Suspension

[gooby]

I know sod all about suspension. I have never seriously played with suspension and all I really know I learnt from setting up RC cars that I used to race. Can any Guru's out there dispence some expertise. Any knowledge is better than what I have which can be summed up in one sentence "Ohlins are very good!".

Help!

[beachbum]

Ohlins are very good, and Lotus watch the boxes they are in like hawks. They also will not discount them by the 25% we were offered in the merchandise shop either.

[wacattack]

gooby said:

all I really know I learnt from setting up RC cars that I used to race.

No help to your post but what RC cars did you used to race? I used to race 1/10th offroad at national level. My brother still races and in the last national he finished 13th in the 2wd category.

Im really thinking of getting back into it and its nice to see others have taken part in the hobby

[cuzza]

Buy a book! Seriously, it is that complex a subject, places like GPR and Demon Thieves sell all manner of good stuff on the subject.

If you're trying to dial out under or oversteer, softening the end of the carcthat's getting carried away is a good place to start i.e. soften the front to reduce oversteer and the rear to reduce oversteer. All this assuming you have adjustable dampers of course - you can do a bit with the tyre pressure to help in the same way.

[wacattack]

The problem is there are so many things that can be changed with suspension/dampers. For example, if you have completely adjustable dampers then you could alter the ride height, travel, spring rate, pack, oil, changes are endless and they all effect the handling in different ways. As was mentioned above, a book would be a great place to start as a post on this could literally be hundreds of pages long!

[hbaumhardt]

Gooby, whats the problem you are trying to solve ? As above, for a general discourse on suspension you need a reference manual.

I'd recommend "Tune to Win" www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879380713/qid=1147942810/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl/202-3125064-6503057 or "drive to win" (which is on loan to Shangani right now) www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0965160009/qid=1147943084/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/202-3125064-6503057

Others have recommended
Intro "Car Suspension at Work" www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/1899870318/ref=sib_dp_pt/202-3125064-6503057
Intermediate "Road Vehicle Suspensions" www.pepublishing.com/book.asp?book=58202
Advanced "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics (RCVD)" www.millikenresearch.com/rcvd.html

>> Edited by hbaumhardt on Thursday 18th May 10:03

[tuscan_thunder]

Gooby,

What is it you want to achieve? Is it just a better all round knowledge of suspension or are you looking for a particular aim with regard to your car?

First off, get Allan Staniforth's Competition Car Suspension (design, construction, tuning) book. It lives on my desk and is THE Bible for suspension. A lot of contribution to it from Gordon Murray etc. It's quite technical (dunno if you've got a technical background. I don't and I understood it) but its well written and, if you take your time, you'll easily grasp it.

If you're after a particular aim for your suspension, tell me what you're looking for and I'll see what I can recommend.

[gooby]

wacattack said:

gooby said: all I really know I learnt from setting up RC cars that I used to race. No help to your post but what RC cars did you used to race? I used to race 1/10th offroad at national level. My brother still races and in the last national he finished 13th in the 2wd category. Im really thinking of getting back into it and its nice to see others have taken part in the hobby

I use "race" in the loosest term. I was in a club and there were races. To be a race you would have to be competitive! The best bit was the tinkering. I have an Optima mid and a schumaker Cat. Long time ago!

[gooby]

There is no real specific aim. I was listening to Andy (westovers) and Speedyellow talking. It was a completly different language but still facinating. I simply know zero about suspension and I want to know.

Thanks for the links and advice!

[Stu Hill]

Cheers, Gooby I know some more about suspension

gooby said:

"Ohlins are very good!".

>> Edited by Stu Hill on Thursday 18th May 22:50

[speedyellow]

I might be going plan B soon on my car plans... which would mean I'd have a spare set of very lightly used Ohlins for sale.... and I'd throw in a days instruction on getting the best out of them...

Suspension is THE single biggest upgrade you can make to a car to imporve lap time and make the car safer and more controlled on the road (unless you leave a track setup and follow you on the burger run that is!!!!!)

>> Edited by speedyellow on Friday 19th May 00:18

[gooby]

speedyellow said:

I might be going plan B soon on my car plans... which would mean I'd have a spare set of very lightly used Ohlins for sale.... and I'd through in a days instruction on getting the best out of them... Suspension is THE single biggest upgrade you can make to a car to imporve lap time and make the car safer and more controlled on the road (unless you leave a track setup and follow you on the burger run that is!!!!!)

Can I have first refusal on the ohlins?

[speedyellow]

Of course you can fella!

[wacattack]

gooby said:

wacattack said: gooby said: all I really know I learnt from setting up RC cars that I used to race. No help to your post but what RC cars did you used to race? I used to race 1/10th offroad at national level. My brother still races and in the last national he finished 13th in the 2wd category. Im really thinking of getting back into it and its nice to see others have taken part in the hobby I use "race" in the loosest term. I was in a club and there were races. To be a race you would have to be competitive! The best bit was the tinkering. I have an Optima mid and a schumaker Cat. Long time ago!

Its really interesting to see other people on here who have raised RC cars. I used to raise the Schumacher Cat 2000, then upgraded that to the Cat 2000EC. After that I bought the RC10b2, I won my first regional event with this car!! Those were the days, I must buy another. Although the £20,000 me and my bro spent in the 5 years we raced is a bit excessive (thanks Dad!)