Weighed my 350z >>> Results inside
07-06-2003, 02:49 PM
#22
you could get 50/50 eventually... start by getting rid of the interior, light weight battery, carbon fiber front quarter panels, bumper, hood(every lb counts).
youll get closer. ditch the HVAC and youll make big gains.
anyway, I dont think downforce anywhere on our car matters in anywhere near stock trim. on an autocross I dont think youll get out of 2nd gear, and at 60, or even 70(yeah right) the downforce is gonna be marginal, also you wont be taking ANY turns at ANYWHERE near 70mph. fastest turn your likely to take on a track that you need more down force to complete is like 30-40. need better rubber, better suspension, and some weight loss in the front. it might not cure it, but I think this would atleast make it managable.
youll get closer. ditch the HVAC and youll make big gains.
anyway, I dont think downforce anywhere on our car matters in anywhere near stock trim. on an autocross I dont think youll get out of 2nd gear, and at 60, or even 70(yeah right) the downforce is gonna be marginal, also you wont be taking ANY turns at ANYWHERE near 70mph. fastest turn your likely to take on a track that you need more down force to complete is like 30-40. need better rubber, better suspension, and some weight loss in the front. it might not cure it, but I think this would atleast make it managable.
07-06-2003, 04:07 PM
#23
Ares.....I think your response was toward me, so, I'll respond.
I have a track event at Road America coming up, which is a VERY High speed track. I saw 130 in my stock Jetta GLX....Most turns are over 50 MPH, and the carousel MIGHT be close to 100 MPH, Soooooo I think a bit more downforce might be nice.
I wish removing weight from the front would help, BUT, where do I remove 500LBS?
BTW....wana race?
I have a track event at Road America coming up, which is a VERY High speed track. I saw 130 in my stock Jetta GLX....Most turns are over 50 MPH, and the carousel MIGHT be close to 100 MPH, Soooooo I think a bit more downforce might be nice.
I wish removing weight from the front would help, BUT, where do I remove 500LBS?
BTW....wana race?
07-06-2003, 05:53 PM
#24
Registered User
Thread Starter
Actually, if you were to simply remove weight from the front to improve distribution, you'd "only" have to remove about 200lbs. to get close to 50/50. But there is no way you'll be able to do that. To get this car to 50/50 would require a combination of lightening the front and moving weight rearward.
Moving the battery to the rear would help, its usually good for about a 1% change in the distribution believe it or not.
Aero mods would indeed make a difference on just about any roadcourse because the turn speed would be high enough. For autocross, the benefits would be a lot less though.
Moving the battery to the rear would help, its usually good for about a 1% change in the distribution believe it or not.
Aero mods would indeed make a difference on just about any roadcourse because the turn speed would be high enough. For autocross, the benefits would be a lot less though.
07-06-2003, 06:24 PM
#25
the way I figure it...
there is 54% of the weight up front, that is 1782lbs up front. 1518 in back.
if you remove weight youd have to lose 250lbs... yeah, obviously not. not anytime soon anyway. but if you relocate the weight, such as battery, but you only have to shift about 125lbs... batteries can weigh 30lbs or so. thatll help. that drops you to 90lbs to transfer, or 190lbs to lose.
anyway, Im not saying your gonna see 50/50 anytime soon. but 190 lbs more is better than 250lbs... and with the driver it seems the balance only gets a little better, and a full tank of gas might help as well, putting a little more weight over the rear.
thing I dont know, maybe you do. you can run with less gas, remove the spare, jack, rear mat, ect. this will throw the distrobution off even further; but it will also drop about 100lbs from the car... is this worthwhile for less weight, or are the new handling characteristics that bad?
it sorta ties into, some people get 8.5" rims all around, cause they say it reduces understeer... does it really reduce understeer or does it just make the back tires slide before the understeer kicks in? will a car with 9.5" tires in back get LESS traction from its front tires? if you drove both to the brink of their abilities before either understeered or drifted, would one handle worse than the other?
it would seem in my view that the answer is no, just as if I could remove a bunch of weight from the rear, it would throw off the balance of the car, but overall the car would be lighter... which while less predictable in a slide, it will be a better car...
why not stick sand bags in the back if this isnt true? it would get you perfect 50:50 distrobution, but Id imagine you dont want distrobution at the cost of weight...
not argueing, this is more or less all a question with my theory behind it. I could be completely wrong, I wouldnt be suprised.
there is 54% of the weight up front, that is 1782lbs up front. 1518 in back.
if you remove weight youd have to lose 250lbs... yeah, obviously not. not anytime soon anyway. but if you relocate the weight, such as battery, but you only have to shift about 125lbs... batteries can weigh 30lbs or so. thatll help. that drops you to 90lbs to transfer, or 190lbs to lose.
anyway, Im not saying your gonna see 50/50 anytime soon. but 190 lbs more is better than 250lbs... and with the driver it seems the balance only gets a little better, and a full tank of gas might help as well, putting a little more weight over the rear.
thing I dont know, maybe you do. you can run with less gas, remove the spare, jack, rear mat, ect. this will throw the distrobution off even further; but it will also drop about 100lbs from the car... is this worthwhile for less weight, or are the new handling characteristics that bad?
it sorta ties into, some people get 8.5" rims all around, cause they say it reduces understeer... does it really reduce understeer or does it just make the back tires slide before the understeer kicks in? will a car with 9.5" tires in back get LESS traction from its front tires? if you drove both to the brink of their abilities before either understeered or drifted, would one handle worse than the other?
it would seem in my view that the answer is no, just as if I could remove a bunch of weight from the rear, it would throw off the balance of the car, but overall the car would be lighter... which while less predictable in a slide, it will be a better car...
why not stick sand bags in the back if this isnt true? it would get you perfect 50:50 distrobution, but Id imagine you dont want distrobution at the cost of weight...
not argueing, this is more or less all a question with my theory behind it. I could be completely wrong, I wouldnt be suprised.
07-06-2003, 07:00 PM
#26
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Originally posted by D'oh
I think you are only partially correct on this.
As you say, you may not be able to get rid of the front heavy nature of the car with suspension mods, but you can definitely get rid of the understeer.
It sounds like just adding new anti-roll bar kits can do a very good job of eliminating the understeer, so the wieght distribution isn't too critical in this case.
I've read that the EVO and STI exhibit little understeer, and those cars are typically 60/40 or worse in their weight distribution, so it can be done.
For the record, my Performance model weighed 3400 lbs with me (170lbs) and about 12 gallons of gas (measured at the scale at our local dump).
-D'oh!
I think you are only partially correct on this.
As you say, you may not be able to get rid of the front heavy nature of the car with suspension mods, but you can definitely get rid of the understeer.
It sounds like just adding new anti-roll bar kits can do a very good job of eliminating the understeer, so the wieght distribution isn't too critical in this case.
I've read that the EVO and STI exhibit little understeer, and those cars are typically 60/40 or worse in their weight distribution, so it can be done.
For the record, my Performance model weighed 3400 lbs with me (170lbs) and about 12 gallons of gas (measured at the scale at our local dump).
-D'oh!
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