Weight relocation

[spetz]

I was wondering what things can be moved from the engine bay to the boot to get better weight distribution, and what else can be done?

ie. moving battery to boot, carbon bonnet/guards

I am not willing to take off air con or power steering though

[spoondc2]

I was wondering what things can be moved from the engine bay to the boot to get better weight distribution, and what else can be done?

ie. moving battery to boot, carbon bonnet/guards

I am not willing to take off air con or power steering though

Hmm.... Do you have coilovers? Do scaling on your car, make sure it's YOU who sit on it when doing it

[bennjamin]

battery ? thats it really.

[spetz]

So nothing else can be moved?

I am thinking of doing scaling, but at this stage more concerned about getting close to 50:50 (I know that wont happen, but something better than the 66:34 I have now)

How much less to aluminium radiators weigh?

[yourfather]

if your car weighs 1000kg's and you have a weight dizzy of 66:34 and you want 50:50 you need to get like 260 kg's relocated to the back or dissappearing. Thats impossible. Even dropping 100kg's is pretty effing difficult dude.

Didn't you think about that?

[socheerio]

if your car weighs 1000kg's and you have a weight dizzy of 66:34 and you want 50:50 you need to get like 260 kg's relocated to the back or dissappearing. Thats impossible. Even dropping 100kg's is pretty effing difficult dude.

Didn't you think about that?
If you were able to somehow redistribute 160kg (!!) to the rear that'd do it. Or something heavy just in front of the centre of balance right to the rear would make proportionally more difference (like the battery perhaps). Alternatively place 320kg in the boot!

Then again, if its FWD and set up on the basis of its design, all that weight in the rear will reduce lift-off and turn-in oversteer at the limit and impair traction out of corners...

[spetz]

I wasn't asking to actually get 50:50 but how I can get closer to that figure

Obviously, even 60:40 would be good enough

Anyone know anything?

[ekslut]

As mentioned, there is not much you can do. You can relocate the battery to the boot, and the only other thing you can do is to make the front lighter. Lightweight suspension & components, carbon fibre panels, lightweight wheels, etc...

If your going to do that though, I would look at getting rid of the luxuries like air con & power steering.

[spetz]

I was just hoping that maybe there are other things to move

There are tiny things like horns, alarm horn and stuff but not worth the effort. Window washer water holds 3 litres so that's 3kg when full

How much does a radiator weigh? And a lightweigh aluminium one?

[bennjamin]

i really think you are barking up the wrong tree when it comes to this " performance increase or enhancement". There isnt much you can do to loose significant weight without spending lots of cash and making a non-road legal car (with plexglass , Cf/fibreglass panels etc) and tubed chassis etc.

maybe replace the bonnet with a CF one ...and run stiffer than u rated springs at the front to help keep the balance to the rear ?

[drdrei]

I was just hoping that maybe there are other things to move

There are tiny things like horns, alarm horn and stuff but not worth the effort. Window washer water holds 3 litres so that's 3kg when full

How much does a radiator weigh? And a lightweigh aluminium one?
Can I ask what exactly is your overall objective? Are you a circuit racer? Do you need to get that extra 0.1sec off of your lap time.

If not, then you're a regular road user like the rest of us. In this case, spend the money on getting a quality set of shocks, well weighted springs (do a lot a research on this), maybe upgrade swaybars. All the effort that you spend on these will ultimately lead to far more driveability. So ends my advice ... :wave:

[spetz]

No it's never been on the track but I am open to that

Basically I just want an overall package in the car for hard street driving. So getting the handling up is important.

I already run tein SS coilovers in, have 18mm swaybars front and rear, strut braces etc. I want to do bushes if it's not going to lead to too hard of a ride, and upgrade the swaybars to larger ones (22mm or so)


The carbon bonnet I want not only for saving that bit of weight but for the looks too. Battery, I want to relocate as well not only for the weight but where it sits, it is in the way of the intake pipe, and I want to get a bigger/better intake pipe made so need more space.

I have also got some extractors which will be quite a lot lighter than the cast iron ones. So, as it is I am going to remove about 40+ kg from the front. Which should be somewhat noticable?

Would running stiffer springs in the front have the same effect of bigger swaybar?

[socheerio]

spetz; what are you driving, what changes do you want to effect re handling - do you want less understeer? sharper turn-in? less oversteer? better traction under power? do you want to sacrifice some compliance for smooth road grip? etc? :)

[spetz]

Ok, I drive a 2001 Lancer coupe
It has a 6A12 MIVEC engine in it, which is a V6 so it is very nose heavy.
It has 740kg over the front wheels, and 380kg over the rear wheels with little petrol, and no spare tyre or subs.
At the moment, suspension is as follows:
Tein SS coilovers
Anti lift/castor kit
Front upper, rear upper & rear lower braces (will put front lower 4 point brace as well)
Springs are 5K front, 4K rear
18mm front swaybar (want to get a bigger one)
18mm rear FTO swaybar (want to get bigger one)

Basically, I want it to handle really well, have heaps of front end grip but at the same time not spin the rear out. Be quite neutral, but be able to floor it through corners. I want maximum traction at all times (through corners, straight etc, it has an LSD)
Also, I want it to be stable at high speeds, and be able to take sharp slow corners good, and long wide fast corners as well.

Basically, I want it to handle like it's on rails, and be safe and easy to drive hard

[ekslut]

Sorry man, but if your not tracking it, then why bother. You shouldn't be driving it so hard on the street that all this will come into effect anyways. I say leave it how it is and have fun with it.

Worry about playing around with spring settings and swaybar settings to keep the handling even. Worrying about weight distribution is only worth it if your tracking the car regularly.

As Ben said, your barking up the wrong tree

Look at how the car is handling now, and go from there. Keep the spring rates fairly soft as roads aren't smooth and it will decrease your performance if you go too stiff. Also look at getting different sized swaybars to get your car handling more neutral. If your coilovers are damper adjustable, have a play with them and get a better setting.

There are much better ways to get the car handling neutral than weight distribution.

[Domokun SPL]

Get more power and put lead weights in your boot.