The Ultimate Guide to Suspension and Handling

[wytbishop]

No...I am not going to try to write a suspension guide. But I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject nad came across this series of articles in Sport Compact Car magazine and have found them very interesting and insightful. A lot of the writing is intended for drifters but the basics of suspension setup and the affects of different variables is well done.

It is a series in 8 parts. They can all be found here...

http://www.motoiq.com/tech/the_ultimate ... 448/2.aspx

[MrMazda92]

Hell, just reading through the comments on the first section(wheels&tires) is bringing up topics I've never seen elsewhere!

Thank you for posting this.

[Ryan]

RCVD by Milliken. That is all.


I wouldn't trust a drifter about suspension setups.... drift is not racing. Drift is not fast.

[crazycanadian]

There is some really odd! stuff he talks about and some half decent stuff on there... So far I have only read threw part one... I all ready want to caution people about taking whats said there as pure fact... Some of whats being said is good, some of its a little out to left field...

In 6 years of autocross racing I have not seen a single use stretched tires to increase tire response...If anything squeezing over sized tires on smaller rims is MUCH more common.. This happens due to class restrictions on rim sizing, but people still trying to get as much rubber under their car as they can...

If you really want to get into suspension set up detail, here is a good link...

http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets.html

[wytbishop]

RCVD by Milliken. That is all.


I wouldn't trust a drifter about suspension setups.... drift is not racing. Drift is not fast.

You wouldn't have a used copy you'd sell me would you?

[wytbishop]

I was also questioning the wisdom in telling people to er on the stretched side when selecting tires and wheels, but I did a bit more poking around. The concensus from what I'm reading is that slight stretching increases responsiveness from the tire but does sacrifice some mechanical traction.

It makes sense that a tire which is slightly stretched will be stiffer than a tire that is slightly bulging on a smaller rim. Great for time attack, not so great for the drive home.

I also particularly loved this article by the same guy. It seems to be part of the same series, but not...I"m not sure but it's very informative from an engineering perspective.

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles ... enter.aspx

It's not just about...your roll center should be this or this depending on this or that...it's understanding what the roll center is and how the roll moment works. How does body roll really affect the roll center and tire adhesion. I liked it.