Need some suspension advise
#13
Sorry, have to roll my eyes and the above half answer that sounds authoritative but misses a ton.
Squat and nose dive (where the front end of the car does down under brake), together called pitch, are caused be weight transfer between the front and rear of the car. Reducing it does not necessarily mean you are going to lose traction. In fact, reducing it massively improves the handling of your car. Why do you think cars that handle well have stiff chassis (the latest edition of STi had a ton of new weld points on its chassis to further stiffen it and improve its handling) & suspensions?
Squat and nose dive (where the front end of the car does down under brake), together called pitch, are caused be weight transfer between the front and rear of the car. Reducing it does not necessarily mean you are going to lose traction. In fact, reducing it massively improves the handling of your car. Why do you think cars that handle well have stiff chassis (the latest edition of STi had a ton of new weld points on its chassis to further stiffen it and improve its handling) & suspensions?
Cars that "handle well with stiff chassis" are designed to work with what they are designed with. You change one component of that system, and you start to make the compromises that you eluded to. The stiffer the frame that the suspension is attached to will allow a softer spring to be used for the same ride quality. Your "handling" comment is a bit off what Derf was getting at. The weight transfer that occurs during acceleration raises the friction coefficient on the rear tires and will require more force to break them loose. A stiffer spring that reduces the weight transfer, will not allow as much weight to move, thus reducing the friction coefficient, and potentially allowing the tire to spin easier under the same amount of accelerating force. This is why drag racers WANT just enough weight transfer to lift the front end up enough to keep contact with the pavement to allow steering inputs to be effective. Cant steer if the tires don't touch the ground. "Acceleration" is what he was talking about, not "handling". Which would be in reference to a road course setting. Less weight transfer on a road course promotes better handling by keeping all tires more equal in their friction coefficient. This creates the much more preferred, balanced and predictable handling.
Now, I'm sure I have left something out since my fingers sometimes have a tendency to go slower than my brain. But the jist is there for you to decipher...or not.
#14
Actually - that was excellent. I tend to be a bit myopic about going fast and think "road course" first. So the consideration of actually wanting to push weight to the back of the car didn't occur to me (we're talking cars here, not motorcycles - I'll move back and fourth on the bike to affect handling in corners but we're talking apples and rocket ships now).
Thanks for pointing out the blind spot.
Thanks for pointing out the blind spot.
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