robk

iTrader: (22)

Probably the biggest thing to realize is that weight will make the car more stable where you put it. For example, if you put weight in the nose of the car, the reaction will slow down. At the same time, it will probably pick up more steering, especially on power. Putting weight on the undersides of the lower suspension arms on the front can help fight traction roll. (Note: I'm sure I will be shouted down for this, but I feel like a lot of the aerodynamicists out there who seem to find big differences in wings will find that a lot of the characteristics they attribute to the wings correspond to the weight of the wing. I can put a Serpent front wing on my car, all the sudden it seems like there is more steering/reaction. Tamiya F60 wing calms it down. Guess what? The tamiya wing is a good bit heavier.)

A famous incident occurred at the Tamiya nationals a few years back. The cars were required to run the kit F104 rear tires, which stunk out loud. The guy who eventually won put what looked like 50g A SIDE on the little radio component trays on the sides of his car. So like 4 ounces on the car, but it made the car incredible. Everyone scrambled to find lead. I put as much as I had on my car. It did 2 things: made the car more stable, so much so I was looking for steering. It also improved tire wear, as the car was no longer sliding the rear tires. So there can be an optimal weight for a car based on things like tire selection. Some guys say lightest is always best, but that is not true.

Different weight batteries can be similar. I have had an LCG short pack make my previously calm car start hiking tires on black carpet. On asphalt, going to a normal short pack helped make my car easier to drive in lower traction conditions. However, when traction was up, going to the LCG pack made it feel perfect in terms of reaction and it had better acceleration.