A drift vehicle is set up very differently to a Formula 1 vehicle, and each is very different to a 'normal' road car. The set-up of a vehicle is largely dependent on the kind of driving the vehicle will be doing and the driving style of the driver.

The positive and negative benefits of the different kinds of car weight distribution are heavily contested between experts. This is not an issue for vehicles that only need to travel in a straight line drag cars for instance, put the majority of the weight over the rear wheels so that they have the most traction off the line. However, when a vehicle like this begins to accelerate out of the corner, the weight will bias even more to the rear, allowing the vehicle to accelerate harder (more weight over the rear wheels) but leaves less grip for the wheels that steer.

This is why most 'performance'Р’В cars are rear-engined, as it's the heaviest part of a car. All the tyres now have an equal grip on the ground and can brake evenly. This is because as the vehicle brakes, the weight moves towards the front of the vehicle and the vehicle gets closer to a 50/50 weight distribution. This is where proper vehicle weight distribution comes in.Р”Р„ vehicle that has a weight distribution biased towards the rear of the vehicle (40/60) can brake later and harder into corners. This will reduce the vehicle's ability to steer as it accelerates out of a corner, or completely remove its ability to accelerate (in the case of a front wheel drive vehicle). This reduces the effectiveness of the rear brakes (it canРІР‚в„ўt brake if it canРІР‚в„ўt grip the road) and could cause the rear of the vehicle to slide outward during cornering.Р”В¬onversely, as a vehicle accelerates, the weight travels to the rear of the vehicle, reducing the grip of the wheels in the front. This has the potential of causing the rear end to lose traction. Here are some of the basics of vehicle physics.Р”Р„s a vehicle is braking into a corner, there is less weight over the rear wheels (all of the weight has shifted forward). Now, you may be aware that these indicate the percentage of the vehicles weight over the front and rear wheels, but are you aware of how different set-ups affect a vehicles handling? If youРІР‚в„ўre interested in performance motor vehicles and shows, you may have noticed the terms 40/60 or 50/50 in relation to vehicle weight distribution. ItРІР‚в„ўs the same, although much more extreme, when a vehicle is being driven on snow and ice РІР‚вЂњ grip is everything. A car with cheap, poor quality tyres that donРІР‚в„ўt grip, will be easily outperformed by an identical vehicle with high quality tyres. A huge portion of the complicated suspension components within modern cars are there to ensure that all 4 wheels stay firmly planted on the ground with the weight firmly distributed across all 4.Р”Р„ vehicle is only as good as its connection to the road. Every single part of how a vehicle performs, from cornering speed and rigidity through to braking and acceleration, can be attributed to the grip the vehicleРІР‚в„ўs tyres have on the road.

Axle weight distribution calculator