Engine Placement

[HuckleberryB4]

Whats the benefit of moving your motor to the left? I have a buddy that recommends it to everyone and says he wishes he could move his even further to the left. Is it strictly for percentage reasons or does it aid in handling and weight transfer? I'm guessing this would work better for an all aluminum motor because a steel block/full motor would have a difficult time transfering weight off of the left front.

[billetbirdcage]

I treat it as weight, need more or less left % move it left/right

[HuckleberryB4]

So strictly a large ballast? No benefits other than gaining or losing lt side percentage? What about mentally.....like a placebo? lol

[billetbirdcage]

So strictly a large ballast? No benefits other than gaining or losing lt side percentage? What about mentally.....like a placebo? lol

It about COG location in X,Y, and Z (Left/Right, Front/Back, and Up/Down)

Think of a empty tall refrigerator:

Put 200# at the top left vs low way right, which one is gonna tip over easier when you push left to right?

Placebo can be just as important as any other adjustment, driver confidence is everything especially the first couple laps

[billetbirdcage]

I should also say that my example was meant to be dealing with actual COG. You could use several small pieces of lead and do the same thing but I was referring to the actual total COG. Meaning just cause you have several pieces inside the refrigerator it's the COG location that matters.

Moving the motor is just one piece (although a large amount) of weight that sets the COG location

[ZERO25]

We've got a "guru" in our area that believes in setting the engine and fuel cell right on the cog (left -right).

Thoughts?

[95shaw]

Those are 2 of the 3 largest influences on l-r CG placement. Driver, being the other. Does not leave many other sources of weight if needing to balance out of position pieces.

I can see some difficulties in getting those directly on CG, but nice to work towards that.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Those are 2 of the 3 largest influences on l-r CG placement. Driver, being the other. Does not leave many other sources of weight if needing to balance out of position pieces.

I can see some difficulties in getting those directly on CG, but nice to work towards that.

I'm a fan of fuel load not affecting rr/lr load split.

[ZERO25]

I'm a fan of fuel load not affecting rr/lr load split.

Yep, plenty of room for development in the fuel cell area!

Has anyone strung a current late model to see where the engine is mounted in relation to the chassis centerline?

[Ghopper]

The driver mass is the largest mass variable in super latemodel racing from car to car. Most of our other components are similar in size/shape/weight. Your setup numbers will need to be different if your driver is not the exact size as the house car driver.

You will need to move your engine 3" side to side from a light driver to a heavy driver. No cars are designed for that kind of change.

[billetbirdcage]

The driver mass is the largest mass variable in super latemodel racing from car to car. Most of our other components are similar in size/shape/weight. Your setup numbers will need to be different if your driver is not the exact size as the house car driver.

You will need to move your engine 3" side to side from a light driver to a heavy driver. No cars are designed for that kind of change.

We used to have 40 to 50# batteries we could move. . . . That's gone by the waste side, with the stiffer heavier frames and added safety stuff (20# door plates, 15# fire systems, and heavy suspension parts in some places).

I personally would like them to raise the minimum weight some, so we didn't have the need/want for things like: carbon fiber seats, $1000.00 8# batteries, and etc. But there are tons of things that need attention at the same time as far as cutting cost (if that's even a possible thing)

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

We used to have 40 to 50# batteries we could move. . . . That's gone by the waste side, with the stiffer heavier frames and added safety stuff (20# door plates, 15# fire systems, and heavy suspension parts in some places).

I personally would like them to raise the minimum weight some, so we didn't have the need/want for things like: carbon fiber seats, $1000.00 8# batteries, and etc. But there are tons of things that need attention at the same time as far as cutting cost (if that's even a possible thing)

Go Lithium hasn't sent me a battery yet. Mine is still heavy.

[Jking24]

Go Lithium hasn't sent me a battery yet. Mine is still heavy.

Did you make sure they gave your address right ? 😉

[ZERO25]

Go Lithium hasn't sent me a battery yet. Mine is still heavy.

You probly gave them the wrong zip code for your credit card......by accident......correct?

[Ltemodel]

I look at it a little differently. It is just a weight mass that needs to transfer, but I look at it like on an arc. If the motor is left of the theoretical roll center it will have to travel in an arc over the top of the roll center before it begins traveling downhill to the right.

I say theoretical roll center because I believe the true roll center is the combination of the elastic roll center and the kinematic roll center.

I saw a couple of years ago, that pretty fast 6 car at Volusia had his motor so far right, the valve cover was almost touching the RF upper frame rail.

I don't know how far right the roll center was, but I think it made it easier to get on the RF and stay there instead of sticking a ton of rebound in the RF to keep it there.

Rebound takes traction out of the tire. Anytime you can take rebound out of the RF yet keep the car there, the more traction that right front tire will have.

Just doing a little thinking as I type.