[Richard Hudgins]

John.

Good discussion about F/R balance. But, do not forget roll axis and polar moment in your calculations.

I find that these are often overlooked and add confusion to the setup process.

You really need to know the moment arm from the CG to the roll axis, as well as migration of these points in a dynamic environment to make any meaningful spring, roll bar and damper choices.

Of course, this is all complicated due to driver input and lack of data acquisition capabilities. It is all seat of the pants with these cars, and I have found this to be wrong 90% of the time. It is really easy to dial a car out. What feels good is often slower in lap times.


You guys really need to plot your suspensions for camber change, roll centers, instant centers, pitch and yaw effects, suspension freqency and chassis frequency, etc. Then you will have enough data to start making some intelligent choices as to springs, anti-roll bars, and dampers.

I know, it is a bunch of work, but until you plot these things and understand what the effects are, you will chase your tails in the setup.

I Know, I spent a number of years chasing my tail.