[Land-speed] Engine Placement

Ed Weldon 23.weldon at comcast.net
Sun Jan 13 00:10:07 MST 2008


IMHO in general anything you do to help keep you going in a straight line is
the right thing to do.  This may well be contrary to what is conventional
wisdom for cars that are built to go well around corners.  Putting weight
forward rather than toward the center increases the polar moment of inertia
of the car which should make it harder for unbalanced aero forces to rotate
the nose into a spin.  (You know, the opposite of the trick figure skaters
do with their arms to make themselves spin faster)  Also putting weight
nearer the front wheel centerline will help traction for steering control.
If this means taking weight off the rear wheels, no problem.  Add extra
weight there.....you've got two miles to get that little GC up to speed.
But best of all, listen to the guys who have "been there and done that".
That's not me.....I'm an open car guy.  Frankly I doubt if you'd notice the
difference between the two options you're considering in a 135 mph gas
coupe.  So factors other than handling may be most important.
OK, all; the target is up.  Fire away.
Ed Weldon

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Lackey" <mike_lackey at yahoo.com>
To: <land-speed at autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 9:52 PM
Subject: [Land-speed] Engine Placement


> So, I've tried setting my engine in place to get an idea of where I want
to put it.  As a reminder, this is an '86 Toyota Corolla that's getting a
Yamaha R1 engine to race as an I/GC (Note: this means I've got a significant
loss of weight over the front wheels already).
> I can either put the engine forward and low in the car, or close to the
firewall and up a couple inches.  Putting it near the back would require a
hood scoop, while the forward position might not need one.  I've got some
ideas on which I'd prefer, but as I'm new at land speed racing, I wanted to
get a second opinion.  Any tips would be appreciated.  .......Thanks, Mike


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