[Wil Ferch]

It comes down to this...and this is not gospel.... but simply one man's opinion if you consider the magnitude of the numbers that are involved, and where we're discussing them.

Grossly out of balance cars are dangerous to drive fast. Those that have 50-100 lbs (say) disproportionatley loaded from where they should be. A real corner balance "mess". We're not talking about these cars I hope. We're talking about a finer cut to the question.

A "perfect" corner balance for a tin-can car ( not a symmetircal formula car)...might get you to within 5-40 lbs of "correct" weight ( whatever that is)..at each corner.

So....My point is that for threshold braking....a difference of 40-50 lbs from "what it should be" at any one of the front corners can be felt immediately....it can make one brake lock up prematurely.

However, from a "cornering" standpoint.... when we're talking values of 550 lbs or 830 lbs on each corner...as a starting point..... then being "off" by 5-22 or 5-40 lbs might not be such a big deal, especially if the "non-ideal" weights occurs on the "rear-heavy" cars we love so much. It is the rears that get "slightly" out of whack if we target equal fronts...and the amount the rears end up being "off" might be tens-of-pounds only. Altogether...in my view...this is a good trade-off between cornering behaviour and braking behaviour on a car.

hcoles ...yes .... I think you summed it up nicely.