With the new seating system and the row count calculation, does it mean that it is possible that all the body can have rear-mid/rear engine configuration, without exploiting the game mechanism (engine clip through second/third row seats, which is impossible in real life), so that a rear-mid engined hot hatch (like Clio V6 Renault Sport) are possible (and reasonable) now?
e.g. Assuming a hatchback is capable of 2.5 rows (using the seats and dependencies graph in this link):
we can set a transverse rear-mid engine to consume 0.5 row, while a longitudinal rear-mid engine will consume 0.75 row
meaning we can fit 2 full seats in the front (1.5 row), a transverse rear-mid engine (0.5 row) or a longitudinal one (0.75) and as a result, a rear-mid engined hot hatch.
or
we can fit 2 half seats in the front (1.25 row), a transverse rear-mid engine (0.5 row) and left with 0.75 row for a 2 half seats in the 2nd row, and we have a car like Renault Twingo or Smart Forfour.
and it makes sense for a transaxle gearbox now, since it will be further differentiated from a conventional front mounted gearbox.
Assuming a sport car body is capable of 2.5 rows, you can have a rear transaxle for better weight distribution in expense of 0.25 row, meaning you cannot fit 2 full seats in the back (2.5rows - 1.5 front row - 0.25 transaxle = 0.75 row for 2nd row, while 2 full seats at the back is counted as 1 row), which means transaxle will not be abused by being used in a conventional saloon cars for better balance without penalty other than engineering time and production unit.
