Quote:
Originally Posted by edward
TL;DR - A car with a "bad" engine placement (non mid-engine) can be a great car if the suspension is good, but with a "bad" suspension, a mid-engine car will be shit.
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This is the crux of it, I'm sure we could argue all day long (I'll be sure to bring my vehicle dynamics textbooks to help me with the math!) but we essentially agree.
A point about when I said "stiffen and lower" what I really meant was lowering the c.g. (
generally good for dynamics as I do not have to explain) and stiffening the chassis so you can allow the suspension to be compliant and hug the road. Too many shortcuts in my explanations
Of course you're absolutely right, done incorrectly it will likely be detrimental to performance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by edward
Small addition: The rotational moment of inertia in a mid-engine car is usually smaller than that of a front or rear engine car, which allows the car to turn more quickly. This also means that a mid-engined car may spin more quickly if the driver looses control.
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This is why it's unstable, it takes less for it to loose grip compared to a car with a more dispersed mass. This is also why the 911 handles so well, with all the mass at the rear it's easy to lose control because it acts almost like a pendulum (which you mentioned) but with a proper control system (read: good driver) it can respond very quickly, which is why I'm so in love with it
:happy0180: