I've been told that a racing series that went from stock seats to allowing racing seats the next year saw a 1 second improvement in laptimes across the board as a result. I don't doubt that at all.
@@LochyPIt’s that the driver doesn’t move. It’s way easier to keep your feet exactly where you want on the pedals, and your hands exactly where you want on the wheel, if your body isn’t sliding about like a wet noodle. We don’t much notice it under normal driving, but even a little lateral g-force will require much more of our body’s effort than we imagine
I really liked how to make your car handle, but as you said theres hardly anything on FWD. Which sucks cus all of my cars send the power up front. I'll certainly pick up your new book once my engine is un-blown up
Hey Julian! I've been very excited for this book and I ordered it today! I've been watching your videos for a while and one important lesson really struck me, and I'm glad it did; Many modern cars are set up quite stiffly already and are expertly engineered from the factory. This can save a person from getting too lost in the weeds of theory and money expenditure. For the first time in my life I managed to get my Mk1 Audi TT to a track day and discovered that cornering at full throttle with slight 4 wheel drift (the theoretical ideal condition for driving at the edge of grip) is a thrilling and ethereal feeling. Sometimes one has to admit that an office of German engineers probably have a more well-rounded picture of what works (and better access to the Nordschleife to test their product) than the aftermarket bauble-mongers!
Yes it's always wise to start off by assuming that professional car company engineers usually have a pretty good idea of what they're doing. That said, when you read pages 271-272, you'll see that sometimes they're not directed very well!
about the deflections, i remember seeing that mentioned in "how to make your car handle" it mentioned it briefly, but basically saying your static alignment changes as rolling resistance (tyre friction) comes to play. 0° toe at static can end up as .2 /.3° toe out just by rolling resistance acting on bottom arm bushings
Wait until you see the graphs in the book. Just amazing. We're talking multiple degrees, not fractions of a degree. And in most modern cars, it's meant to be like that!
Julian, I keep watching your videos for years now, they are so educational and easy to watch. Having in mind I don't have a lot of money to spend, which books of yours would you recommend me to get? I was thinking one on suspension and one on aerodynamics. Which ones are the most packed with info and most worthy of getting according to you? Thanks in advance. Keep up the good work.
Thnaks for the praise. I'd suggest 'Vehicle Ride and Handling - Testing, Modification & Development' and 'Vehicle Aerodynamics - Testing, Modification & Development'. The first book is currently on special.
Very litle maths - almost no one wants it. It has some on calculating spring rates, some on natural frequencies, and some on damping rates - enough to be useful.
Hi Julian, I appreciate your hard work in making the black magic of suspension/chassis principles and tuning more approachable to us mere mortals, I am getting the book. However just a short question, just because you didnt gloss over it in thie brief overview, are there a few pages dedicatd to scrub radius and ways to measure them in real life etc?
Scrub radius is in the book. That includes diagrams that show it and also a discussion of its implications and the fact that it actually varies with tyre centre of pressure (and so dynamically varies). The book does not cover how to measure it.
@@JulianEdgar Thanks for your reply. Would you then say that we can disregard that parameter when setting up our road/trackday car and rather focus on other aspects of the suspension/geometry? I’ll be open, the only reason I found myself hung up on scrub radius is since I found out that negative amount of scrub radius should produce an effect of car pulling inwards the corner if we’re applying the brake while cornering, and as I personally love to rotate my car on the brake (be it by trail braking or just transfering the load forward), I found that idea rather interesting. Currently I am making big changes on my project car and a lot of things has to be fabricated and custom made from zero so I thought if I can maybe incorporate a bit of negative scrub I’d be happy to test it out. Thank you again for finding the time to answer to our often ignorant questions.
To be honest, I think people often get hung up on what I'd consider to be peripheral issues. I don't think scrub radius is a major determiner of rotating a car under brakes: far more important is front weight transfer unloading the rear, and rear lateral weight transfer reducing rear lateral grip. Scrub radius is important in terms of steering feel and kickback, and (and I don't cover this in the book) self-aligning stability when braking on surfaces with different left/right frictional coefficients. Springs, dampers and sway bars (and at higher speeds, aero) comprise 90 percent of handling, with tyres adding the 'grip' element. I'll leave the book to answer the rest of your questions!
@@JulianEdgar yeah i found it not that important on RWD, im going from negative to positive when i swap wheels. It changes the feel a bit, but nothing dramatic. On FWD though it can totally ruin a car by going to far, its an important adjustment factor for torque steer.
It covers characteristics of different bump stops, and the importance of considering the bump stop as part of the springing system. But I am not sure what 'bump stop tuning' is.
