A Nissan engineer on Best Motoring says 50/50 weight is overrated. Here is what he had to say...
“The front of the (Nissan 350Z) has a 3 percent weight advantage to begin with so when you steer, the extra load helps the front end to go into the corner smoothly. Then upon accelerating at the corner exit, the 3 percent load at the front is shifted to the rear allowing the car to accelerate with neutral weight distribution. You’re really not supposed to make a car with 50/50 weight distribution, such cars will go into a turn with understeering. Then when you try to accelerate, the backload will become excessive resulting in a push-under effect.”
Comments
It’s really more about driving style, the speed the cars are going at, and the feel of the car.
I saw something on this recently but and they just said that because they couldnt push the weight back any farther and they needed a sales pitch but i guess it makes sense
Lot of rear-wheel-drive racecars are actually designed with weight balance slightly towards the rear. Usually it’s about 52-55% of weight on rear tires from what I’ve read. That way they get good acceleration grip and when braking the amount of loading is more even between front and rear tires giving more efficient braking.
That amount of weight inbalance can most likely be neutralized for cornering by suspension set-up.
He’s right to a degree. 50:50 is nice and all, but having a mild bias towards the front or rear can payoff big time performance-wise. Toyota’s AE86 and 86 GTs are prime examples, with 53% of their weight up front for solid, consistent cornering.