62 Is moving my battery to the trunk a good idea? What effect will it have?
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This article is from the VW Performance FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Jan Vandenbrande others.
62 Is moving my battery to the trunk a good idea? What effect will it have?
A:[From Jeff Mayzurk]: Yeah, it's a great idea. I did it in
my Scirocco and was very pleased with the results. Before
you do it, though, take your car to a local truck stop
(or any other certified scale) and get the weight for
both axles, and then compare afterwards so you can figure
out how much of a difference it made.
In Greg Raven's "Water-Cooled, Front-Drive Performance
Handbook," he discusses the effects of moving the
battery on weight distribution. In his example, moving
the forty pound battery (mine weighs 38 lbs.) to the rear
moves the center of gravity back only 1.9 inches, but has
a much larger effect on weight distribution.
In my car, I bought a $10 plastic battery box, about 20
feet of 2-ga wire, and a few battery terminals. It's
mounted right behind the rear seat on the passenger side,
and is grounded at the right-rear seatbelt mount
(underneath the cushion). I ran the positive cable along
the doorsill, underneath the carpet, through a grommet in
the firewall, and to the alternator. After adding
additional engine-chassis ground cables, I've had
absolutely no problems with charging.
Holes can be drilled through the floor of the trunk
inside of the battery box between the battery box wall
and the battery. Make sure nothing is in the way below
the floor of the trunk when you drill the holes.
If you know your car extremely well, you will notice the
difference right away -- I did. You have the be really
sensitive to your car's behavior in transitions, but the
difference is there. My car rides better and dives less
under braking. Handling feels just slightly more neutral
overall, but traction under full throttle in low gears is
more of a problem now. (This is the only drawback I can
think of, and is definitely something to consider if you
have a very light car with a strong motor.)
By the way, make sure you have some provision for holding
the battery down in the event of a rollover. If your car
ever gets upside down (god forbid), you don't want that
forty-pound weight flying around in the cockpit.
NOTE: Relocating the battery may put you in a different
auto-x category!
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