Front, Mid And Rear Mounted Engines In Cars Explained!

There are all sorts of cars in the world. They have different types of engines, transmissions, features and much more. A lot of people do not know that cars are also segregated on the basis of the placement of their engines. There are predominantly 3 types of positioning dynamics. These are Front, Rear and Mid Mounted engines. Let’s see how they stand apart from each other.

1. Front Mounted Engine

The most common one first, front mounted engines are present in more than 90% cars. These are considered to be best for average consumers, because of their low cost and easy to maintain nature. With most cars coming in with a front wheel drive, it makes sense to have the engine mounted up front. These engines are not the best when it comes to outright performance and track driving, but how many of us are going to do that, right?

Examples- Toyota, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, etc.

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2. Mid Mounted Engines

Mid Engines are mostly known for giving the car an excellent experience on the handling and dynamics front. This happens because a mid-body-mounted engine helps maintain a good weight balance and a low centre of gravity. One drawback with a mid-mounted engine is that it eats into the cabin space of the car. Pushing the engine towards the centre inevitably results in lesser cabin space. This lack of space mostly reflects in the rear seats.

Example- Ferrari, Lamborghini.

3. Rear Mounted Engines

If you’re on a race track, you are most likely to see a rear-mounted engine car. Rear Mounted engines are made to provide excellent handling, traction and control over the rear wheels. If not inexperienced hands, rear-engine cars may tend to over-steer a little bit. However, for the purpose of pure driving pleasure, performance and handling, rear-mounted engines are the way to go.

Example- Porsche