Quote:
Originally Posted by WestRace
Most mid-engine cars have weight distribution around 42% front. I was a bit surprised the C8 rumored to have 36% front. The 911 with each iteration has moved its engine forward closer to the rear axle to get better weight distribution. I think the reason behind 911 rear engine is to have extra room upfront to add two extra seats. I don't think Porsche put the engine there because they think that's the ideal location for the engine. If you put the engine in the middle, you probably can have only two seats.
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Generally yes, there are the purists that proclaim if Porsche wraps the Cayman in a 911-esque body and calls it the 911 then it's the end of times, but really, that would be the better car/chassis. Porsche has to go to exotic lengths to overcome the rear engine layout, like 4-wheel steering, active suspension (sways), etc. It's not that you can't make a very high performing car, even one that is faster than everything else, but it takes more resources and exotic engineering and it's easier for the next guy to come along and make a faster car for much cheaper. There are good cases to be made that 50/50 is not necessarily the optimal distribution and how many drive wheels the car has also matters. Really, you only need enough weight up front for steering, and enough in the rear to put the power down. That is a simplified version, but it also doesn't mean "50/50". One of the other big issues is the polar moments created by having a bunch of weight at the end of the car, either end. Again, exotic engineering can help to minimize the effects, but you can have 50/50 but if all that weight is at the end past the axle, when it rotates it's not going to be easy to bring it back, it's going to want to swap ends easier. This is why my WRX had massive understeer followed by snap-oversteer.