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Old 07-26-2006, 12:25 PM   #5
Wintermute
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Arizona
Posts: 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Gaukler
Why would you put them in the front trunk? The Boxster is a rear wheel drive car. If you hope to improve traction by adding weight, you'd have to put the weight on top of the driven wheels.

Gary
True, but the front wheels actually steer the car. And that requires them to have grip in order to essentially shove the car on a different direction than the straight line the rear tires are trying to make it go. If they don't have any grip, then it won't make one damn bit of difference even if your rear tires have chains.

This is one of the reasons front-wheel drive cars work better in the snow and ice. The wheels with the most friction (those with the engine on top) are pulling the car in the right direction, rather than those with the least (the rears) trying to essentially push the car straight ahead while the fronts try and redirect that force in the direction you want to go. If those front wheels can produce enough frictional force to push the nose to the left or the right, then you lose control and bad things happen.
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Last edited by Wintermute; 07-26-2006 at 12:31 PM.
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