Northy
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 06:20 PM |
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What makes a good race car?
Didn't think this fitted in any other sections so stuck it in here.
I'm not refering to Locosts here really, just any sort of racing car.
Whats most important for good handling? Low CofG? Low unsprung weight? etc etc....
Can the CofG ever be too low? Is mechanical grip (from the tires) generated by weight transfer?
Cheers
Graham
Website under construction. Help greatfully received as I don't really know what I'm doing! 
"If a man says something in the woods and there are no women there, is he still wrong?"
Built 2L 8 Valve Vx Powered Avon
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I love speed :-P
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 07:22 PM |
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try this site
http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/staff/trobinso/physicspages/po2001/Handling/home.html
go down to the bottom, and then the links to the left
Don't Steal
The Government doesn’t like the competition
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britishtrident
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| posted on 5/5/04 at 07:49 PM |
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First leason confuse grip and handling they are different, I have driven loads of cars that had one but not the other.
The key to grip is the friction coefficent characteristic of the tyres, it is always non linear falling off at higher tyre loadings.
For this reason a car with 4 tyres all the same size has maximum theorhetical sideways grip with 50/50 weight distribution fore and aft and right to
left.
This is also the reason why fitting wider wheels and tyres give more lateral grip in the dry, of course it is more complex than that especially with
racing tyres where tyre temperature is more vital than anything else - too wide a tyre will not generate enough heat to get the rubber working.
When cornering weight transfer loads the outside tyres and a unloads the inside however the additional grip gained on the outside wheels is less than
the grip gained by the inside wheels. This is the basis of tuning the understeer-oversteer characteristic of a car by changing the roll stiffness or
roll centre height of the suspension at one end of the car.
To get a good background I can recommend the book "How to Make Your Car Handle" by Fred Phun
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Hugh Paterson
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| posted on 6/5/04 at 08:43 AM |
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Easy the NUT behind the steering wheel
Shug.
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