There should be no confusion? The recent conventional mid motor has a 4 gear transmission as the motor is rotated 180 degrees to the convenational rear motor, set up so there is no need to reverse the speedy or run the motor back wards.
By rotating the motor 180 degrees in mid motor you can eliminate the extra idler an go back to 3 gear transmission.
The Tamiya Top Force, essentially had a 3 gear rear transmission with the motor forward of the rear wheels, endbell to the left and spur to the right.
I makes me wonder why mid motor design didn't do this in the first place? Bit of a no brainer really!
