Ultraperio |
02-27-2010 10:27 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by enkeivette
(Post 46197)
The Viper broke the lateral G record in 97 with its 50/50 weight distribution, not sure who has it now. Probably the Mosler, but that's not really a fair take since the Mosler comes factory with slicks.
I won't argue your point about race cars, because I really don't know. And maybe a rear weight bias works better with Porsches and Ferraris, I really don't know. But it doesn't with Vettes and Vipers, so I really can't agree that your theory has been proven time and time again with very high performance street cars. Unless you can provide examples like I've been doing. :p
IRAC-RAFADC! :suicide:
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A cars cornering limits (what a lateral G on a skidpad tests) are dictated by far more than the cars CoG and is a separate discussion to the current one. We're discussing a cars tendencies approaching and past its limits, due to the location of its CoG. An under-steering or an over-steering car can post very good lateral G numbers but it 's lateral G numbers aren't necessarily a function of its under/over-steering tendencies or its CoG location. And its lateral G numbers aren't necessarily a good indication of how well handling a car it is (tho lateral road holding is definitely a contributing factor to a well handling car).
I think calling 50/50 the "perfect" distribution is a misnomer or possibly a bit vague as to what it is "perfect" at. I will not argue that several of the best handling road cars were designed with 50/50 weight distribution as a goal. However you only hear this as a goal for front engine, rear drive cars. I've never heard of Ferrari putting mass forward to try to 'correct' its rearward biased cars. My personal favorite, the 3rd gen RX-7 (one of the best street/track cars of the 90's), was even marketed with its 50/50 weight distribution (also another under-steering car) as one of its main selling points. 50/50 weight distribution may be "perfect" in that it is balanced front to rear and it may be "perfect" in that it is the best compromise between stability/safety and and good responsive handling but It is not "perfect" when building a car for maximizing its handling potential.
Another interesting thing to consider is most/all 'exotic' mid/rear engined sports cars either have a base AWD option (Gallardo, Mercialago, 911 turbo), have a plethora of electronic nannies (every Ferrari out there) to keep the car stable, or try to kill you at every less than perfect attention opportunity (aforementioned Mosler). Possibly because the additional responsiveness comes at the price of less predictable, more dangerous handling characteristics at the limit (i.e. snap over-steer, something that has plagued Porsche's for years) which would be acceptable on a race track with a savvy driver but unacceptable on public roads with your typical driver. Thus requiring either a more deft driver, some under-steer inducing AWD, or little black box to keep your foot out of it and the nose pointed in the direction you're traveling.
Remember the trouble they had with keeping MR2's on the road?
Another thing that I would contest is the idea of "add weight receive grip" in regards to corner weighting. I think its a little more complicated than that but that might be beyond the scope of this thread.
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