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Generally, the more load you put on the tires, the more grip they will create. However, theres a catch: the rate of traction does not increase as fast as the increase in load. You do pick up more grip, but the increase in load is greater putting greater strain on the rubber. So before you strap a 1000lb weight on your car, you might want to know that the tires have to work much harder to provide that same amount of traction plus the extra weight doesnt help acceleration or braking either. Therefore, the potential grip available is vastly decreased; thus is why lighter cars are usually faster than heavier cars. In an ideal universe, we want all four tires equally loaded as this ensures that each is creating the same amount of grip. However, you will soon see that this is easier said than done but that will be discussed a bit later. We all know that tires have a limit, and exceeding that limit leads to bad things happening. The good news here is that tires dont simply tell you to screw off and die; they gain and lose grip progressively, as well as providing a few warning signs to tell you that youre on the edge. This means that it is quite possible to drive at the limit without instantly fataling and besides, the only way to know youre at the limit is to push it. In fact, in order to truly gain 100% grip, tires in fact do need to be pushed. Tires are made from rubber, and what does rubber do? Stretch. And in a corner, thats exactly what they do. This is called Slip Angle. Basically, when you drive through a turn, the tires end up pointing in a different direction than the wheel itself because of how elastic they are. This stretching or slipping is natural and required for to tire to produce maximum grip. The faster you drive into a turn , the more the tire stretches or slips. With all tires, there is an optimum Slip Angle where the tire produces the most grip. In racing tires, this angle is far greater providing a bit more forgiveness than typical street tires. What does this mean? It means that you cant baby the car and expect to be fast; you have to push the car a little and be a bit fearless. At the same time, being too fearless leads to overworking the tires, exceeding that Slip Angle and losing grip. But as I previously mentioned, remember that a tire is progressive and does not immediately lose all traction. Even when you exceed their limit, the tires still provide grip. When you lock up the brakes, you still slow down albeit not as fast. Practice driving at the limit, because thats the only way you will learn what is. In fact, try taking a corner faster than you think is possible; when you get the tires to slide right away, you wont be caught off guard.
amount of grip. This gives us a very happy car and a very happy driver; this is what we push for in creating an ideal set-up. But life aint perfect. Maybe you can see where Im starting to go with this, haha. To start, rarely does a car (or race car for that matter) ever possess a perfect weight distribution. Most of the weight lies either up front or in the rear with the engine; thus creating an obvious imbalance. Secondly, one must understand that weight is constantly being shifted from F/R and L/R due to the forces described in the last paragraph. The only time the cars weight is static is when the car is at rest; even while driving in a straight line, remember that the thrust pushes the rear of the car down and bumps and track imperfections are constantly being soaked up by the suspension. To sum things up, we want all four tires to receive the same amount of load but thats much easier said than done. I could throw in a ton of complicated aspects right now such as moment center and center of gravity but Ill keep it really simple: Our goal is to control weight transfer and keep the car balanced in such a way as to produce equal amounts of grip between all four tires. Im sure youve heard the saying that smooth is fast; that cannot be any truer here. Your goal as a driver is to be as smooth as possible with your inputs and doing so is key to minimizing the effects of weight transfer. Ever wonder why Aryton Senna could outdrive Prost, Berger and Hakkinen, all of whom drover the very same car? Its not that he had mad hax; he simply drove in a way which maximized the potential of all four tires, allowing him to squeeze every last bit of speed there was available. He wasnt perfect, but rarely did he make mistakes. You didnt see him cranking the wheel at the last minute of throwing the car in unnecessary drifts, but rather driving in a way which enable him to do as little as possible. The less you do behind the wheel, the more balanced the car is and that of course leads to MORE GRIP.
Conclusion: What the #@$^ does that have to do with Car Setup?
If youve made it this far, give yourself a pat on the back! Thankfully you stayed with me throughout the remainder of the text and if so, picked up the fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics. It wasnt THAT painful, was it? Truth is, if you truly want to understand car setup, you must first be able to drive in a smooth and consistent manner. If you cant do that, you wont be able to create an effective setup. In fact, most handling ailments are not a result of a ill-tuned car but rather sloppy driving technique. Lets say that the car fishtails at the exit of a corner as soon as you apply throttle. Have you ever stopped to think that you turned in too early or entered the corner too slow? Thus the point I want to push across; practice being smooth! If youre not smooth in the first place, how are you ever going to expect to find an ideal car balance? With that said, get out there and work on what weve covered today. In the next section, well delve into the garage, focusing on shocks, springs and roll bars.