Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications General Mods Battery in the trunk :)

I'm still of the opinion that this is a pretty much useless mod for performance purposes. If you just replace the stock battery with a Dynabatt or similar battery I think you're just as well off with a lot less work and hassles. Look at the reasoning below:

Given the folowing parameters look at the outcome...
63/37 stock weight distribution
3000lbs stock contour weight
40lbs stock battery weight + 5lbs of new cables
15lbs Dynabatt weight with new mount

Ok so we move the stock battery to the back shifting 40lbs off the front, this changes our weigt distribution to:

Front weight with cable .63 * 3005 = 1893
Rear weight with cable 3005 - 1893 = 1112

New front weight distribution (1893 - 40) / 3005 = 61.7 percent

New rear weight distribution = 38.3 percent

Oh, and if you caught on you increased your cars weight due to the extra cabling by 5lbs and managed to change the weight distribution by a meager 1.3 percent!

Now lets just put in a Dynabatt up front and see what happens:

stock rear weight distribution .37 * 3000 = 1110

New rear weight distribution 1110 / (3000 - 40 + 15) = 37.3 percent

New front weight distribution = 62.7%

So we only changed the weight distribution by .3 percent, but decreased the stock cars weight by 25lbs and 30lbs if you put a battery in your trunk. But now we don't have to worry about those 0 gauge lines running in the passenger compartment, or if they are outside we don't have to worry about them getting cut. We don't have to worry about fumes in the passenger compartment or give up any trunk space. It took easily half the time if not 1/5 of the time to do. You now have a leaner car which almost always translates into better handling. You still have the ability to put in a cold air intake or do whatever else you want to because these batteries are so small. I just don't see why people go through the trouble.