Some
sport cars have used the front-engine, front-wheel drive layou,
e.g. Lotus Elan M100, Fiat Coupé, Fiat Barchetta, Saab Sonett
and many Berkeley cars. This layout is advantageous for small,
light, lower power sports cars, as it avoids the extra weight,
increased transmission power loss, and packaging problems of a
long driveshaft and longitudinal engine of FR vehicles. Yet, its
conservative handling effect, particularly understeer, and the
fact that many drivers believe FR is a more appropriate layout
for a sports car.
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 Some
sports cars have small back seats that are really only
suitable for luggage or small children. Such a
configuration is often referred. The Mazda RX-8 includes
two small backward-opening doors to better accommodate
extra passengers.
Over
the years, some manufacturers of sports cars have sought
to increase the practicality of their vehicles by
increasing the seating room. One method is to place the
driver's seat in the csenter of the car, which allows two
full-sized passenger seats on each side and slightly
behind the driver. The arrangement was originally
considered for the Lamborghini Miura, but abandoned as
impractical because of the difficulty for the driver to
enter/exit the vehicle. McLaren used the design in their
F1.
Another
British manufacturer, TVR, took a different approach in
their Cerbera model. The insterior was designed in such a
way that the dashboard on the passenger side swept
toward the front of the car, which allowed the passenger
to sit farther forward than the driver. This gave the
rear seat passenger extra room and made the arrangement
suitable for three adult passengers and one child seated
behind the driver. The arrangement has been referred to
by the company. Some Matra sports cars even had
three seats squeezed next to each other.
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