vehicle setup ride height vs. cross weight

But for the time being, we'll limit discussion to the primary goal. A secondary goal is to perhaps induce behaviour conducive to balancing the car orĪffecting responsiveness - things like toe and roll steer come into play here. Tire spends in its 'happy place' where it is making maximum grip. The primary goal of the suspension, from a racing point of view, is to do all these things in such a manner as to maximize the amount of time that the The wheel and tire move through an arc defined by the layout of the suspension control arms.The bushings at the pivot points of the suspension control arms deform and.The sway bars (if any) twist then untwist.Of the two, roll is the most important from a cornering perspective, as that is the primary sprung mass (chassis from now on) movement duringĪs the chassis rolls from zero roll at the entry phase of the corner, to maximum roll at midphase (or near it), and then back out to zero rollĪt corner exit, a number of things happen: The primary movements we are concerned with are pitch (a dive/climb rotation) and roll (a left/right rotation) Unsprung mass moves up and down in reaction to bumps, the sprung mass moves around in reaction to accelerations - things like turning, braking, The sprung mass tends to follow a much smoother path than do the individual wheels.Īs a direct result, the sprung mass is subject to forces which can cause it to move as a unit relative to the unsprung mass. The unsprung mass (the wheels, tires, brake rotors/calipers, and a portion of the mass of the shocks, springs, and connecting arms) so That being said, the sprung mass has very much more inertia than the components of No suspension can ever completely isolate the sprung mass.

This it does to varying degrees of effect The body of the car - the sprung mass - from the effects of transiting these irregularities. When we start discussing weigh transfer and roll centres and whatnot.Īt its most basic, the role of the suspension is to allow the wheels to conform as much as possible to road irregularities while isolating In actuality, understanding suspension is really very simple - the complexities arrive later Study and secret knowledge to fully comprehend. There is a temptation to regard suspension as a topic ruled by something akin to 'black magic', a subject so arcane as to require years of

Vehicle setup ride height vs. cross weight