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This layout is typically chosen for its better weight distribution (the heaviest component is near the center of the car, lowering its moment of inertia). Many early successful (and mostly French) mass-produced front-wheel drive cars used the MF layout, until the 1959 BMC (Austin / Morris) Mini demonstrated the layout and passenger car ...
Weight transfer is generally of far less practical importance than load transfer, for cars and SUVs at least. For instance in a 0.9g turn, a car with a track of 1650 mm and a CoM height of 550 mm will see a load transfer of 30% of the vehicle weight, that is the outer wheels will see 60% more load than before, and the inners 60% less.
A front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (FMR) places the engine in the front half of the vehicle but behind the front axle, which likewise drives the rear wheels via a driveshaft. Shifting the engine's center of mass rearward aids in front/rear weight distribution and reduces the moment of inertia , both of which improve a vehicle's handling .
With the engine so far back, the weight distribution of such cars as the Cord L-29 was not ideal; the driven wheels did not carry a large enough proportion of weight for good traction and handling. The 1934 Citroën Traction Avant solved the weight distribution issue by placing the transmission at the front of the car with the differential ...
Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles.
(The De Dion tube suspension operates much as a live axle does, but represents an improvement because the differential is mounted to the body, thereby reducing the unsprung weight.) Wheel materials and sizes will also have an effect. Aluminium alloy wheels are common due to their weight characteristics which help to reduce unsprung mass.