Weight

[jon L]

Does any one happen to know the weight distribution on a 90 Reatta.? 

Percentage front to rear?

[Studebaker]

I have an 89, and I just jacked her way up to do some over-all maintenance.......and I tell you, this car is super lite in the butt.  I would be nervous driving fast on a super curvy road with low fuel in the tank......you need every bit of that fuel weight to help keep those rear tires on the road.  Im guessing the weight ratio is about 65% Front, 35% Rear.  I would like to know the actual specs. 

[2seater]

This is from a previous suspension thread:

 

 

Anything I could say would only be a guess.  You are going into uncharted water as far as I know.

 

Here is what Barney said about Reatta weight in a post he  made on the other forum.  If that is correct 500 lb springs per side on the rear should put you in the ballpark.  That's assuming you plan to remove the stock spring. 

 

Quote

From an early spec sheet released with the 1988 press information........

Curb weight = 3350

Front = 2241

Rear = 1104

67/33 front/rear

[Studebaker]

2 Seater.......Thats pretty cool......I was just making a quick guess based on how my floor jacks squealed when I pumped up the front and rear of the Reatta.  So my guess of 65/35 was pretty close.

[Ronnie]

56 minutes ago, Studebaker said:

I would be nervous driving fast on a super curvy road with low fuel in the tank......you need every bit of that fuel weight to help keep those rear tires on the road. 

Oddly enough, even with the light rear end the Reatta is pretty stable when pushed hard in a corner. A photographer got the photo below of me driving my Reatta as hard as I could through a corner trying to keep up with my buddy and his friends in their Shelby Cobras on the Tail of the Dragon. The Dragon is famous for it's sharp curves that seem to never end.  As you can see in the photo my old Reatta was pretty flat even though I was probably on the verge of the tires breaking loose.  I could hear the tires squealing pretty loud in that corner.

 

[2seater]

3 hours ago, Studebaker said:

2 Seater.......Thats pretty cool......I was just making a quick guess based on how my floor jacks squealed when I pumped up the front and rear of the Reatta.  So my guess of 65/35 was pretty close.

The rear suspension is pretty soft as a result of the weight bias and the fuel tank is located ahead of the rear wheels under what would be rear seats so there isn't a huge change, empty or full. I know what you mean about the grunt required to get the front up.

[Studebaker]

Ronnie.....Great pic of you burning rubber through those Tail of the Dragon curves......I have heard it is crazy-scary and dangerous down there in those Tnn. mountains.  Did you manage to keep up pretty good with your white-knuckled buddies in their Shelbys?

[Ronnie]

Actually I did pretty good. I let them leave first because I didn't want to hold any of them up.  I stayed right with them and never lost sight of them.  On 11 miles of the Dragon there really aren't any straightaways to speak of so it's more about who has the biggest balls than it is about who has the most power.  Besides that, those guys aren't going to risk wrecking their high dollar cars or getting killed on the Dragon any more than I am. If we had been on a long straightaway they would have disappeared out of sight.  You can read more about it here: Dragon Eating Cobras