Need a little help figuring something out

[Ron Sutton]

Are you being easier on the brakes to keep the car from diving and unloading the rear tires on corner entry? Basically letting the car settle back to ride height before initial turn into the corner?
No. I'll outline below.

In other words, with this type of setup, where in the corner do you want the weight to transfer to the front, then the outside, then the rear on exit?

I'll outline the optimum driving style for both common suspension set-ups;

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For a Conventional Low Front Travel/High Roll Set-up:
You can drive this set up deeper on corner entry because the stiffer front springs will prevent the car from unloading the rear tires too much or too quick.

You need to drive this set-up deeper on corner entry ... and brake HARD ... to get the front end to compress as much as it can ... to get some loading on the front tires for cornering grip.

If you don't brake hard enough ... the front end won't travel enough to properly load & grip the front tires ... and the car will push once you really start to turn it.

If you brake too short ... or too soft ... you will have a mid-corner push.

If you brake hard too early ... and get off the brake too early ... the front springs will push the front end up too early & push bad in the middle of the corner.

If you brake hard too early ... and stay on the brakes long enough to prevent the front springs from pushing the front end up too early ... to avoid pushing bad in the middle of the corner ... you will have braked too long ... killing the corner speed.



Because this set-up is more prone to mid-corner tightness, push or understeer ... the car doesn't get turned or "rotated" soon enough ... and you have to wait on picking up the throttle.

If you pick up the throttle much before the car is turned or "rotated" ... it will push on exit ... until the front tires grip and snaps the rear of the car loose.

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For a Modern High Front Travel/Low Roll Set-up:
You can not drive this set up as deep & brake as hard on corner entry ... because the softer front springs will unload the rear tires too much, or too quick ... unloading & ungripping the rear tires ... and the car will be loose once you really start to turn it. This is easier to do because of the softer front springs and/or higher ride heights.

You need to brake a little earlier on corner entry with this set-up ... and brake substantially softer, but hard enough to get the front end to compress ... to load the front tires for cornering grip. This is easier to achieve with softer springs and/or higher ride heights.

If you brake too long ... you will kill the corner speed. Overall, you will need to brake less ... to keep the corner speed up ... to obtain the lap time advantage. This set-up will corner well at higher speeds. The same cornering speeds that would cause a push in a conventional set-up.

If you brake too soft or too short ... the front springs will still push the front end up too early & push in the middle of the corner ... just less than a conventional set-up.

Because this set-up is more likely to turn well in the middle of the corner ... you can pick the throttle up sooner ... and roll it on harder.

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Make sense?