As always, Barney, your .02 is worth more than that! From my own days of
competition in all sorts of cars, I well know the value of lightening the
car as much as possible by removing anything that is not needed, lowering
the residual bits as far as practical to lower the center of gravity, then
adjusting the balance of the end result by making suspension and tire
pressure adjustments.
However, since enjoyable, reliable transportation rather than competition
seems to be a priority for many of our listers, I was just trying to make
the point - possibly a little tactlessly - that if our cars were designed in
such a manner that moving a battery from a position low and in front of the
rear axle to a bit further back in the trunk (where it would also be
higher), then the effects of filling an empty gas tank would have a
disproportionately dangerous effect on the car's handling. And, heaven
forbid, what if you actually put luggage in the trunk and on the
trunk-mounted luggage rack and set off on a trip with a full tank? Suddenly,
a car so sensitive to a battery's placement would become undriveable!
I believe, for most everyday driving situations, leaving the battery and
spare wheel where the designers intended them to be, and paying proper
attention to correct tire pressures will make for safer and more reliable
cars.
Just my .02, too............
Lawrie
-----Original Message-----
From: Barney Gaylord <barneymg@ntsource.com>
To: Lawrie Alexander <Lawrie@britcars.com>
Date: Monday, January 04, 1999 7:22 PM
Subject: Re: Handling
>Lawrie,
>
>At 06:53 PM 1/4/99 -0800, you wrote:
>>.... Moving the battery (which weighs what, six pounds or so?) makes a
>noticeable difference in handling?
>>
>>If your car is set up that sensitively, I presume you fill up with gas
>every time you've used one gallon? ....
>
>Experience says that plus or minus the spare tire can make a significant
>difference in handling when autocrossing. And thinking that a battery
>weighs more like 15 pounds, removing that weight from the front and adding
>it to the rear would indeed make at least as much of a change (good or bad
>dewpends on the state of the car at the time). For my own trials at
>autocrossing, I remove the spare tire to trim the weight, and I use 1/2
>tank of fuel +/- a gallon or two for consistency, and I trim the suspension
>accordingly. Occasionally I do a poker run with the spare tire in place,
>and it does affect the handling some. On rare occasion I screw up and go
>racing with the fuel tank either nearly full or nearly empty, and it has a
>similar affect, not good when the car is properly trimmed otherwise.
>
>$.02,
>
>Barney
>
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