Preferable Front and Rear Weight Distributions of a Formula Car 2006-01-1952

In general, the longitudinal position of the center of gravity of a vehicle has a great influence on lateral acceleration in critical cornering. Most rear-wheel-drive vehicles (front engine, rear-wheel drive) have a tendency to be over-steered because the driving power acts on the rear wheels, and so the forward weight distribution is large. As such, the vehicle has an under-steer tendency in this respect and an overall balance is achieved. On the other hand, because formula cars are very light compared to general vehicles, the used area of the vertical wheel load-maximum cornering force characteristic, differs greatly from general vehicles. That is, although general vehicles use a nonlinear area for the vertical wheel load-maximum cornering force characteristic of the tire, a comparatively light formula car uses an almost linear area in the vertical wheel load-maximum cornering force characteristic of the tire. A weight distribution of approximately 40:60 with slightly heavier rear wheels is preferable, because the comparatively light formula car is influenced only slightly by the inner-wheel/outer-wheel load movement by the front/rear weight distribution and the roll rigidity distribution.