Originally posted by: AgaBooga
I know about edmunds.com being a good resource but I'm looking for sites that review cards, in general the nice sports cars. Kind of like the hardware reviews here at Anandtech. My interest in cars seems to have grown ever since I've begun driving my dad's manual accord. It seems pretty fun and I want to learn more about cars like I have about computers.
Also, still on the topic of cars but not websites, are there any cars with the engine in the center? I'd suspect thats the best place since it would be equally distant from all the tires and could help in weight balancing. I'm not too sure about what I just said, its just a thought that came to mind earlier today.
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Its more important to learn about what makes a car tick rather than learn what car is good and has what kind of engine.
By that, I mean to say its better to know that a V12 is inherently balanced due to its design rather than "you know that new Ferrari Enzo has a huge-ass 6L V12 engine that makes ~600hp!!". I know kids like that who think they know their stuff about cars just because they can recite supercar models and their engine size without knowing what makes them special.
Anyway that's my thought on the matter.
Best way to get a car review on the way it drives is for you to drive it yourself. Best way to learn about cars reliability is to check out internet forums for those cars (almost every car model has a forum dedicated to it). I want to know what the owners are saying about it rather than a magazine.
EDIT: To answer your question, cars dont have engines DEAD center. But they do reside between the front and rear wheels. Cars like Accords have the engine in front of the front wheels. Thats the norm. Cars like the McLaren F1, Enzo, Modena, etc.. have the engine behind the driver but in front of the rear wheels. This is mid-engine and does aid in increased balance and neutrality. Cars such as the 911, have the engine behind the rear axle, which is known as rear-engine. This is theoritcally the worst place to keep an engine since the car can swing like a pendulum if easily provoked.
Somehow Porsche managed to defeat Newton's Laws of Physics!
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