<VV> VirtualVairs Digest, Vol 56, Issue 171

[kevin nash]

> 
> What Nader, and almost all of us miss, is that it was not the EM Corvair's
> rear suspension that was the problem, but the rear weight combined with the
> suspension. The VW Beetle and Porsche's of that era had 60% or less weight
> on the rear wheels, while the EM Corvair, if I remember correctly had 63/64%
> of the cars total weight hung out there. The front engine rear drive M-B
> products were nose heavy, and, again, if I remember correctly, a different
> spring configuration than the others. The two things combined, combined
> with most owners and some dealers and tire stores not understanding the
> different tire pressure required front to rear, contributed to many
> accidents.
> 
> James- The weight bias by itself doesnt make some of the early models profound

   oversteerers- if it were really that simple, all that the owner would have to do

   would be to add a few hundered pounds to the trunk and viola!-no more

   bad oversteer! Actually, a car  magazine article from 1960 or 1961 (Road and Track??)

   entitled "why doesnt the corvair handle" explored the weight bias theory as well

   as different tire pressures than recommended, and none of those things really helped

   the handling at all- what did help dramatically, was to ADD weight over the rear

   wheels! It worked because it forced the axels into positive camber, and then the axels  couldnt "jack" because of cornering forces.

 Kevin Nash

 '63 spyder (properly decambered! of course!)
> 
> 
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> End of VirtualVairs Digest, Vol 56, Issue 171
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