Lap Time Simulation: Comparison of Steady State, Quasi- Static and Transient Racing Car Cornering Strategies

Considerable effort has gone into modelling the performance of the racing car by engineers in professional motorsport teams. The teams are using progressively more sophisticated quasi-static simulations to model vehicle performance. This allows optimisation of vehicle performance to be achieved in a more cost and time effective manner with a more efficient use of physical testing.

Racing cars are driven at the limit of adhesion in the non-linear area of the vehicle's handling performance. Previous simulations have modelled the transient behaviour by approximating it with a quasi-static model which ignores dynamic effects, for example yaw damping. This paper describes a comparison between different cornering modelling strategies, including steady state, quasi-static and transient. The simulation results from the three strategies are compared and evaluated for their ability to model actual racing car behaviour.