Quote:
Originally Posted by DwightSchrute
back in the 80's when i was racing road course, i was racing the RC10L pan car.....it turned better because it was wider...or so everyone thought. Team Associated then came out with a narrower version called the rc10LSS (superspeedway version for banked ovals). if wider was more stable then why would associated make it so slender? also, then why are dragsters so thin and funny cars and F1 cars as well.... and the mclarens GTP's wider that run road course?
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Dragsters are skinny because of areo dynamics I would guess- slip though the air more easily being narrow, getting most of the down force from the wings; they do roll over and flip quite easily I have noticed though, so its a trade off between stability and missile-like shape & acceleration.
Perhaps Associated introduced the narrower vehicle becuase they felt it didnt need to be so wide as was still perfectly stable at the same time?
One thing to think about is that longer or shorter a-arms wont make a vehcile handle any shaper neccessarily (buggy vs truggy) duw to the actual pivot point of the wheels; adding axle extensions forces out the wheels but the pivot point is still at the knuckle, adding extra strain on the steering.
Im not a car designer though, its all just principles and how I see things working- performance tweaks on this scale isnt too important to a basher like me, I just want a strong vehcile that can turn around in a field at least...