Weight penalty question

[Niklas Vesterinen]

I'm beginning to think that the added weight from a weight penalty effects the car more then the same weight but added from fuel. So my questions is does anyone know if this is the case?

Take make sure you get this here is an example. Let's say you have 50l fuel + 50kg weight penalty. And then you go with 100l fuel and no weight penalty. Does the added weight from the weight penalty effect the cars performance more then it would if the added weight was replaced by an equal ammount of fuel? The cars total weight is the same but i feel that the added weight from the penalty is worse to the cars performance then an equal weight of just fuel.

Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[Marcel vd Aa]

Well, my initial response would be that the added weight of fuel is more difficult to balance.
Because fuel is always moving around inside the tank it is not a 'dead' weight thus making the possibility of an unstable car bigger.
With the standard weigth penalty this problem wouldn't exist because the added weight consists of a solid material that is bolted to the car somewhere.
But then again this is guessing to me too.

 

[Niklas Vesterinen]

Well that sounds reasonable. I started to think about trying to explain my sudden drop of performance in todays race. This was my first race with weight penalties and every practise sessions i had practised with the same weight but with fuel instead of dead weights. And suddenly in the race using the dead weight instead i am 0,5-0,8 sec slower. The car felt wierd and when i thought of this theory i just had to ask.

I'm fully aware that it could just be me. Maybe i just had a bad race i mean i allways have a problem beeing to nervous and tense during races. But something tells me that it might have something to do with the weight thing.

 

[João Andias]

Yes, the weight penalty... for some time I wanted to make a post about it, thanks

Tiring to be short and jumping right into it...

Zandvoort, wtcc 07, Seat.

Qualifying

• No added weight: Can do high 47, usually do 48 and on a bad day 49.
• 40 Kg added weight: Have to really try very hard just to do an high 49.

We are looking in about 2secs+/lap with a Q setup.


Race (20 mins)

• No added weight: Do 49's and with regularity do low 50's. End of the race might go up to 52 as tires degrade.
• 40Kg added weight: Have to go to the limit (tires abuse) to do very high 49/low 50's and usually circulate in the 52's. At the end of the race, easily can go over the 54's / lap.

Again, now with a R setup, we are looking into about 2 secs+/lap.

​

40kg should be about 50 L of fuel... but as far as I know, the 40 kg can be added low in the car and in a balanced way, unlike the fuel wish not only caries more inertia (like pointed in an above post) but also is higher in the car.


I don't know, but 2 sec+ slower per lap at Zandvoort, sounds too much...
A. Priaux although full of ballast (maximum allowed), managed to score in about every race in 07. Just try do the same at Pro lvl vs. the AI (with AI at 100%), and tell me how it goes


What I'm doing with the extra weight setups is:

• If needed, higher the car (more travel to suspension wish is important in Zandvoort).
• Dumpers, I'm sure they have to be changed as the car has more vertical inertia (from the add weight).
• Differential... I'm not changing this, but I think I should be. The preload (so it doesn’t grind so much), higher lock, lower coast?
• Camber, it depends, but usually I lower it (less negative) a little bit all around (just .1).

Any advice is welcome, this is one of the things I really need a lesson .