Z06-Nomad

Don't want to double post. Here is the link ...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1557999210

wallyman424

there are many more experienced people than me out there, but i can put in a guess here.

i definitely agree that a softer suspension with more travel aids in weight transfer to get the maximum traction under braking and accel, but I think theres a tradeoff.

if you have this softer suspension with more travel your car takes longer to set up and recover from a corner. it might take an extra x ft or lower mph to make the following turn. the perfect example would be the uphill essess at VIR. a softly sprung high travel car would go through those, load up the left, abruptly transfer to the right, then back to the left.

the harder sprung car will transfer less weight to either side, effectively making the car less "upset" going through the turns.

might all just be BS though,

TRACKMAN2

sounds ok to me

generally lowering the center of gravity amd keeping it centered ie, go karts, f1 cars, and the like helps handeling ever try the keyhole at mid ohio in a lifted f 350, i dont think so..but a suspention has to be soft enouph to keep the tire in contact with the road my 350 pound superbike had a very soft shock spring to keep the tire in contact with the road if you raced bikes you would have seen the rear tire of all the fast guys frantically going up and down fallowing the surface of the track...while the tail light stayed motionless...the least weight transfer with the greatest traction is what we are all looking for..

kaiser

There was some discussion of suspension engineering here about a year ago:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1224152

For the basic equations of weight transfer, you need to look here:
http://www.miata.net/sport/Physics/

Zip Corvettes

There is a balance, that is why it is not easy for the average joe to tune a cars suspension. In the quote earlier about the front diving under braking. That is not good, when the rear wheels get unloaded like that they tend to lock up and maybe even on an occasion the front and rear can swap places. If you look at a road race car, even under heavy braking, they are still pretty level.

0Randy@DRM

That was very well said!

There are way too many things going on in a car's suspension for me to explain. Ride height and suspension travel changes a ton of different things such as, bump steer, camber change, roll centers, shock travel, swaybar effects, body roll, center of gravity. The best thing that I have heard around the shop is, lap times are what you go by during suspension setup.

Randy

KMK454

Well, I just did my first track event at CMP so I am no expert... but I have a C6 lowered on WCC bolts, and my dad has a C5 Z06 lowered on Penske Adjustable Coil-Overs.

Here is a stock suspension Z06 locking up the rear tires in the braking zone, possibly due to the nose-diving. This picture was taken just before turn-in:


Here is my dad's Z06 going into the same braking zone. He's not quite at the point of turn-in where the silver Z06 was, but as you can see it looks a lot more composed:


My C6 lowered on just WCC Bolts (the ones with no bushings) handled very well. I did have it aligned after lowering. The instructor that rode with me commented on how level the cornering was and how composed the car was in the turns. I experienced no "squirrel" at speeds of 120 MPH (or at 160 MPH at another "track" event ). The car handled amazingly well and required little to no correction from the wheel. I loved it. How good this setup actually is for the car, however, I do not know.

VetteDrmr

Hard to compare those two pics; certainly can't make any judgements about lowering.

Driver technique, tires, brake pads, ABS fuse pulled (maybe why the silver Z06 slid a tire?), all can make the difference between those two pics.

Check the times for your Dad and the silver car, then look at those pics again.

Have a good one,
Mike

XPC5R

C5's and C6's are sprung relatively soft, which is why you see lots of body motion when driven hard. The softer, more mobile suspension, slows down the weight transfer, and reactions of the car, this is not bad thing in a fast car, as it 'dumbs' down the driver input a little, and limits how much bad input can upset the car. It can also make break away and recovery a little easier, and allows the driver to 'sense' the chassis motions more easily, and feel the 'edge' easier. The downside is all that motion really takes it's toll on suspension geometry. If the wheels and tires are travelling over 4-6", how much is camber and toe changing throughout this travel? Also, with that much travel, you need a tall ride height to keep from bottoming, which raises the CG.

As you stiffen the car in roll and pitch, the chassis takes a set much faster to every control input, which on a track means you can turn in a bit later, brake a little later etc, transition form one direction to another faster, and not have to factor in the time it takes for the car to respond to your steering or brake/throttle input. But give it a bad input, and it will respond badly very fast. But the benefits of lower CG, more controlled suspension geometry, and reduced weight transfer (from the lower CG) all add up to faster times - if the driver can control it.