Quote:
Originally Posted by enkeivette
2010 Viper ACR: 49.5/50.5.
2005 Corvette: 51/49
Sorry guys, I believe the makers of these front engine rear drive supercars over yall when it comes down to what's best for a front engine rear drive car.
Seems simple enough to me, more weight in the front, more load on the tires, more understeer. More weight on the back, more load on the rear tires, more of a tendency to oversteer.
Equal weight distribution, neutral steer. Front engine rear drive cars always have slight oversteer. Putting more weight in the back would... make it worse. 
Yes, Ferraris and Porsches have a rear weight bias, but they also have the engine and your fat ass back there. I'm surprised they don't have more of a rear bias. |
"Sorry guys, I believe the makers of these front engine rear drive supercars over yall when it comes down to what's best for a front engine rear drive car."
Street cars, even spots cars, are full of compromises and may not be setup for absolute cornering performance in the name of stability and safety for their generally less than capable occupants. Compromise wise, front/rear weight balance is a trade off between passenger compartment space, car size, and available/designated engines. Safety wise, all street cars are built with a focus on under-steer because an under-steering car is safer and more controllable/recoverable than an over-steering car.
Sure you could jam the motor under a sports cars dash van style, but where are your legs going to go? how difficult is it going to be to service that motor? How are you going to deal with the added height needed for the clearance?
"Seems simple enough to me, more weight in the front, more load on the tires, more under-steer. More weight on the back, more load on the rear tires, more of a tendency to over-steer."
Obviously a cars over/under-steering tendencies are based on more than its CoG location. What the CoG's location dictates, and is harder to tune in with tires and suspension tuning, is its turn in behavior and how quickly it will rotate about tis center of gravity. This is mainly dictated by the cars weight and where that weight is carried relative to the the force used to rotate it (the deflection of the front tires)
"Yes, Ferraris and Porsches have a rear weight bias, but they also have the engine and your fat ass back there. I'm surprised they don't have more of a rear bias."
You have to consider the reason these 'money no object' sports cars are designed with the motor in the mid/rear. Its because of the ideal weight distribution for high performance handling and the easiest way (car design wise) to attain that distribution.
Porsche is kind of the oddity, they rear mount their motors just as much (possibly more) for nostalgic reasons as for performance.