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Weighed the car today

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:52 am
by Legacy777
I weighed the car today. Wanted to get an idea of the weight compared to before.

I also measured the distance from the center line of each axle and came up with the center point between the axles, so I could weigh both front and rear to come up with a f/r weight ratio.

Empty tank

Front: 1680 lbs
Rear: 1360 lbs

Total: 3040 lbs

f/r ratio: 55/45


Full tank

Front: 1680 lbs
Rear: 1440 lbs

Total: 3120 lbs

f/r ratio: 54/46

Re: Weighed the car today

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:02 am
by scottzg
Legacy777 wrote:I also measured the distance from the center line of each axle and came up with the center point between the axles, so I could weigh both front and rear to come up with a f/r weight ratio.


f/r ratio: 54/46
I'm confused. Why do you need to measure? Why not just take 2 wheels off the scale?

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:28 am
by THAWA
why do you even need to take two wheel off the scale? If you've got the front and rear weight cvant you just divide it it out?

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:02 am
by scottzg
you have to get a weight with 2 wheels. If you take the front off, then you subtract the second value from the first, then you have the front weight. If you divide the half weight by the total weight you have the % distribution. Why measure?

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:12 am
by THAWA
oh, that's right

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:59 am
by Legacy777
The CAT scales I went to have a weight pad for the steer axle, drive axle, and trailer. I put the front wheels on the steer axle pad, and the rear wheels on the drive axle pad.

I would assume to get an accurate reading for f/r weight distribution, I would need to put the car's center (between the wheels) at the point where the two weight pads meet. I could have just put all the weight on the front/rear pad. Maybe I didn't have to line things up as I did....

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:10 am
by scottzg
Still dont get it josh. The wheels are the only thing touching the ground. They will have the same weighting regardless of the middle of the car. Am i missing something?

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:12 am
by Legacy777

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:28 am
by scottzg
I was thinking i was making some horrible math mistake... :lol:

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:30 am
by entirelyturbo
Josh, meant to ask you. How does the car feel weight-wise now that you've added the AWD? Does the engine feel less powerful, does the car feel like you're tossing more weight around?

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 8:02 pm
by THAWA
I just realized gas is heavy

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:20 pm
by Legacy777
THAWA wrote:I just realized gas is heavy
80 lbs isn't too horribly bad.......one more body in the car will be worse

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:34 pm
by THAWA
yeah quite true, still heavier than i expected though.

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:35 pm
by Legacy777
subyluvr2212 wrote:Josh, meant to ask you. How does the car feel weight-wise now that you've added the AWD? Does the engine feel less powerful, does the car feel like you're tossing more weight around?
Weight wise I really don't notice too much difference. The car does feel a lot better in the handling department. Whether that's related to the AWD, the numorous bushings I replaced, and/or the struts I don't know.

Power wise.....it's really hard to describe. Yes the car is more "connected" with the engine/trans etc. I don't have a totally pure comparison because I also went from FWD to AWD. I think hardy can probably agree with me, the gearing, and how the power is delivered in an automatic compared to manual just feels different, and in some respects is better IMO.

I think if I had a totally brand new FWD auto tranny, the car would probably feel more powerful then it does now with the MT. I remember how it felt when I first got it. It would continue to pull to speeds above 100 mph. Recently, it would not, or just seemed to struggle a lot more then it did before.

As ciper would say.....autos do have an advantage of torque multiplication.

You know I've ranted on about the shifting. I'm still not real happy with it. However I don't think there's anything I can do to make it feel how I want it to.......