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Thread: track width

  1. #1
    why most of the rear wheel drive cars have front track width wider than rear?
    as far as i know it may because.
    1.it will help in autocross and skid pad because if front wheels take the turn easily then rear wheels will have less chance to hit any hindrance.
    2.since the weight is more on rear wheels ,we want the more load transfer should take place in rear ,i give you an example why i think so.suppose we have a car with with following situations
    static condition
    rear wheel=100kg load
    front wheel=80kg load
    now the weight transfer should not exceed beyond 100 kg in rear and 80kg in front,because if it happens then vehicle can topple.

    3.also i read somewhere that this will help to change direction more quickly i dont know why.
    but by doing this we tend to go to oversteer condition.

    can anyone tell me the reason ??

  2. #2
    why most of the rear wheel drive cars have front track width wider than rear?
    as far as i know it may because.
    1.it will help in autocross and skid pad because if front wheels take the turn easily then rear wheels will have less chance to hit any hindrance.
    2.since the weight is more on rear wheels ,we want the more load transfer should take place in rear ,i give you an example why i think so.suppose we have a car with with following situations
    static condition
    rear wheel=100kg load
    front wheel=80kg load
    now the weight transfer should not exceed beyond 100 kg in rear and 80kg in front,because if it happens then vehicle can topple.

    3.also i read somewhere that this will help to change direction more quickly i dont know why.
    but by doing this we tend to go to oversteer condition.

    can anyone tell me the reason ??

  3. #3
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    We think it helps prevent hitting cones

  4. #4
    Senior Member
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    The cone avoidance reply is a good one, but the reasons behind it probably aren't well understood. These cars have low understeer and moderate sideslip gains. Keep in mind that the sideslip gain is positive below a certain speed and its negative above this 'special' speed, called the 'Tangent Speed'. On most good FSAE cars, this speed is probably about 60 kph.

    The bottom line is that below the tangent speed, the rear wheel centerline lies inside the turn circle and above the tangent speed, the rear wheel centerline is outside the turn circle. Since most of the maneuvering severity occurs below the tangent speed, it is advantageous to keep the rear inside wheel as far outside the turn circle as possible.

    The load transfer arguement also has considerable merit because the rear weight bias requires considerable front leverage to get a favorable lateral load transfer distribution.

    On cars going faster than these jobs, there is an aero advantage, too.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
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    Royal Oak, MI
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    157
    A lot of cars that have a limit on overall width (most racing classes have these) are forced into a smaller track width in the rear, as a means to packaging wider tires.
    Portland State - 2009-11
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