Shortening wheelbase by moving rear axle forward, good idea?
09-22-2010, 01:17 AM
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Car: Turbo Buick
Engine: 3.8 V6
Shortening wheelbase by moving rear axle forward, good idea?
I was looking at some things and it occurred to me that it would be quite easy to move the rear axle forward some (as far as the D.S. would allow, im guessing .5 to 1 inch or so)
I couldn't help but think that this would have several benefits from a handling perspective, namely better weight distribution and hence better braking and better turn in. The only downside I can think of is losing some high speed stability.
Right now I'm interested in handling on a rather tight autoX style course so it seems to me like this would be of benefit. If I were to do this I would simply move the mounting hole from the LCA forward on the chassis or rearward on the rear end so the LCA length would be the same.
Am I missing something here? Is there a catch?
I couldn't help but think that this would have several benefits from a handling perspective, namely better weight distribution and hence better braking and better turn in. The only downside I can think of is losing some high speed stability.
Right now I'm interested in handling on a rather tight autoX style course so it seems to me like this would be of benefit. If I were to do this I would simply move the mounting hole from the LCA forward on the chassis or rearward on the rear end so the LCA length would be the same.
Am I missing something here? Is there a catch?
09-22-2010, 07:16 AM
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Re: Shortening wheelbase by moving rear axle forward, good idea?
Relocating the differential isn't as easy as it sounds. With a 101" wheelbase, a third gen wheelbase is already pretty short.
09-22-2010, 10:53 AM
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Re: Shortening wheelbase by moving rear axle forward, good idea?
Pablo, Thats one of the tricks I did to my car. It will shorten about a 3/4" safely (or at least on mine it did with my driveshaft.(I had a aftermarket APCT shaft).
Yes to all of the above benefits. I reached as high as 138mph in my little V6 and never experienced any troulbe with high speed stability. The only time speed stability was an issue is when I bolted on the crappy BFG KDW tires. Those things were terrible right at 88mph (no joke) they just went to heck like they centrifically ballooned.
The last affect the shorter LCA will have is highly positive also- when the LCA angles are properly set they will shorten slightly quicker helping induce more roll understeer if you want to use that as a setup tool. You can see my rear steer in action at the tail end of this video right before you here Mike (greygoose) say "That was a sweet drift dude"
keep clicking at 1:03 on the video and let it repeat to about 1:06 a few times and watch the rear wheel slip angle.
http://www.youtube.com/user/cockdies.../5/URifGQjnUXY
Dean
Yes to all of the above benefits. I reached as high as 138mph in my little V6 and never experienced any troulbe with high speed stability. The only time speed stability was an issue is when I bolted on the crappy BFG KDW tires. Those things were terrible right at 88mph (no joke) they just went to heck like they centrifically ballooned.
The last affect the shorter LCA will have is highly positive also- when the LCA angles are properly set they will shorten slightly quicker helping induce more roll understeer if you want to use that as a setup tool. You can see my rear steer in action at the tail end of this video right before you here Mike (greygoose) say "That was a sweet drift dude"
keep clicking at 1:03 on the video and let it repeat to about 1:06 a few times and watch the rear wheel slip angle.
http://www.youtube.com/user/cockdies.../5/URifGQjnUXY
Dean
09-22-2010, 07:21 PM
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Re: Shortening wheelbase by moving rear axle forward, good idea?
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