Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Lowe
Adding weight to change the weight distribution will change the balance of the car, at the expense of reduced corner speed due to just having more weight to haul about. Generally tires will produce more grip if they have a heavier car sat on them but it's more than offset by having to change the direction of the extra weight.
When do you see full sized cars adding ballast to increase grip? The only reason it's used in WRC and F1 cars is because they have to use it to get upto the minimum weight limits.
If you are adding weight to a car to make it better over bumps then the suspension setup is wrong, it makes a lot more sense to match the suspension setup to the weight of the car instead of increasing the weight of the car to match the suspension for the reasons above 
True, but only upto the minimum weight limit, once you go over it you are only making the car slower than it could be. |
Surely the change of direction comment will only be relevant if the wheight is at the extreme edges of the car.... not down the centre?
Also as I understood it, F1 cars are made as light as possible so the can ballas the car out... e.g. putting weight in the relevant places to tune the car?