I’d like to read a good article regarding “overhang” and how it effects performance handling. Front & rear.
I have some track experience & have always enjoyed fun cars. Some of the handling characteristics I’ve never liked in most of my cars i never could adequately explain/describle. A couple years ago i learned a little of “overhang” and its effects on handling.
But i never found a thorough article about it.
I think this issue is a major cause of some negative handing characteristics in cars I’ve owned. (Looking at YOU, Mustangs!)
Can one of ya’ll guide me to a good discussion/article on this subject?
Are you talking about overhanging bodywork past the center of the front or rear axle?
Depending on the car there could be almost no mass there, or a crap load depending on the design. Add in aero and it can surely make a difference, but that is really race car or super car territory if we’re talking about downforce. If it’s a really shitty design on the front end bodywork you might get some lift at higher speeds and get a spooky unresponsive front end.
I was considering how slowly the car can respond to driver input and / or shift weight.
The rear end is doing something you dont like while turning, so you make an adjustment with the wheel or throttle. The response and feedback come slowly, then you may have to make another adjustment. When this process happens slowly, from the drivers perspective, it’s frustrating and easy to get ahead of the car. That leads to overcorrection.
I think some of this slow response could be from too short a wheelbase / excessive overhang.
You’re talking about turn in, steering response, stability, under steer, and over steer.
Wheelbase alone vs overall length can have some affect, but is just one of a ton of factors that determine how well or how poorly a vehicle is going to handle.
If I wanted to know how this shakes out, I would go back and research how the guys running NASCAR delt with such things when everyone was driving a twenty foot long Dodge on the tracks.
My Dad explained Motorcycle brakes to me as we went looking through a cornfield for a motorcycle one time.
Custom Bike Guys used to put VW tires on the backs of their bikes before someone began making wide motorcycle tires.
But it turns out the combination of a four inch (at Best) drum brakes, tires that are made for a car and not a motorcycle combine to make the tire come off the rim at high speeds and in corners.
I can see how design effects handeling, but the math for that has to be amazing.
I dunno but I’d think going to say, 250 lbs behind the axle from 500 lbs would be a noticeable improvement.
I’ve just noticed that the sporty cars I’ve driven that have less overhang than a Mustang just react more quickly and favorably. My current is a '19 PP1 and it’s only fun up to 80%. Past that it’s soft, heavy, and the rear end slow to respond like I’m telling a guy steering the rear what to do via radio.
I was thinking the bumper being 3.5 ft behind the axle played an important role in that.
I think your issue is more of weight distribution in the Mustang, along with suspension geometry and of course tires.
53% front and 47% rear will make for a back end that is slightly less planted and less stable.
There is a reason super cars put the engine behind the driver but ahead of the rear axle most of the time. Stability, traction, and the ability to change directions quickly without upsetting the chassis.
Man, I have a small collection of books and engineering treatises on suspension and steering from my amateur Motorsports days. It’s pretty overwhelming how involved those calculations can get.
I’m pretty stale at this point, and I was never great to begin with. I needed the reference material.
But the amount of front and rear overhang is less critical than the weight that is involved in those overhangs. The length does have an impact though, that becomes a moment arm when you start talk about the dynamics during weight transfer in cornering and the like.
TLDR: Sorry, can’t be much actual help in this post. Best I can do is say “It’s complicated”
