Opinions on this suspension dynamics article?

[Rupert]

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/susp-15.htm

944 specific in some parts, but the first bit is generalized. Seems clear and concise and makes sense to me, but what do I know?

[r0tor]

Start with an old simple book called "How to make a car Handle".  Will give you great basics.  Then head over to fatcatmotorsports.com and watch some of his vids and play with some of his suspension calculators to pick up on some finer and more modern points.

BTW most aftermarket suspension companies that aren't named Bilstein, Koni, KW, or Ohlins are completely incompetent.

[Rupert]

Fred Puhn? Got it, haven't read it yet. I have read the link I posted, however...

[r0tor]

Fred Puhn? Got it, haven't read it yet. I have read the link I posted, however...

That's the one

The link is ok but lacking in many many many many areas.

[MrH]

Start with an old simple book called "How to make a car Handle".  Will give you great basics.  Then head over to fatcatmotorsports.com and watch some of his vids and play with some of his suspension calculators to pick up on some finer and more modern points.

BTW most aftermarket suspension companies that aren't named Bilstein, Koni, KW, or Ohlins are completely incompetent.

Fatcat motor sports is garbage. His videos were passed around the office as a joke.

[r0tor]

Fatcat motor sports is garbage. His videos were passed around the office as a joke.

Most I found are pretty good IMO and let's the general public get the idea.  While I respect your company, they are far from the gospel and produce some hideous products like the adjusters on the pss9/pss10 coilovers.

[MrH]

Most I found are pretty good IMO and let's the general public get the idea.  While I respect your company, they are far from the gospel and produce some hideous products like the adjusters on the pss9/pss10 coilovers.

not sure what your opinion on some of our aftermarket products has to do with FCM being factually wrong. He's just not a good source.

I quickly skimmed the article on the 944. Seems like a pretty solid overview. The cause and effect chart makes sense, but the whole thing is a big dynamic system. You might want to quell some understeer, but in the process of trying to do that, you'll upset something else. It's all a balance.

Obviously the whole thing is very 944 centric too. Things like spring rates and acceptable ranges only applies to that vehicle. Things change drastically the second you go to a different vehicle. Suspension geometry, weight, CG, roll center, etc are all different. So something like, "350 lb/in springs feel great on a 944 so it must work for some other car"  doesn't make sense.

I've got some decent reading stuff at work I can recommend if you want some nerdy nightly reading.

[Rupert]

Oh, yes, of course it's all about the 944. The article is a bit more in depth than a lot of the "basics" articles out there that don't mention slip angle and stuff, so I wasn't sure if that was right. I have a pretty good sense of what to do to get this or that effect in general, but this was the first thing I read that kind of unified it all and made sense out of it.

I do have that book, so I think I'm covered for the additional reading.

[r0tor]

not sure what your opinion on some of our aftermarket products has to do with FCM being factually wrong. He's just not a good source.

Factually wrong about what?  I haven't looked at his stuff in a year or two, but pretty much everything I saw in the videos about flat rides, roll stiffness, damping curves, bumpstops, geometry, ect were right in line with my old Racecar Vehicle Dynamics book from college.

[12,000 RPM]

I've got some decent reading stuff at work I can recommend if you want some nerdy nightly reading.

Yah pls do

So glad my car has a great aftermarket. U guys did the heavy lifting

[MrH]

Factually wrong about what?  I haven't looked at his stuff in a year or two, but pretty much everything I saw in the videos about flat rides, roll stiffness, damping curves, bumpstops, geometry, ect were right in line with my old Racecar Vehicle Dynamics book from college.

There's a few videos out there that are comically bad. He goes down the right path, then just veers off into crazy land for awhile

He basically found a valve code that people like, and he understands the basic techniques to modify it slightly.