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Individual driving style counts alot when you are working with the chassis. Some people like a bit of understeer, some a bit of oversteer, but I prefer neutral steering. Each one of these has its own problems and style of driving to compensate. The whole point of the suspension is to keep the tires in the best position on the ground to get the best traction. How to do that is the complicated part. The tires must comply or follow the contour of the ground. Light wheels and tires and brakes have less inertia or resistance to movement. Light springs and soft shocks will keep the tires on the ground taking into account the weight of the car and the fact you don't want to bottom out the suspension. Also if you change the center of gravity by moving things around and lightening the car, the suspension needs change. If it was me I would get a set of adjustable coilovers with adjustable shocks. Keep a log of what effect different combinations do. The stock car web sites have tons of information on suspension setup and what effects what. Practically none of their products work on a bug, but the information is valid.
One of my pet peeves is seeing a Porsche or bug hot dogging it around a corner and the inside wheel is 6 inches off the ground. Plain old common sense tells me he should have able to go faster around the corner with all four wheels on the ground.
A good test track is two fifty foot circles in a figure 8. 28 mph around the circle is the same as pulling 1G. Crossing one circle to another tests the transistion on the car from one direction of turning to the other. You are not going fast enough to roll the car (hopefully) if the suspension gets weird on you.
I think one stockcar site also tells you how to determine the size and spring rates you need. I hope it helps.
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January 26th 2003, 12:48
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