348/355 engine position

It's known as "mid-engine", done for improved weight distribution.

Ease of maintenance has never been a high priority for Ferrari.

 

Think about how the Lamborghini Countach powertrain is configured where the transmission faces the front. See what a pain in the butt it is to transfer the power back to the rear wheels? That car requires a driveshaft running backwards, through the sump I recall, to the transaxle.

Pointing the motor forward and the transaxle & clutch towards the rear allows the majority of the weight (the engine) to be positioned ahead of the rear wheels, thus centralizing the mass and improving the handling of the car. Plus, it simplifies the powertrain.

 

Awesome response. Very informative.

 

The engine is as close to the axle shafts as possible
The gears on the transmission shafts are as low and far forward as possible
This left the clutch to reside "out back"
The engine and transmission are joined together as a stiff menber
Thus, the timing arrangements had to be up at the front.

If the timing belts were at the rear of the engine:: the engine+tranny would not be as stiff; and you would have to disconnect/remove the transmission from both the engine and from the axles in order to get at the belts.

With the clutch "out back" Ferrari figured out that they could use the clutch as a mass damper if the transfer shaft were machined to just the right torsion.

BTW the reason the transmission gears are transverse is that this both centralizes the mass and lowers the CoG at the same time.