Understanding vehicle dynamics through curiosity, not myths.
aki@rs The other day, I was reading an article about damper damping force and the spring characteristics of tires. I found it very interesting and informative. Here are a few of the key points: The article also included a discussion between people from manufacturers and tuners about how to deal with the latter issue. When I … Read more
When it comes to how springs work, I think most of you are probably familiar with the relationship between load, spring rate, and displacement, and may have even calculated it yourselves at some point. But figuring out how fast a spring moves is probably not something most people are familiar with. Because of that, you … Read more
The other day, I was watching a video explaining what happens to roll center when you lower a car, and something caught my attention. The basic argument is, “People say lowering the car messes up the roll center and all that, but in reality, you’re also running stiffer springs, so you don’t really need to … Read more
There is something I occasionally see written about tender springs that has always bothered me. “With a lower spring rate, the suspension has less force pushing the wheel outward, so less load remains on the tire.” Isn’t that actually the opposite of what happens? Rather, when the front and rear spring rates are different, the … Read more
Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the rear suspension of the NA/NB Mazda MX-5 Miata, and more particularly to a method for determining, with a reasonably practical level of accuracy, how much clearance remains before the upper control arm contacts the vehicle body. Background of the Invention A known method for checking … Read more
There seems to be a general feeling that lap times must keep getting faster. When you stop making progress as a driver, you start looking to modify your car to gain more time. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I just think it’s one of many ways to enjoy motorsports. At the same … Read more
I sometimes wonder if there’s anyone who truly understands everything about cars. Cars are incredibly complicated. Just understanding the materials they’re made of is a huge challenge. Then those materials become individual components, and those components come together to form a complete vehicle. Trying to understand every mechanism at work in that finished product is … Read more
Have you ever heard of circuit simulation? It is a way of calculating how fast a car can theoretically lap a circuit, based on the car’s performance and the racing line. The circuit simulation I’m introducing here was created by Tatsu. According to him, it was “based on the F-1 Circuit Simulation published in the … Read more
I was just wondering: when did the term “roll center” become something that even ordinary car enthusiasts started hearing about? When I first became interested in suspension, I was at the level of, “What’s the difference between a spring and a damper?” So, naturally, I had no idea what a roll center was. These days, … Read more
This is the final entry in the series! When I first started driving on track, my car was completely stock, with the stock tires and stock suspension. But the stock suspension was difficult to drive, so I switched to coilovers. At the time, I thought, “I don’t want to ruin the ride quality, and I’m … Read more