Mazda has always referred to the engine as being "front midship". You can find this reference in the Yamaguchi books.

 

That's what I thought. I don't have the book of his I read with me so I wasn't 100% sure. Btw, I only know of the "RX-7" one. There's others?

 

if you wan to get totally technical about it, then really there is no such thing as front midship, because as quite a few people are saying, there should be no relationship to the driver, front is explaining relation to the driver. so technically it is just an mr. just my 2 cents

 

And the problen with referring to an engine (on a mass produced car) with relation to the driver is...?

Front could also mean it's ahead of the center of the car, which just happens to be the area of the driver in a 7.

 

There is at least a 2nd gen and 3rd gen Yamaguchi book. Not sure about the 1st gen and the LeMans cars though.

 

Due to the weight distribution of the RX-7 to be 50/50 straight from the factory, like an MR, it is considered to a front-mid engined, rear wheel drive vehicle.

 

Oh, I thought you were referring to more than one 2nd gen book. That explains that then...

 

Mid-ship is a common Japanese term for mid engine. For example the MR-2 was always called Toyota's Mid-ship car in Japan.

 

i personally consider the rx-7 to be a front mid mount (as opposed to rear-mid) because it is located entirely behind the front axel

 

I don't see how on earth you can call the F430 a front engine car at all. Regardless of driver.

 

I really doubt that weight distribution has anything to do with it.

 

yes, cause both arguments are so similar... We have all established what the RX7 is, but no matter what the technical specifications of them are, the average person will still call it a FR... I dont see the big ******* deal. NOOO, its just behind the centerline of the front crossmember! Its MID!!! Waaa Waaa Waaa

 

It'd be more akin to calling the Earth spherical. Technically, it's not. When you're dealing with very precise measurements (like gravity at the poles versus the equator at sea level) you may have to take that into account. In most cases, approximating it as a sphere works (for rough gravitational estimates).

Our car is technically not a front-engine car, but a mid-engine car. When dealing with it with very precise measurements (like polar moment of inertia with respect to handling) you may have to take that into account. In most cases, approximating it as a FR car works (for rough handling estimates).

 

This is an RX7 forum filled with people who either know what they're talking about or want to learn. Thus, who gives a crap what average people call it?

 

Mazda and Nissan call the RX8 and 350Z "Front mid-ship". That is exactly what the FC is. It still is a FR though. Maybe we can call it FMR.

 

and why make it go on 3 pages when its already been proven... in general like ive already said, common people who arent either knowledgable or mechanics would go by location of engine accourding to driver. our cars would be front engine. though like said 50 times, its a mid engine car because the engine is located a few inches back... whoopty dooo... why beat a dead horse

 

I was wondering the same thing....

Edit:Here's some info about the Speed Racer movie: http://imdb.com/title/tt0811080. Its being written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers (as Icemark said) and is supposed to come out in 2008. They are still casting, but I'm curious about who is going to play the main people.

 

I wasn't saying that the arguments were at all similar, just trying to illustrate that you can't always go with what the average Joe thinks. Anyway, I agree that we are beating a dead horse here.

We should keep in mind tho that one of the reasons why the FC has the 50-50 weight balance is because of the fact the the motor is mounted behind the front axel. So in this case the "few inches" we are talking about really does make a difference.

 

yea, your right. i was thinking of something along the 575M. So some reason i thought the F430 was FMR


BC

 

nice.

 

Yep, the 550/575 were both "front" engine cars. Judging by the long hood (and the fact that the tranny is in the back) it is probably a FMR, though I don't have any pics in front of me.

 

I'm always looking for things to explain why I like my 7's so much .......... i'm going with mid-engine ... puts us in a different class of car ........ as if we didn't know that already.

 

I wonder if the same people argueing about FR vs FMR vs MR are the same people that argue about v8 swaps because they "throw the balance off"?

When you mod an FD does it maintain 50:50 distribution or does it get rear heavy like a more traditional engine-behind-the-driver MR?

I'd change depending on who i talked to- newbie or InitialD study it's FR, Learned car enthusiast- FMR, i probably wouldn't call it an MR because that evokes ideas of mr2's and the like.

my $0.03