An Efficient Method for Treating Race Tire Force-Moment Data

Experience shows that raw data from tire test machines requires processing to obtain reliable results from complex vehicle models. Lateral force and self aligning torque data on a P275/40VR-17 Eagle ZR-S tire are processed, plotted and fitted in order to facilitate data smoothing and to provide a simple, accurate representation of the tire for race car simulations. The approach employs nondimensional variables for lateral force, self aligning torque and slip angle, so that data points for different loads all fall on the same normalized curve. Additional features of the method are described, based on investigations of passenger car tires. An efficient “reduced” test sequence is presented.