Rolly Polly Physics... WAS Re: battery relocation question

[sfwilliams@comcast.net (Scott F. Williams)]

My racer's intuition tells me that moving the battery as low as practical is
best for all applications. However, the looser the surfaces that you intend
to drive on, the better it may be to move the battery towards the center of
the car versus the rear. My rationale for this is that beyond the traction
limit, it is better to naturally understeer a little bit and impose
oversteer with LFB, trail breaking, etc., then to just slide off the road
tail first without any coaxing or provocation. For best dry/grippy surface
handling, however, I'd move the battery all the way backwards for the best
balance.

Case in point: I first put the battery in the Warpig (my Rabbit GTI
rallycar) at the right rear of the hatch area -adjacent to the tail light.
The balance was *greatly* improved and turn in was sharp. However, once I
got past a certain slip angle, I really had to hit the gas hard to control
the oversteer. This worked out fine, but I was generally paranoid while
cornering. -not so much because the car was unstable, but because I didn't
want to peel the rear tires of the rims.

Then, I moved the battery forward to between the shock towers. The balance
before the traction limit was compromised a tad. However, the driveability
beyond the limit on gravel and snow/ice was more to my liking. Still,
because I expect to be sliding less on pavement and because tire shedding is
of no concern to me on the street, the Monster Rocc will have its battery
placed in the rear of the tire well. -low and far back.

As always, YMMV. :^)
--
Scott F. Williams
NJ Scirocco nut
'99 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
Mazda 323 GTX turbo "assaulted" vehicle
Golf GTI 16v "rollycar"
ClubVAC: "Roads found. Drivers wanted."