Weight distribution can make heads spin in the wrong hands, and thereby hangs a tale in the Paris show headline Jaguar F-Type sports car.
Jaguar engineers became obsessive with saving weight and aiming for a near perfect weight distribution for their latest two-seater slingshot, so much that they matched a new aluminium front subframe with the desire to keep the back end as well balanced as possible.
This meant they took the opportunity to move the 5 litres capacity washer bottle from the usual engine compartment to immediately behind the rear bumper, filling it through a point inside the boot.
Ian Hoban, vehicle line director for Jaguar, explained, ” We wanted to get the weight distribution as close to 50:50 as we could to get the handling balance right and after shaving 5kg off the front subframe by making it in aluminium instead of steel as usual, we also found we could lighten the front still further by moving the washer bottle to the back of the car so we mounted it just behind the rear bumper.”
He said that in its unladen state the new Jaguar F-Type has a balance of 52:48 and with driver and passenger aboard it then moves closer to the desired balance, thanks to the rear washer bottle location.
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