To get the optimum handling from a car it needs to have as near perfect weight distribution as possible, race car engineers get to this by 'corner weighting' which in basic terms means they measure how much weight is pushing down on each corner and then by adjusting the coil overs (and or) shifting weight around they alter the balance. Chatting to a short oval racing mate the other week and found he has a set of scales, so we're going to do GVK when he has time When I mentioned that adding a passenger will totally mess up the figures he said "we can compensate for that" He also said you can bias the weight distribution for clockwise tracks but as my car is used mainly on the road I won't bother with that. Been googling and found some good sites about it <a href="http://www.hadamotorsport.com/tech/howto/cornerweights/" target="_blank"> http://www.hadamotorsport.com/tech/howto/cornerweights/</a> http://www.hotrod.com/howto/113_0309_scale/index.html http://www.minimania.com/MM/Suspension___Corner_Weights_and_ Bump_Steer_Basics.htm http://www.grmotorsports.com/cornerweight.html Edited by: G_V_K
You might laugh, when I was googling for info I found pics of a Caterfield with 2 bathroom scales under each wheel and bits of wood lashed together http://mysite.freeserve.com/Caterham_DIY/page4.html Edited by: G_V_K
doesn't have to do up to a tonne tub, just what ever percentage of weight one wheel has, just build some ramps with a section that can be removed and replaced by a set of scales. then run the car up and move the scales from corner to corner.
well mk2 is supposed to be what 980kg? so say 1000kg and quarter would be 250kg, 300/350 should be safe enough margin, allowing for extra weight at front
G - had already had this in mind for my Grey un when the time is right. Might as well make proper use of the coilies eh
Only thing I don't understand up to yet is how you know what the ideal weight distribution should be for a FWD car - the websites I 've looked at are all showing RWD usually American tanks Someone reading this surely knows and have done this on a Golf.. c'mon don't be shy
Gary have a read of this. click here The main thing is you cannot use corner weights to move weight around (front to rear) all you can achieve is balance N/S to O/S with an even ride height. The most common thing corner weight adjustment can cure is difference in feel turning one direction against the other. If you wanna get realy serious, before you do it, move the washer bottle, battery and anything else you can think of to the boot.
It depends who's driving. you set to so it handles how it suits you, there is no ideal setting that will keep evryone happy. And as you know, I've proved that a front heavy car can be made to handle.
At my college they have all the instuments to do it, they also have all the instuments to set up the toe etc. They have been looking for cars to set-up recently in-order to teach the ppl doin automotive design about corner weights, toe, camber and the rest! so if you want access to all this stuff, and it possibly set-up for you send a quick email to the college/uni closest to you tht does automotive topics and you might just be able to convince them to let the students measure your car, as a mutual favour! might seem a long shot but worth it if you manage to get ur hands on scales/computers tht would cost you several grand otherwise!!!!!! only down side is your car would come back with cum stains all over it, most o the guys tht do these courses are automotive perverts.......excluding me of course not tht theres anything wrong with car pervs
A front wheel drive, front engined car doesn't need a 50/50 weight distribution, a 60/40 front/rear will suffice. As has been said you want to move things that can be moved to the rear of the car to achieve this. You want it as low as possible also. Idealy the weight should be situated in the middle and as low as possible in the car, but as the engine is at the front you counter balance some of this with weight at the rear. Doing this though increases the moment of inertia so making it harder to control yaw. You really want to balance corner weights to provide a balanced car after moving weight to the back.
you will be F lucky to get a 60:40 ratio on a golf, the only numbers I have seen related to a Nissan Sunny GT-ti and is was closer to 70:30
Interesting link Golden Matt - As I've said in the first post , I have access to the scales and the guy sets up his short oval race car with them, obviously a space framed National hot rod will be different to the Golf to set up, just looking for info on the setting of FWD cars really. I really don't want to start moving the battery etc, just want to set the car as it is. Edited by: G_V_K
This is a massive debating point in my house hold....whenever we get talking about corner weights we have arguements. My Dad and my Brother dont agree and I have to say that I go along with my dad....he has been racing longer! Its not all about getting weights F/R correct it about balancing L/R. If you start moving a lot of weight into the back of the car a long way away from the c of g it will make the car harder to turn(yaw). I aim to get equal weights across each axle...this isn't always possible...if not make sure the front is as close as possible....forget F/R balance there isn't much you can do about it without knackering up something else!
GVK, chill, i was just saying where ppl could get there hands on them, it wasnt really aimed at you.... if i had a half decent car, thts what i would be doin..... i wouldnt agree tht f/r weights arnt as important, thts wot creates the whole character of the car..... you only need to get the left n right side kinda equal to make it hadle well in tht sence.... f/r weights determine whether the car is nervous and easy to spin(weight closer to middle) or hard to steer and hard to spin (weight further out, but once it does spin its harder to get back).... reading the link would have been an idea Edited by: matt989
