Is the 370Z a very light car?

SpawnAeroJohn · 07-29-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dszombiex

You guys have it all wrong! The 370z is the lightest car the human race has ever built!!11

Lighter than a 3 cyl Geo?!

But like everybody said its good to have weight distributed throughout the car evenly. But then again the engine is in the front. So removing a good amount from the rear is helpful.

Has anybody fancied the idea of polycarbonate rear windshield along with a rear carbon fiber hatch? I was calling companies to see if they could produce polycarbonate rear windshields but obviously cant start any looking into with out interest..

With the CF hatch we will soon release. If it has a polycarbonate rear window. That’s a whopper of savings right there. If anybody has ever lifted the rear hatch w/ window off the car then you will know exactly what I’m talking about.

armensti · 07-29-2009, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpawnAeroJohn

Lighter than a 3 cyl Geo?!

But like everybody said its good to have weight distributed throughout the car evenly. But then again the engine is in the front. So removing a good amount from the rear is helpful.

Has anybody fancied the idea of polycarbonate rear windshield along with a rear carbon fiber hatch? I was calling companies to see if they could produce polycarbonate rear windshields but obviously cant start any looking into with out interest..

With the CF hatch we will soon release. If it has a polycarbonate rear window. That’s a whopper of savings right there. If anybody has ever lifted the rear hatch w/ window off the car then you will know exactly what I’m talking about.

can you expalin a little bit more about removing weight from the rear? because i was thinking if i remove weight from the rear of the car it wont slide out as much as it needs to hence causing the car to understeer. but if i add weight to the rear it might oversteer which is much better then understeer

wstar · 07-29-2009, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by armensti

can you expalin a little bit more about removing weight from the rear? because i was thinking if i remove weight from the rear of the car it wont slide out as much as it needs to hence causing the car to understeer. but if i add weight to the rear it might oversteer which is much better then understeer

There are a lot missing factors in your question (not that I have all the answers anyways). Whether oversteer is better than understeer (or vice-versa) really depends on the driver, the track, the conditions, etc. Whether our car is more likely to change in the under- or over- steer direction by removing weight from the rear depends on driving conditions to some degree as well. I think in most common cases you're right that dropping rear weight will tend to shift the car in the understeer direction just due to basic inertial stuff. However, you also have to consider that dropping rear weight can reduce rear traction in some scenarios, which would tend to produce more oversteer.

This stuff is always way too complicated for me to fathom the complete dynamic picture. I guess that's why I'm not a car body/suspension engineer

armensti · 07-31-2009, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstar

There are a lot missing factors in your question (not that I have all the answers anyways). Whether oversteer is better than understeer (or vice-versa) really depends on the driver, the track, the conditions, etc. Whether our car is more likely to change in the under- or over- steer direction by removing weight from the rear depends on driving conditions to some degree as well. I think in most common cases you're right that dropping rear weight will tend to shift the car in the understeer direction just due to basic inertial stuff. However, you also have to consider that dropping rear weight can reduce rear traction in some scenarios, which would tend to produce more oversteer.

This stuff is always way too complicated for me to fathom the complete dynamic picture. I guess that's why I'm not a car body/suspension engineer

we should get a pair of oil coolers and go to the track to do some testing

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