climbing is different. upper body more involved.
I agree with all of the above. Here are some subjective opinions too:
Also because the upper body is more involved it is more fun carving a turn or maybe it is hitting the power to pull up out of the turn.
Similar to a front wheel drive car, power added is pointed in the same direction that you are steering as opposed to in the direction that the rear wheel is pointed. This adds a different feel and I use this especially for coming out of steep low speed corners - it sort of pops you into the new direction and up straight at the same time. I have had it be somewhat self-correcting when going from pavement to a gravel parking lot at speed and on a gradual curve.
There are many variables at play so I can’t say for sure what is subjective but it seems much more involved in the fun rather than adding power and steering inputs separately to the separate machine from what I remember of test rides on rear wheel drive recumbents. But that was long ago with not much recumbent experience and the only rear wheel drive recumbent that I have spent lots of time on is a Catrike Trail tadpole trike - it too is absolute fun like I imagine a go-kart would be.
There very well could be weight disadvantages to the MBB platform for the front end but big advantages in the rear end and chain.
Weight distribution can definitely be better on MBB.
Uphill and high acceleration from a stop can have much more lost power from wheel slip and this puts you trying to apply power at the dead spot which can result in more wheel slip in the next power stroke. A challenge with smooth power delivery.
