i understand the concept of a mid engine car, andi understand weight distribution.

most mid engine cars have the engine, way more to the front than the nsx does. it is almost right on top of the wheels. so how does it still get a good weight distribution? is there just a bunch of ballast in the front?

does anyone have anytechnical drawings or anything?

 

911's have the engine behind the rear wheels and have very rear biased weight distributions but still get hailed as great handling cars. Same with the Lotus Elise. I believe that split is like 37/63. Weight distributions like that of the S2000, Miata, RX-7 & RX-8 (all 50/50 or really close) help handling but it's not the end all be all to it.

 

it is 60 percent REAR and 40 percent FRONT per the official NSX Specification sheet.

 

i thought the nsx was closer to 50/50. looks like i was wrong.

so riddle me this batman... a 50 50 weight distribution is the best way to go right? and with as much of the weight in the center, right?

thats what i have allways read.

 

50/50 is generally considered to be the best way to go, yes. If all four tires have equal weights applied to them, it's generally assumed that the car will respond in a more confidence-inspiring way.

But as was previously noted regarding the 911, I think the 50/50 distribution thing can be offset by the drivetrain configuration in some cases.

 

50-50 static weight distribution is not optimal. A weight bias towards the back is considered optimal. Check out this article. It's kind of old, but this stuff doesn't change much over the years.
http://www.ngnl.net/hall.pdf

The short of it is that 50-50 is best for steady state cornering, but going fast is sooo much more then being fast while not changing speeds while cornering. You exit speeds and weight bias under braking are improved with a rear weith bias. The 911 is extreme. But, most mid-engine cars are very close to optimal. There are a lot of resources on the web all about this subject.

 

I believe with the driver in the car the NSX balances out to 50/50.

 

Well said.

Hence mid-engine car in general is more steady and have higher threshold in corner entry and exit. With more weight in the rear to give rear tires traction, it allows moderate trailbraking on entry and putting more power down while exiting corner.

 

If the driver weighs 300 pounds and sits on the front bumper maybe.

 

I would argue that 50/50 weight distribution is optimal for a fun road-going car, but check out the weight distribution of top-level racing cars like F1 cars -- they all have rear-biased weight distributions, which helps both acceleration and braking. The downsides to a rear-biased weight distribution include power-on understeer and a tendency for the back end to let go in a big way when it lets go.

Steve