago
  Just to remind that a open wheel car or a single seat f1 style doesn't have the a rear engine like the 911, but is a middle engine car. In fact, almost every car have a front or middle engine. The 911 is very unique in this rear placement layout.
  - wankeler 6y ago
    First, to nitpick, comparative and superlative forms of unique are nonsense, something is either unique or it isn’t. It might be pretty rare though, like rear engines cars: hillman imp, Fiat 500, etc and of course vw microbus and beetle which rather brings us back to the 911
  - serf 6y ago
    > Just to remind that a open wheel car or a single seat f1 style doesn't have the a rear engine like the 911, but is a middle engine car. yeah, but then with that pedantry applied the Honda S2000, BMW 3 Series, Mazda Miata, and various other cars are technically mid-engine. FR/MR/RR is basically useless to talk about with regards to performance dynamics; HPDEs and driver coaching has taught me that 9 times out of 10 when someone mentions where their engine is sitting in the car by using FR/MR/RR , what they're really trying to get across is where they felt their center-of-mass was during the drive. And to that point, a Formula style car might be mid-engine, but most have a suspension and aero adjusted center-of-mass that is as aft, if not worse, than any Porsche out there.
  - greedo 6y ago
    My first car was a VW Beetle. I didn't know crap about cars, physics, handling, etc. The engine needed work so I had it rebuilt and it had pretty good power (for a Bug). Then one day I was driving fast on winding roads and quickly learned about the flaws of having a rear-engined car. I was lucky to walk away from the crash, though the Bug was totaled. Since then I've always had a fear of driving on winding roads...

It does give them very unique handling. It's fun to drive an unstable car, and "fun to drive" is one of the main differentiators of sports cars from more mundane options.

jonplackett 6y ago

I did a silverstone track day a few years ago in a single seater f1 style (but much slower) car with the engine at the back. It was super fun I agree, but also terrifying when I accidentally put it in 1st instead of third at the end if the straight and just instantly spun out. Luckily didn’t hit anyone or anything.

Lio 6y ago
F1 cars in general are mid-engined (like Porsche Le Man cars) rather than rear engined like the 911. So the engine is behind you but in front of the rear wheels. This is generally thought to be optimal layout for a super car. Porsche used the mid-engine layout for the 959 for example.
felipelemos 6y ago
Just to remind that a open wheel car or a single seat f1 style doesn't have the a rear engine like the 911, but is a middle engine car. In fact, almost every car have a front or middle engine. The 911 is very unique in this rear placement layout.
- wankeler 6y ago
  First, to nitpick, comparative and superlative forms of unique are nonsense, something is either unique or it isn’t. It might be pretty rare though, like rear engines cars: hillman imp, Fiat 500, etc and of course vw microbus and beetle which rather brings us back to the 911
- serf 6y ago
  > Just to remind that a open wheel car or a single seat f1 style doesn't have the a rear engine like the 911, but is a middle engine car. yeah, but then with that pedantry applied the Honda S2000, BMW 3 Series, Mazda Miata, and various other cars are technically mid-engine. FR/MR/RR is basically useless to talk about with regards to performance dynamics; HPDEs and driver coaching has taught me that 9 times out of 10 when someone mentions where their engine is sitting in the car by using FR/MR/RR , what they're really trying to get across is where they felt their center-of-mass was during the drive. And to that point, a Formula style car might be mid-engine, but most have a suspension and aero adjusted center-of-mass that is as aft, if not worse, than any Porsche out there.
- greedo 6y ago
  My first car was a VW Beetle. I didn't know crap about cars, physics, handling, etc. The engine needed work so I had it rebuilt and it had pretty good power (for a Bug). Then one day I was driving fast on winding roads and quickly learned about the flaws of having a rear-engined car. I was lucky to walk away from the crash, though the Bug was totaled. Since then I've always had a fear of driving on winding roads...