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Originally Posted by kach22i
I would have assumed that a shorter, or more conventional wheelbase would be more stable, but still unstable.
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As your plan view triangles show, the lengthened wheelbase puts more lateral distance between the center of gravity and the line between the two wheels on one side, thus giving the same benefit in reducing weight transfer to the outside wheels in cornering that you would get from a wider track.
I can't imagine why you would think a shorter wheelbase would be more stable. Dragsters and land speed record cars, which only want to go straight, run long wheelbases
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The reason for a dragster's length is the torque and counter moment arm of the length to balance it, right?
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The longer the ratio of wheelbase to CG height, the less weight transferred from the front to rear wheels at a given acceleration rate. Thus a longer wheelbased dragster can run a higher percentage of static weight on the rear wheels without wheelying.