Quote:
Originally Posted by Solofast  The problem with mid-engine/transverse cars is that they often have an excessive rear weight bias. You can end up with 60+% of the weight on the rear axle and that isn't a good thing. Some designers try to mitigate that with a short wheelbase, trying to get more weight on the front wheels, but that results in a lot of weight transfer coming off the corners and it can result in a lot of power on "push", and the higher the power to weight ratio you have the worse it gets... A proper North/South mid engine setup is really the best thing, as has been proven in countless race cars since the 60's |
You're assuming you don't want that extra weight transfer that causes more understeer. In a car with a relatively normal power/weight ratio thats probably the case. But take a twin turbo Ford GT for instance; it could certainly use more weight over the rear under acceleration. I've ridden in one which was probably putting down about 1100whp, and it naturally had some traction issues. Granted it wouldn't be making 1000+hp in road course trim, but it wouldn't be too far off (~800 or so).
IMO, on a RWD car that makes good power, on-throttle push is a good problem to have. Its one of the few problems which is easily remedied by adding more power
I would think a bigger reason not to use a transverse engine in a race car is aerodynamics. The ground effects tunnels can split to either side of a longitudinally mounted transmission, like on a 962:
http://962.com/images/image004.jpg