Understanding vehicle dynamics through curiosity, not myths.
aki@rs Do you guys drive on circuits, compete in gymkhana, or go on mountain road attacks? When you think, “I want to go even one second faster!”, you might start adjusting your coilovers to tune steering characteristics such as understeer and oversteer. You’ve probably heard things like making the front springs stiffer will cause understeer, or … Read more
As we discussed in the previous article, this article continues our discussion of response. Roll stiffness and body stiffness are both important, but tire stiffness is also a key factor. Have you ever tried attacking a circuit on eco tires or comfort tires? Compared with tires designed for motorsports, these tires have lower stiffness, and … Read more
Think about this. Suppose you take a car with its stock suspension, put high-grip tires on it, and take it to the track. The car rolls so much that its response feels slow and it’s very difficult to drive. What would you do to make the car easier to drive? Increasing the damping force will … Read more
I occasionally mention specific books in my articles. The reason is simple: I want people who are actually looking for that kind of information to be able to find them. I’m not trying to tell people who say, “I like cars, but I don’t want to read difficult books…” that they have to read them. … Read more
In the past, partially threaded coilovers — also called “spring-perch-adjustable” coilovers, since ride height was adjusted by moving the lower spring perch — were the standard choice, and fully threaded coilovers, which adjust ride height independently of the spring, were considered a premium product. These days, however, depending on the vehicle, it can even be … Read more
There are countless factors involved in suspension tuning, and I certainly don’t know everything about all of them. Damping force, suspension bushings, differences between spring manufacturers, preload, bump stops, anti-roll bars, alignment changes through suspension travel, compliance steer, roll centers… and of course, vehicle weight distribution also plays a role. Once you start including tire … Read more
If you’ve ever driven on a racetrack, there’s a good chance this question is always sitting somewhere in the back of your mind:“What’s the fastest way through this corner?” In Japan, there’s a legendary professional racing driver named Motoharu Kurosawa. If you ask who has had the greatest influence on circuit driving in Japan, his … Read more
Most of you are probably familiar with the friction circle, but a few years ago… I came across an article about it on the internet. It was written by an individual. ——————————————– A tire’s grip has a limit. If you use 100% of the available grip in the longitudinal direction, then you cannot use any … Read more
Hello everyone! Out of the blue, let me ask you this: have you been adjusting your damper settings? Changing the damping force of your dampers can completely transform the way a car feels to drive. Increase or decrease the damping force, and the speed of the car’s body motions—things like pitching under braking and body … Read more
They say the lower a car’s center of gravity is, the better. I’d also love it if I could make the center of gravity of my own Roadster a little lower. Actually achieving that is not easy, because it involves balancing many different factors. But still, lowering the center of gravity is basically a fundamental … Read more