In automobile design, a rear-engine design layout places the engine at the rear of the vehicle. The center of gravity of the engine itself is behind the rear axle. This is not to be confused with the center of gravity of the whole vehicle, as an imbalance of such proportions would make it impossible to keep the front wheels on the ground. Automotive diagrams 05 En

Rear-engined vehicles almost always have a rear-wheel drive

car layout The powertrain layout of a motorised vehicle such as a car is often defined by the location of the engine and drive wheels. Layouts can roughly be divided into three categories: front-wheel drive (FWD), rear-wheel drive (RWD) and four-wheel drive ...

, but some are four wheel drive. This layout has the following features: *Packaging: since there is no need for a transmission tunnel, the floor can be flat. *Rear traction: having the engine located over the driven wheels increases downward pressure, which is helpful for grip on loose surfaces, although can be prone to oversteer. *Simplicity of manufacture: the engine is near the driven wheels, and the transmission can be merged with the differential to save space. This layout was once popular in small, inexpensive cars and light commercial vehicles. Today most car makers have abandoned the layout although it does continue in some expensive cars, like the Porsche 911. It is also used in some racing car applications, low-floor buses, some Type-D school buses, and microcars such as the Smart Fortwo. Some electric cars feature both rear and front motors, to drive all four wheels.

Notable rear-engined cars

Benz Patent-Motorwagen The Benz Patent-Motorwagen ("patent motorcar"), built in 1885 by the German Carl Benz, is widely regarded as the world's first practical modern automobile and was the first car put into series production. It was patented and unveiled in 1886. ...

* BMW 600, 700, and i3 * Chevrolet Corvair * Davrian * DMC DeLorean *Dune buggies such as the Meyers Manx * Fiat 500, 600, 850, 126 and

133 133 may refer to: *133 (number) *AD 133 *133 BC *133 (song) 133 may refer to: *133 (number) *AD 133 *133 BC __NOTOC__ Year 133 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scaevola ...

* FMR Tg500 * Hillman Imp *

Hino Contessa The Hino Contessa is an automobile which was produced by Hino Motors from 1961 to 1967. The Contessa was developed largely from the 1947-1961 Renault 4CV powertrain under license to Hino Motors. Offered in both coupe and sedan bodystyles, it ...

* Mercedes-Benz 130/150/170H * Mitsubishi i and Mitsubishi i-MiEV * NSU Prinz * Porsche 356,

911 911 or 9/11 may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende * November 9 Numbers * 911 ...

generations, and 959 *

Puma (car manufacturer) Puma Automóveis Ltda., or simply Puma, is a Brazilian manufacturer of sports cars and small trucks that began its activities in 1963 as Lumimari (named after the initials of its founders and partners: Luiz Roberto Alves da Costa, Milton Mastegu ...

* Renault 4CV, Dauphine, Floride, Caravelle, R8, R10 and the 3rd generation Twingo * Renault Alpine A106, A108, A110, A310 and GTA/A610 *

SEAT 600 The SEAT 600 is a city car made in Spain by SEAT from May 1957 until August 1973 under licence from Fiat. It helped to start the Spanish miracle (economic boom of 1959–1973) that came at the end of the slow recovery from the Spanish Civil War. I ...

, 850 and

* Simca 1000 * Škoda 1000/1100MB,MBX, 100/110, 110R, 105/120/125, 130/135/136, Garde, Rapid * Smart Fortwo, Roadster and 2nd generation

Smart Forfour The Smart Forfour (stylized as "smart forfour") is a city car (A-segment) marketed by Smart over two generations. The first generation was marketed in Europe from 2004 to 2006 with a front-engine configuration, sharing its platform with the Mitsubi ...

Stout Scarab The Stout Scarab is a streamlined 1930–1940s American car, designed by William Bushnell Stout and manufactured by Stout Engineering Laboratories and later by Stout Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. The Stout Scarab is credited by ...

* Subaru 360 * Suzuki Fronte 360, Fronte 71 and 72, Fronte Coupé, Fronte LC20, Fronte 7-S / SS10 / SS20 and Cervo SS20 / SC100 * Tata Nano,

Tata Pixel The Tata Pixel was a concept rear-engined four-passenger city car, unveiled on 1 March 2011 by Tata Motors at the 81st International Motor Show in Geneva. Aimed primarily at the European market, it was primarily based on the Tata Nano platform ...

and Tata Magic Iris * Tatra 77, 87, 97, 600, 603,

613 __NOTOC__ Year 613 (Roman numerals, DCXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 613 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domin ...

700 The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Avar and Slavic tribes conq ...

* Tesla Roadster, some versions of the Model S, and

Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a compact executive sedan that is battery powered and produced by Tesla. Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017. The offici ...

* Tucker 48 'Torpedo' *Volkswagen Type 62 and Type 82 Kubelwagen, the Kommandeurswagen and Schwimmwagen *

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

, type 3 'pontoon',

Karmann Ghia The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a sports car marketed in 2+2 coupe (1955–1974) and 2+2 convertible (1957–1974) body styles by Volkswagen. Internally designated the Type 14, the Karmann Ghia combined the chassis and mechanicals of the Type 1 ( ...

and type 4 (411/412), as well as the VW Microbus / Transporter and type 181 'Thing' *

ZAZ ZAZ or Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant ( uk, ЗАЗ, Запорізький автомобілебудівний завод, ''Zaporiz'kyi avtomobilebudivnyi zavod'' or ''Zaporiz'kyi avtozavod'') is the main automobile manufacturer of U ...

Zaporozhets series.

References

{{Automobile configuration Car layouts de:Heckantrieb id:Mesin belakang ja:リアエンジン pt:Motor traseiro

Notable rear-engined cars

See also

References