How does suspension stiffness relates to weight distribution?
I heard once that the harder the suspension is the harder and quicker you can be on the gas and brake because the weight distribution goes smoothly in relation to the tires. Is that true tho? I cannot seem to find any info googling that shit and my brain tells me that the harder the suspension the more weight distribution the shocks would absorb so that the tires get less stress on them depending on braking/accelerating.
>How does suspension stiffness relates to weight distribution?
>I heard once that the harder the suspension is the harder and quicker you can be on the gas and brake because the weight distribution goes smoothly in relation to the tires. Is that true tho? I cannot seem to find any info googling that shit and my brain tells me that the harder the suspension the more weight distribution the shocks would absorb so that the tires get less stress on them depending on braking/accelerating.
wut
Suspension and its effects on handling are something Veeky Forums is not capable of explaining.
That being said there's a different sweet spot between stiffness and softness for all cars, and their different applications.
Too soft and it will upset the car in a turn, and too stiff it will upset the car when faced an uneven road or track.
AFAIK the basics are that a suspension too soft will affect tire wear on the outside tires, and corner exit speed, but will not have the car fuck up and lose control (all the while not having the inside tires actually lift off), while a suspension to stiff will make the car wheels skate the ground and lose total control, but at the same time having less transfer force between left and right, increasing the chances of corner exit speed.
I guess that's what bunta did when he stiffened the anti roll bar of the 86 in i think was the R32 fight.
tires will get the same stresses regardless of suspension. stiffer suspension simply allows for a quicker transfer of those stresses which creates more immediate surface feedback.
Do you mean weight transfer instead of weight distribution?
Yes.
Are you sure about that? every inch of logic in my mind tells me that a softer suspension dont only allows for more roll but also for more weight transfer.
If stiffer suspension also allows for more quicker transfer, wouldn't that also benefit from a slightly more responsive steering and less loss of control until the suspension skates the ground? making the battle on grip a thing about tire grip vs stiff suspension? that would also explain why AWD sports car have such a stiff suspension overall, since not having to soften the rear suspension to slightly increase rear grip would probably increase corner exit speeds.
Depends on the track. On a bumpy track softer suspension trump the immediacy benefit by maintaining better contact. A stiffer setup maximize contact patch on smooth flat surfaces like pavement by reducing body roll.
TECHNICALLY that would be more of a dampener thing than the system itself, but my entire examples are using hard track as an example.
Yes. Stiffer setup WITHOUT skating the wheels maximize contact patch, doesn't that means that there is LESS weight transfer tho? Or is there exactly the same weight transfer, much more quickly, which allows for also faster acceleration and braking with low grip issues?
They don't.
it would be a spring rate thing.
a higher spring rate reduces body roll and make the car quicker to respond to inputs. reduced body roll equates to better weight transfer.
But what i want to know is if the actual weight transfer changes with stiffer springs, or if its just a placebo due to the bodyroll of the driver.
We had already stated that if the wheels are not skating due to the lack of bodyroll, stiffer suspension makes faster weight transfer, which helps when quickly accelerating, braking, slightly more direct and responsive steering, and since there is less bodyroll, probably a better corner exit speed, on the obvious negative of being a pain in the ass for non-plain roads and for city driving.
>go over crest
>suspension unloads
>hurr makes no different for tire wear
Your question doesn't make sense. You can't change how heavy each corner of the car is. The only thing you can do is change suspension components so that the tires maintain contact with the road more reliably. A 4000lb boat will always handle like shit and a 2500lb sports car will always handle decently, because momentum.
Yes it's called mechanical grip
There are more things that weight. Even little shits like tire size make a big difference. But the point of my actual question is if the weight transfer CHANGES with suspension, or just the speed at which it goes and the effects of it. As if, there's different weight force on the outside of the car or the same compared to a car with soft suspension, and another one with hard suspension.
You're talking about weight transfer. Typically weight distribution refers to static weight, not loaded.
If you're interested in this kind of stuff, give this a look through: farnorthracing.com/
If you still want to know more, get a copy of Racecar Vehicle Dynamics by William Milliken.
a softer spring is loading up causes more body roll than a stiffer one
That's still not what i wanted to know. I wanted to know if the weight shift changed between suspension settings or if just the effects of body roll did.
If you add up all the weights at each corner, they will always come out the same regardless of the state of the car. The only things that change the weight of the car are
>Changing mass (parts falling off)
>Changing gravity (driving up a bridge tot the moon)
>Changing lift/downforce (this is the one that usually happens)
Corner weights change all the time when driving, and can be changed statically by using the suspension to jack up specific corners of the car (cornerwighting).
Got it, so other than having bodyroll to avoid skating the wheels there is no reason to have a soft suspension in a track car.
body roll is extremely closely related to weight transfer, by reducing body roll, you also reduce weight transfer in every situation I can think of in practice, and for the same reasons, stiffer springs will not allow the forces of the sprung weigh to move as much as softer springs would, they resist the loading with more force, so less weight transfer happens. Due to this, the body moves less, meaning it "settles" more quickly, quickening response.
he meant transfer not distribution
Prez/o/ had it pretty much right, he just didn't use the term you understood.
>there is no reason to have a soft suspension in a track car.
There is. If you have no suspension compliance then running over a bump or kerb will upset the chassis and you'll lose time while your wheels aren't touching the ground. You also have a much higher chance of exploding a differential due to shock loads on the drivetrain from unloading and reloading a tire.
i am still using the example of a perfectly plain asphalt track jesus. I know that any kind of bump will destroy any car with suspension.
What came up of the williams suspension-less F1 car after all. Did it got good times? was it banned or did they ditched it because the driver could not stand the G forces?