Weight Balance

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by Seduce XR6

my reasons for asking is that if you have that many kilos of extra weight on the front would that not under hard braking make the extra weight more of an inluence than it would be under normal driving conditions thus making the not so bad balance as some have said rather bad?

If you go adding extra mass to the front of the car, then yes, it can upset how the car was designed. But Im guessing you are talking about moving some mass that is already there to the back of the car? My advice, dont go 2nd guessing the engineers that designed your car. The front rear/brake bias is set up with what is already there and is more biased than the static weight ratio, though under extreme braking I believe the ABS takes over completely.

Originally Posted by Seduce XR6

Moving the battery into the boot in one of those battery boxes sounds good though would you then lose some effect of the alternator as the cables would be much longer than they were under the bonnet?

A battery weighs about 16kg or so, yep moving it from one end to the other will make a difference, whether its a positive difference, dont know. Personally would prefer as much boot room as possible, cant go putting the shopping where the battery was under the bonnet. Also you'll need an expensive non acid battery or have proper venting to the outside.

Originally Posted by Seduce XR6

would you then lose some effect of the alternator as the cables would be much longer than they were under the bonnet?

Charging the battery isnt the main issue, its having enough voltage to turn over the starter. Basically you'll need thicker cable from batt to starter, a good engine to earth connection and a good battery to ground connection in the boot. VE commodores have rear mounted battery, have a look at their setup. I believe there is a smart setup there which has the alternator voltage go higher when the battery is charging to overcome the voltage drop in the wire and reduces the output when the charge current drops.
Doing it properly raised the level of complexity significantly, do you really want to do this for next to no gain?

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by Seduce XR6

Moving the battery into the boot in one of those battery boxes sounds good though would you then lose some effect of the alternator as the cables would be much longer than they were under the bonnet?

Might depend on what the replacement cable is made of and what the standard cable is.

[SteveJH]

The worry is that if you change the weight balance you might have to completely redo your suspension if you want to take advantage of it.

And since most of the available aftermarket options would have been developed with a standard car, you'd possibly have to get something custom made?

[Road_Warrior]

If you relocated the battery to the boot, some voltage drop would be inevitable when power was demanded from the battery (like starting) however use say No. 6 B&S battery cable (i.e heavy gauge) and a good earth this can be minimised

And yes it would need to be vented to the outside, or alternatively use an AGM battery that is not filled with lead acid and you won't have to vent it

[Seduce XR6]

Thanks for the replies guys & girl

It sounded like a good idea when I first thought of it however now I am not so sure, maybe I will just work over the suspension & leave the weight balance alone lol

I never knew the VE's battery was in the boot & I have looked over one on a test drive when they first came out, I will pop into my local Holden dealer & have a look not that I dont believe you is just I am amazed by this lol

Ok thanks again guys