How is car handling measured?
Car magazines use a variety of standard tests to measure a car’s handling. One common test is a skidpad, where the car simply drives around a fixed circle as fast as possible and the lateral grip of the car, measured in Gs, (1 G being equal to the force of gravity) is calculated.
What is body flex on a car?
Body flex is a lack of rigidity in a motor vehicle’s chassis. A chassis that flexes may be prone to fatigue and further “softening” with use will eventually result in failure.
What is chassis rigidity?
Suspension guru Herb Adams (author of Chassis Engineering) defined torsional rigidity (actually “stiffness” in his 1993 publication) as it applies to a vehicle’s chassis as “how much a frame will flex as it’s loaded when one front wheel is up and the other front wheel is down while the rear of the car is held level.” …
How is car stability calculated?
A vehicle’s SSF is calculated using the formula SSF=T/2H, where T is the “track width” of the vehicle and H is the “height of the center of gravity” of the vehicle. The track width is the distance between the centers of the right and left tires along the axle.
What is a good handling car?
“A good handling car simply goes where you point it.” “A good handling car simply goes where you point it.” He was talking about the importance of consistency and predictability of dynamic response. Referring to the laudable qualities of a car that responds exactly as you expect it to with every input.
How can I make my car stiffer?
One can get oil-based shock absorbers filled with higher viscosity oil (thick oil) that make the ride quite stiff. Or you could get new gas filled shock absorbers that also provide a slightly stiffer ride. There are race / rally based shock absorbing systems that will make the ride stiffer as well.
How do you make a stiffer chassis?
A weld-in roll cage or stitch welding the chassis are proven ways to increase the rigidity of a chassis. However, neither is practical for most street cars. Instead, practical solutions come in the form of “bolt-on” strut tower braces, chassis braces and bolt-in roll bars.
How do you stiffen a unibody car?
Unibody chassis stiffening can be done in a number of ways. Another way is to relocate the factory leaf springs, if they are present. Stiffer radiator supports and torque boxes, strut bars and fender ties are also added to help reinforce weaker points of the unibody.
What is stiffness in car?
2.1.1 Torsional stiffness. The torsional stiffness of the car body is one of the key parameters of the vehicle design. It describes the resistance to twist that the body has when a torsion load is applied to the BIW.
What happens when a chassis flexes during cornering?
This flexing of the chassis can create a vehicle that stores and releases the energy stored in the sprung chassis at the least opportune moments. The end effect is a vehicle that exhibits delayed steering response, reduced cornering ability and sometimes a mind of its own. When a chassis flexes during cornering,…
How stiff is the chassis of a race car?
The range of chassis stiffness has varied greatly over the years from about 500 lbft/degree in a Morgan to more than 20,000 lbft/deg in a modern race car. The ERA 427’s chassis runs about 3500 lbft/degree.
Is there such a thing as a chassis that doesn’t flex?
Contrary to some pronouncements, there is no such thing as a chassis that doesn’t flex, but some are much stiffer than others. The range of chassis stiffness has varied greatly over the years from about 500 lbft/degree in a Morgan to more than 20,000 lbft/deg in a modern race car.
What are the benefits of a stiffer chassis?
It gives you greater control because the suspension doesn’t have to be tuned to compensate for chassis flex. With a stiffer chassis, our suspension engineers can focus more on vehicle dynamics, controlling the ride and response of the car, and less on compensating for relatively poor chassis resonance.