Suspension Design Tips

This section will guide you through the basic techniques on how to design good suspension kinematics. For more advanced detailed explanations please attend one of Claude Rouelle’s “Race Car Vehicle Dynamics” seminars. For more information please visit www.optimumg.com

Process

The following steps are required to design good suspension kinematics.

·         Wheelbase and Tracks

·         Wheel Packaging (Rim, Tire, Brake Caliper)

·         KPI and Caster (Angle and Trail)

·         Roll Center (Lateral weight transfer, Track changes)

·         Lateral VSAL (Camber Change)

·         Pitch Center (Longitudinal weight transfer)

·         Bump Steer & Ackermann

Suspension kinematic design is an iterative process that requires many compromises to be made before obtaining a good result.