Weight transfer is the key factor with respect to a great handling car. Just like on the 1:1 cars, a great handling car is more forgiving should the driver make a minor mistake and it can help compensate should your pancake motor be a smidgen slower than your competitor.
Anytime a car's direction changes on the track, whether it is accelerating, breaking or cornering, weight transfer has a significant impact on traction. Anytime there is a weight transfer the loss of traction on certain tires are not equally gained on the other tires hence a net loss of overall traction. Weight transfer cannot be eliminated however it can be reduced and therefore maximize traction.
The amount of weight transfer is pretty much controlled by the car's weight, location of the center of gravity, wheel base, track, and the amount of force applied by the driver thru breaking, accelerating, and cornering.
Weight transfer is a function of the car's weight and the forces acting on that weight. If you reduce the weight of the car then you reduce the net result of the forces acting on the weight. Weight distribution is also a factor. Given that most of us race on road course type tracks the weight should be evenly distributed. Personally for me evenly distributed means when comparing the left and right side they should be a mirror image with respect to weight. If I am comparing the weight with respect to front and back I prefer 40 percent of the weight is on the front and 60 percent of the weight is on the back. If you are going to race on a track in which you are only going to make left turns you might want to shift the weight to the left rear quadrant of the car to help with stability in the turns.The only real way to adjust the weight is by using a Dremel on the body. There are times when working on the front to back weight I have been able to make some adjustments based on tire choices for front and back.
The center of gravity is the fulcrum point through which the car's weight is multiplied by the dynamic forces. In other words the higher the center of gravity the weight transfer is multiplied by larger dynamic force or weight transfer. Relocating the center of gravity to a better position can reduce weight transfer. If you think of the center of gravity as a lever handle, we all know that a lever can be used to increase force. If the center of gravity is very high there is basically a long lever in the car. During breaking, accelerating or cornering, the G forces are amplified by the lever created by the center of gravity point and the point of contact of the tires. The further apart they are the the greater the leverage and therefore the greater the weight transfer. There are several things that can be done to lower the center of gravity. You can lower the body on the chassis, you can reduce the overall diameter of your tires,
The longer the wheelbase and the wider the track in relation to the height of the center of gravity the more resistance the car has to weight transfer. This helps to counter the weight transfer forces from front to back and side to side. In other words the further you can push the tires into the corners of the car the more stable the car and less weight transfer.