What is a mid-engined car?

A mid-engined car is a car that has the engine mounted behind the driver but in front of the rear wheels. This is distinct from the majority of cars, which are front-engined with the engine situated ahead of the driver, plus the small handful of rear-engined cars like the Porsche 911.

The engine is the heaviest part of the car, so its positioning within the chassis has a strong impact on the way a car handles. Mounting the engine in the middle means most of the car's weight is towards the centre of the body, which makes it keener to turn into corners and accelerate out of them. This is why sports cars like the Lotus Elise, Alpine A110 and Porsche Cayman – along with full-blown Formula 1 and Le Mans race cars – use a mid-engined layout. The main drawback of mid-engined cars is that they're usually far less practical than front-engined models due to giving away cabin space for the engine.