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Truenotch's BEAMS AE86 racecar discussion


Truenotch

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I'm keen to hear your feedback on the new engine location once racing starts. Sorry if i missed this- but have you had it on corner scales?

Not yet, that's something that will happen when we get around to set up. Why do you ask?

50/50 weight distribution isn't the be-all and end-all of car balance, there's more to it than that... You can get an AW11 to 50/50, but the centre of mass is still over the rear axle. The location of the cenre of mass is important - I've gone as far back as was possible without elaborate sump modification or more firewall cutting and am fairly confident it will be an improvement.

If you're not sure about the theory, have a look at the algie alfetta - a car that is well balanced factory, but with the V8 mounted behind the firewall and the driver in the LR seat. It handles bloody well too.

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Yeah, a car with really long overhangs (like a charger or something) with lead bricks right at the far extremities could have a 50/50 split, but understeer horribly into corners and oversteer horribly on exit compared to a car with all of its mass inside the wheelbase.

Ever noticed that most/all modern performance oriented cars have got the front calipers mounted on the back of the disc, and rear calipers mounted on the front? :)

(And a million other tiny, seemingly insignificant details that obsessive engineers have pored over)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm racing the old man's MX5 with the Pro7 classes this weekend as a tested for a new series. My engine still hasn't made its way into the car and needs an ECU before we can make it go :P . Work and a summer uni paper got in the way of it this time, but next week's job is to fit all the ancillaries to the engine and get it ready to be wired.

There are 4 brand new slicks in the shed now though!

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  • 3 weeks later...

It doesn't really matter what happens to the splitter. It's bound to be hitting the ground etc. I'm going to give it the 'ol diesel / used oil mix as a treatment and see how long it lasts.

There's a corolla in SS2000 that ran a plywood splitter for a couple of years without having issues. Same goes for Chester's Commodore, Jason Leifting's WRX, Juno sports cars - the list goes on. My theory is it's cheap enough to experiment with, and I'll look at other options if it doesn't work out.

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Plywood is still used on a number of high end racecars, for the reasons mentioned by Truenotch. Even F1 cars still use a length of plywood under the car. Alot of GT racecars etc use plywood for their front splitters, sometimes prettied up with a layer of carbon over it. Its lightweight, cheap to replace, and doesnt bite when it scrapes on the tarmac, instead just wearing away.

Really keen to see how the new set up turns out. Decided yet whether you are going to take some meat off the head? Other than that, are you planning to change much internally?

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Plywood is still used on a number of high end racecars, for the reasons mentioned by Truenotch. Even F1 cars still use a length of plywood under the car. Alot of GT racecars etc use plywood for their front splitters, sometimes prettied up with a layer of carbon over it. Its lightweight, cheap to replace, and doesnt bite when it scrapes on the tarmac, instead just wearing away.

Really keen to see how the new set up turns out. Decided yet whether you are going to take some meat off the head? Other than that, are you planning to change much internally?

fair enough. i wouldnt say f1 cars use plywood though its a Jabroc plank, expensive composite of beech veneer and resin.

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Splitter isnt going to help much when your car is setup for tarmac rally? it wont work unless the splitter is slammed close to the pavement, I imagine on NZ roads you would loose a splitter in about 2min

The wood on F1 cars has nothing to do with aero! its a skid block to make sure the cars arent to slammed

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