Polar moment of inertia

[djones]

So I was watching a video about the Mclaren F1 (road car) and it was to have a "low polar moment of inertia"

Can anybody explain in simple terms to an idiot what that actually means?

[Saribro]

Low resistance to turning force.

[747heavy]

a picture to complement Saribo´s comment



for a car it beasicly means, the mass is concentrated near the CoG.
That´s the case with all/most mid-engined sports/race cars.
This leads to an very nimble handling, easy to change direction.

[autogyro]

However it also results in more rapid 'break away' and loss of control at a higher cornering speed.
Rally cars are often designed to have the reverse with more mass at each end.
This gives an earlier break away but under better potential control.
On loose surfaces this is essential to let the driver use some of the techniques developed over the years to improve cornering speed using pendulum effect.
Unfortunately, in F1 any mechanical benefits or not, are masked to a great extent by downforce, consistant track surfaces and predictable braking and steering input.