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Vehicles may be loaded with passengers and cargo in varying configurations that affect its mass properties during normal use. Mass properties include Cg location, weight, and mass moments of inertia. The objective of this paper is to develop an approach identifying possible passenger and cargo load configurations and accurately calculate and display their effect on a motor vehicle's mass properties. An approach is presented and discussed. The calculation method accounts for suspension compliance due to passenger and cargo loading. Overall, the approach provides more accurate and useful estimates of a motor vehicle's Cg location and other mass properties. The approach may be of use to vehicle designers, operators, and regulators, providing enhanced access to vehicle parameters which are relevant to motor vehicle safety.

The height of a vehicle's center-of-gravity (CG) is one factor that influences its handling characteristics. A number of height methods are used to measure CG within the automotive industry. This research determined which method has the greatest potential to produce accurate CG height measurements, given anticipated measurement tolerances. Several techniques for measuring vehicle CG height were analyzed mathematically. The contributions of various parameters to total error were determined and the total error inherent in each method was then compared.

A vehicle may be loaded in varying configurations that affect its mass properties during normal use. These properties include total mass, center-of-gravity (Cg) location, and moments of inertia. The ranges of these parameters, which are determined by the varied load configurations, define the vehicle's mass property envelopes. These envelopes are useful for evaluating the effect of any load configuration relative to vehicle performance/design specifications. Mass property envelopes provide a clear visual representation of a range of key parameters that significantly affect motor vehicle control. Examples are provided in this paper that illustrate the usefulness of the vehicle mass property envelopes.