Ron Pruett who runs the Pretty Lady AA/GCC - AA/GALT T-bird has his motor
set back 25% and I have been told that there is a video of him going through
the traps at Bonneville, and when he lets off, the car goes sideways about
20 degrees. I don't know how heavily his car is ballasted, or what his
weight distribution is, but it sounds like he might need some more ballast
up front. Again I think it goes back to last weeks discussion, concerning
weight distribution, polar moment of inertia, center of gravity,
aerodynamics, and how every car is different. Trial and error is the only
way to find out. I've been criticized for not setting the engine back enough
in our car, but we've got lots of ballast ahead of the rear axle so we'll
find out. We made it easy to adjust our weight distribution so we can remove
up to 600 lbs. off the rear and add up to 250 lbs. up front, plus we can
adjust the rear spoiler, and front airdam, so we have lots of tunability to
hopefully get it right. I'd suggest leaving yourself the ability to add or
subtract weight off of both ends.
Darrell Ferguson
BLACK RADON ENGINEERING
# 939 BBFALT
http://my.cybersoup.com/blackradon
> -----Original Message-----
> From: richard jurkowski [SMTP:lsr_man@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 1999 4:11 PM
> To: John Beckett
> Cc: land-speed@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Handling & Weight - another question
>
>
> I've been away for four days, and already I'm lost and confused. Last
> week we were talking about my in-progress C/GCC, and i was talking
> about shoving the motor back abour 20 - 30 inches. I was then going to
> mount the battery in the back and the fuel tank along side. Now i hear
> you saying to move the weight forward to stop a camaro from wandering.
> I guess I've been thinking NHRA too long. Should i get the motor back
> as far as I can, or only far enough to meet rules and get the car as
> low as i can? Should the other stuff like fuel and battery go in the
> rear or in front?
> thanks,
> Dick J
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