

More anti-squat is a good solution to this problem. To reduce corner exit oversteer, start by using a less effective rear stabilizer bar, and/or use higher front or lower rear spring rates.
Car tuning books driver#
If the car oversteers coming out of a turn, the driver won’t be able to get on the throttle as quickly, which is especially important when coming onto a straightaway. If you want to alter the roll force distribution of your car to fine-tune its understeer/oversteer characteristics, you can do it most easily by changing The combined effects of more roll stiffness, and less camber gain, can cause a considerable loss in front-end cornering power. Raising the front roll center height also reduces the amount of camber gain, which causes even more understeer. This means that more of the lateral weight transfer will be absorbed by the outside front tire and the car will understeer more. If the roll center of the front suspension is raised, it has the same effect as increasing the front roll stiffness. Since the tires’ cornering efficiency is very sensitive to vertical loading, even small changes in front or rear spring rates can have a significant effect on whether a car understeers or oversteers. Stiffer rear springs have the opposite effect, because they make the rear outside tire absorb more of the total lateral weight transfer. When the rear tires are asked to carry more weight, their cornering efficiency goes down and the car will have more oversteer. As was the case with the front stabilizer bar, more front roll stiffness causes more of the lateral weight transfer to be absorbed by the outside front tire, which results in more understeer. Higher spring rates at the front will increase the front roll stiffness vs. In addition to front and/or rear stabilizer bars, changing spring rates can also be used to alter the understeer/oversteer characteristics. If the outside front tire carries more vertical load, its cornering efficiency will be reduced and the front-end will lose cornering power. A more effective front stabilizer bar will cause more understeer, because it causes the outside front tire to absorb more of the total lateral weight transfer. How much of the total lateral weight transfer can be distributed between the front and the rear outside tires.īecause front and/or rear stabilizer bars can be used to change the roll stiffness of the front and/or rear of a car, they are quite effective in changing the understeer/oversteer characteristics. I could understand the interaction between chassis, aerodynamics, and suspension.Įxcerpt from " Chassis Engineering" by Herb Adams I could see the "big picture" of vehicle dynamics-weight, its transfer, grip, suspension geometry and components. I found that when I had finished reading it, I could conceptualize a race car design beyond my earlier fanciful drawings. It provides formulas, diagrams and photos to help the reader understand each concept it discusses. While not as detailed as some of the design books I have seen, Chassis Engineering excels because of the methodical explanations and progression through the key elements that affect handling-weight distribution, suspension, chassis and aerodynamics. This is where the "Big picture" provided by Chassis Engineering comes in.

In race car design, you can rarely make a single decision without knowing the impact that decision is going to have on the rest of the car-it's handling, durability, etc. It is one of the first books I ever read on race car engineering and I'm glad I did.

Herb Adam's " Chassis Engineering" is a holistic "Big Picture" guide to race car handling and design.
