12-04-2005, 01:55 AM
I think the solar racers are a good example of there being no such thing as too little weight. I looked at a few of their sites just to get an idea of how much they weigh-- some are under 500lbs w/ driver. They talk about the bare frame weighing as little as 35 lbs.
So let's say we took a Rotax kart, some of which weigh under 100 lbs, slapped the gear on a "car" sized frame and made a theoretical "car" that weighed under 100 lbs. No driver, remote controled. I think as long as the tires were appropriately sized (pretty much kart tires), the suspension was appropriatly soft, and the car never generated lift at any speed, it would outhandle anything out there. If it weighed 50lbs, even better, soften everything up more. If it weighed 1 lb, alien technology, some sort of odd nanotech foam tires, no suspension, AS LONG AS IT NEVER GENERATED LIFT, it would kick even the 100 lb car's ass. With so little weight to transfer, why transfer it? Turn in would be instant. Each tire would only have to put up with a side load of .5 lbs to pull a 2G turn.
Unrealistic and probably silly to consider. But I don't think there's any such thing as too little weight. There's obviously too little weight for a certian tire, a certian suspension setup, but's that's about it I'd think.
So let's say we took a Rotax kart, some of which weigh under 100 lbs, slapped the gear on a "car" sized frame and made a theoretical "car" that weighed under 100 lbs. No driver, remote controled. I think as long as the tires were appropriately sized (pretty much kart tires), the suspension was appropriatly soft, and the car never generated lift at any speed, it would outhandle anything out there. If it weighed 50lbs, even better, soften everything up more. If it weighed 1 lb, alien technology, some sort of odd nanotech foam tires, no suspension, AS LONG AS IT NEVER GENERATED LIFT, it would kick even the 100 lb car's ass. With so little weight to transfer, why transfer it? Turn in would be instant. Each tire would only have to put up with a side load of .5 lbs to pull a 2G turn.
Unrealistic and probably silly to consider. But I don't think there's any such thing as too little weight. There's obviously too little weight for a certian tire, a certian suspension setup, but's that's about it I'd think.