When determining a car's roll center in suspension design, it is common practice to draw a line to the center of the tire contact patch from the Instant Center. However, since the contact patch shifts during cornering due to camber changes, lateral load transfer, and tire deflection, is using...
While driver error is a known factor, what suspension-related (e.g. geometery and dynamics) issues might also be contributing to the frequent crashes of S550 Mustangs when pulling out of parking lots, as seen in many videos?
For a car with MacPherson strut front suspension, such as the FT86, S550 Mustang, or Porsche 911, when installing a strut tower bar with adjustable length, should the preload be set so that:
A. The strut tower bar is slightly longer (in compression) than its neutral length, resulting in a...
I'm aiming to deepen my understanding of how chassis stiffness influences suspension tuning in track-focused cars like the Mazda Miata, Porsche Cayman, and Porsche 911.
Specifically, I'm interested in:
General Guidelines: What are some fundamental principles or rules of thumb regarding chassis...
I'm looking to deepen my understanding of tire engineering, specifically regarding how to determine the optimum camber angle versus lateral force to achieve the highest levels of traction and tire life. I've come across the term 'Mx' in my readings but am unclear on its meaning in relation to...
What are the typical design criteria or requirements for the maximum vertical and lateral impact loads, such as those experienced during a pothole strike or lateral curb impact, that suspension components must endure without incurring damage?
Let's say this is for a typical road car based track...
I am designing a camshaft and lifter system for a slow-moving (100 to 1000 rpm cam speed) valve control system, similar in design to a typical internal combustion engine valve train. What formulas are used to determine if the spring forces and speeds are within the lubrication (oil or grease)...
What is a rule of thumb for or how do we determine the maximum acceptable play (i.e. slop) in a bushing and spherical bearing based suspension system for track car build (like a 1997 Miata ot 2000 Boxster)? This is a hobbyist build, so we have the budget for simple force meters and have a friend...
What are the industry-standard metrics for quantifying oversteer, understeer, and neutral handling?
We often read that a particular car tends to oversteer or understeer but we never hear about it being quantified, at least in consumer automobile publications.
Or is quantification so...
Is production car suspenion design considered more science than art in these modern times?
For example, if the upstream marketing department says people want X, Y, Z subjective handling characteristics in their next production car, does the chassis and suspension engineering teams know how...
Active technologies can essentially eliminate body roll, I'm wondering about the possible advantages of allowing some body roll in performance street cars. What are, if any, the conditions where body roll is beneficial?
Googling around, I've read that one advantage of allowing some body roll is...
Who are the top well known suspension design engineers that are still working or consulting?
Often, it's a small world among industry specific experts.
If the above doesn't really exist, who are some of your favorites?
Do you have any tips how Roll Center analysis should be thought about when considering varying steering angle? When analyzing Macpherson strut and Double Wishbone suspensions (with caster and / or king pin inclination) I imagine that the systems' roll center will be different if the wheel are...
For a modern road sports car suspension design, what is the acceptble upper limit for bump scrub?
(I know in a perfect world, the goal is zero.)
Bump Scrub is described here: https://youtu.be/IWMzO70zk_A?t=214
Is there car industry accepted terminology for when the track width changes with...
How should the roll moment (distance between the roll center and the center of gravity) behave with increasing chassis roll? i.e. Do you want the roll moment to increase, remain somewhat constant, or decrease as chassis roll increases?
Say this is for a road sports car like a McLaren, Corvette...
