What happens to weight transfer as speed increases?

• A. Increases
• B. Decreases
• C. Stays The Same
• D. Cannot Be Determined

Answer: (A)

Weight transfer is the shift of a vehicle’s load between tires caused by inertia during motion changes. As speed increases, the inertial forces involved in turning, braking, or accelerating become larger. In a turn, the lateral acceleration rises with speed (roughly proportional to v^2/r), pushing more weight to the outer wheels. In braking, higher speed means a stronger forward inertia, loading the front tires more; in acceleration, more load moves to the rear. Because these forces grow with speed, the amount of weight transfer increases. Therefore, weight transfer increases as speed increases.