pmarkow:
Carlos from Spain:
KMM:
Let's see... The dominant design for racing cars and high performance road cars is... mid-engine!
I believe he is talking about street cars, in which case that has no bearing. The dominant design for racing cars is a huge rear wing yet that doesn't mean Ferraris are inferior designs because they have no rear wings. I have yet to see a 911 mid-engine competitor that will outhandle it because of the fact that its mid-engined. Also mid-engine cars are not necesarily easier to drive than modern 911's, the lower polar moment of inertia can for example make it harder to regain control of it in certain situations, being less progressive. Not that ist that important since modern cars are not fool proof to drive anyway.
If the rear-engined car is a 911 with 50 years of improvement and evolution, then when comparing it over a mid-engined car its more a matter of taste and personal preference of its handling dinamics and character or even looks more than anything else, cause performance wise that will not matter, perfromance will depend on a miriad of other factors non-engine-placement related like engine type, chasis setup, etc of the patiticular 911 model you are comparing it to. Which is another great feature of the rear-engine platform, its versatility allows a version for everyone, from a 991GT3RS that can outhandle any mid-engine competitor to a 991TurboCab which can be more versatile and driveable than most similar performance cars.
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⇒ Carlos - Porsche 991 Carrera GTS
well, Carlos, is there a test which says that the GT3RS outhandles the 458speciale?
cheers peter
Let me put it a bit more blunt... 99% of the people here buying these cars is not able to extract enough out of either to ever know which would outhandle which at the extreme.
Any difference in favor of either is so negligeable in real life / real driver, that in the end the engine placement between the two is a null factor in terms of outright handling performance, but rather a more factor in handling"character", looks, etc which that 99% can actually appreciate. That is what rear-engine in 911 vs mid-engine is important when considering either.
If someone says, I like mid-egine because it allows for better looks IMO, that that I respect, if someone says I like mid-engine because how it feels in the conrers, that I respect 100%, and the opposite as well obvliuoly, but to presume a mid-enginer car will be faster than a comparable 911 because of its engine placement is laughable, to say it nicely, and mostly comes from "paper racers" 
its like saying that the 458speciale handles poorly next to a GT3RS because the GT3RS has a huge rear wing like race cars and the 458 does not 
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⇒ Carlos - Porsche 991 Carrera GTS
Maybe Bluelines knows more? 
