Well I mistakenly thought the late nights in the workshop were over when I passed SVA. Tonight I spent the evening resetting my camber (tyre wear and temps indicated I needed a bit more -ve all round) and playing with my new Pace corner weight checker.

The good news (I think) was that I've got 46% to 54% front to rear split and 49% to 51% left to right split (that'll improve once I loose the 8kg of fat I'm carrying).


When I started I had 56%-44% split corner to corner which probably explains the extra understeer turning right and the twitch as I came off hard throttle. After a lot of playing I called it quits at 50.4% - 49.6%

I'll just have to see if it makes a difference this weelend.

adrian

nice
i got mine to 50 - 50 front back and 50 - 50 left right with myself in it and a full tank.
makes a load of difference, especially with the braking setup..........................
of course i am also losing weight so may have to redo the setup later on

I went for a blat without going for a poo first and the car was almost undriveable!

I didn't type 'poo'!

The best way to go is to take the scales to the petrol station, You'll need an assistant.

Pull up to the pump and set up the scales.

Sit in the car in the driving position and get your assistant ready with the pump.

If you're lucky it'll be slightly front heavy so he can start adding fuel, it's vital that you SIT STILL.

Your second asistant should be looking at the scales and using a system of hand signals (worked out in advance, obviously) telling assistant one how much fuel to put in. Don't forget the weight of the filler cap needs to be factored in.

If by some chance you are rear heavy already, you'll need to increase the weight at the front. Put some more water in the expansion tank and the washer bottle (if you have one) I've heard of "heavy water" but they didn't have it at Halfords. Wearing heavier shoes will help a little and thicker socks..and bicycle clips... and maybe a set of those bells that morris dancers wear.

Of course you may try to lose weight from the rear of the car instead, tips here include turning your baseball cap the right way round (those peaks are heavy) and drilling the centre out of the rear suspension bolts.

Side to side weight can be a little more difficult to equalise, assistant one can point the fuel hose towards the passenger side, but the effect tends to be temporary - try swapping the biro's in your top pocket towards the light side or sticking one arm out.

As you're driving you'll be using fuel, lightening the rear, as well as picking up flies on the front. To counter this you'll need to make constant adjustments to the balance of the car - tricky.

The answer to the conundrum is, as usual, a trained monkey (just so long as you account for his weight at stage one).

The monkey should have a selection of bananas in various sizes, and his own fuel guage.

Train the monkey to watch the fuel guage and move bananas of the correct size to the front footwell at the appropriate time.

It goes without saying that the monkey should be VERY firmly fixed to the floor.

Actually we're just putting temptation in the way of the monkey, and asking for trouble, so use carrotts or train a rabbit instead. Don't use carrotts in that situation though.

Cheers

Chris

The answer is simple....

Pinch the ideas used on Locostplanebuilders.co.uk and your problem is solved.

Apparently not one, but a series of fuel tanks are used, in conjunction with pipelines and fuel pumps to balance the the vehicle.
For instance, if on take off to lets say New York, the pilot finds himself heading for Mexico, then fuel is pumped from the left wing
to the right, thus steering the plane on the correct course.

This technology, with the aid of a suitable lappy, could easily be used in our cars.

Obviously no journey should ever be started on full tanks, unless you are just out for a general blat, with your Tom Tom deactivated.

Paul G