JB,
Weight in the rear is good for traction but once you get up to a speed where
you have lot's of aerodynamic pressure on the front of the car, it's not
good to have a rearward weight bias. At that point you need the mass up
front to keep the car stable so it does not give in to the aerodynamic
pressure and swap ends. It's like firing an arrow backwards or throwing a
dart backwards, the heavy end will end up in front.
The center of aerodynamic pressure needs to be in front of the center of
gravity of the car . I was up there at the Oct. meet with a new racer in
1985 and he came from a drag racing background. He had hundreds of pounds of
lead behind the rear axle and the first hard pass he made he spun seven
revolutions. ( he had a video camera on board and we counted them).
We finally convinced him to move the weight forward just behind the front
tires and the car was drivable and went over 260 MPH with no problems.
I don't know the proper proportions but the fore and aft cg. on my car is
10' ahead of the vertical fin and it drives like a loud Lincoln.
Howard
----- Original Message -----
From: "landspeedracer" <landspeedracer@msn.com>
To: <kturk@ala.net>; "Higginbotham Land Speed Racing"
<saltrat@pro-blend.com>; "Scott Cowle" <scowle@mentorcollege.edu>;
<land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2001 5:34 PM
Subject: Re: weight
> I am finding this weight thread very interesting. I tried ballest in the
> Chevette, roughtly in the middle of the car, with no effect on the
handling
> and slightly slower speeds. Had good weight distribution to begin with I
> guess. Most of you have found like I did that a little more weight in the
> front is good for handling. Lets here from more of you.
>
> JB
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Keith Turk" <kturk@ala.net>
> To: "landspeedracer" <landspeedracer@msn.com>; "Higginbotham Land Speed
> Racing" <saltrat@pro-blend.com>; "Scott Cowle" <scowle@mentorcollege.edu>;
> <land-speed@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2001 5:21 PM
> Subject: Re: weight
>
>
> > We had around 200mph the first year out there with no Ballast.... wasn't
> > much fun.
> >
> > The Ballast just makes the car more stable and honestly based on the
> > quarter speeds this year the ballast isn't an issue .... we have the Hp
to
> > move it... all we gotta do is have the Hp for a longer period of time.
> >
> > Keith
> >
> > ----------
> > > From: landspeedracer <landspeedracer@msn.com>
> > > To: Keith Turk <kturk@ala.net>; Higginbotham Land Speed Racing
> > <saltrat@pro-blend.com>; Scott Cowle <scowle@mentorcollege.edu>;
> > land-speed@autox.team.net
> > > Subject: Re: weight
> > > Date: Thursday, November 08, 2001 3:32 PM
> > >
> > > K
> > >
> > > How much Ballast would you need to add if you were only running 200 to
> > 210
> > > MPH?
> > >
> > > JB
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Keith Turk" <kturk@ala.net>
> > > To: "Higginbotham Land Speed Racing" <saltrat@pro-blend.com>; "Scott
> > Cowle"
> > > <scowle@mentorcollege.edu>; <land-speed@autox.team.net>
> > > Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2001 4:08 PM
> > > Subject: Re: weight
> > >
> > >
> > > > Scott the Camaro wgts 3200 and change without the ballast and we add
> > > around
> > > > 600lbs at Bonneville.
> > > >
> > > > K
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