Actually, you have it exactly backwards;
Stiffen the REAR sway bar to reduce under steer,
stiffen the front bar to reduce oversteer. It is exactly
the opposite of what intuition would tell you.
Car makers deliberately set up there cars to
under steer at the limit, so that little Johnny doesn't
spin the family car into a bridge abuttment while driving.
We all know that the lawsuits would have no end in a
situation like this.
The correct way to set up a car to handle, all other
things being equal, is for neutral handling which extracts
the maximum amount of work from all four tires while cornering.
The correct way to set up your suspension is to have approximately
half your roll stiffness from the springs, and half from your
sway bars. If your sway bars are too stiff, you can actually
increase your ultimate cornering capability by reducing the
stiffness to more closely match your springs. The trade off is
more body roll when you corner, but the car will hang on harder
when the springs and bars are matched.
Cheers,
Vance
------------------------------
1974 Mimosa Yellow Triumph TR6
Cogito Ergo Zoom
(I think, therefore I go fast)
-----Original Message-----
From: R. Ashford Little II [mailto:ralittle2@mindspring.com]
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 9:14 PM
To: 6-Pack
Subject: over-steer, under-steer, neutral steer...thoughts, theories,
comments
Without reading the many emails that follow (I'm just catching up on
them), I would say this. So here's my answer, initially the TR6 will
under-steer, but that will change to over-steer.
"I" am far from a suspension expert. But, I would say that I would
stiffen up the front roll bar to assist in under-steer and add a rear
sway bar to help with over-steer.
These bars must or should be from a matched family (planned out), for
them to work properly. Well, that's about it as far as my knowledge
goes, since I need to take myself down to Road Atlanta for some lessons
anyway.
So, those are my answers without cheating to see what others have said.
Unless I'm wrong, and then my second email will simply mean that I had a
bolt of lightening thought.
R. Ashford Little II
www.geocities.com/ralittle2
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