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Old 11-01-2013, 03:00 PM   #81
jdogma
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 242350
Join Date: Mar 2010
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: Atlanta
Vehicle:
2013 Carma Wolf EZ30
black

Default

"I wear 30 lbs of ankle weight. It seems to aid significantly to the car's ability to turn in during heavy breaking"

That is really funny to me for some reason! I wonder about the weighting being damped by your body rather than being attached rigidly to the chassis. If the car does not turn in well, typically that would mean too much load on the outside front resulting in it not being able to give more grip, so typically people add less front sway bar, or soften front springs or soften low speed shock compression on the outside front to get it to turn in. Others may add toe out. Conversely, things that make the rear grip poorly usually help turn in. I don't think this is the best way to go, but in autocross it has worked for me. I put a big swaybar on the back of an Alfa GTV and let the rear tire pressures down to about 10 lb cold and kicked as.

My autocross experience was that best success came from making the car rotate easily - heavy oversteer is best. When I had a car that was winning it was almost impossible to drive it in a straight line. I am not doubting your results, and have seen instances when engineers do the opposite of what theory dictates and get good results.

The F500 car - does it have a diff? No diff or spool makes car just go straight at low speed with no weight up front. Go-Karts lift often lift a rear wheel via chassis flex to aid turning.

What I mean by trailing throttle: transitioning from high speed into a corner - you lift the throttle and turn in a bit at the same time. Some trail braking may be included. During these times you are trying to lose some speed and you don't want it all tail happy.

If you want to learn, read Mark Ortiz's newsletters. He writes a column in Race Car Engineering Magazine and publishes monthly newsletter about suspension. EVilTwinMotorsports.com has most of them. I am on his mailing list and get them. PM me and I will give you his email address. Imo he is the best out there that is opening his mouth. He backs up ideas with sound reasoning and solid math and often evidence as well. He has been very kind to me, answering questions - even did a newsletter on a banked turn math question I had - and eyeballing designs. I try not to abuse his good nature because he makes his living as a suspension consultant.
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