Modeling Steady-State Suspension Kinematics and Vehicle Dynamics of Road Racing Cars - Part II: Examples

The methods and equations presented in Part I (SAE Paper #942505) were used to create a steady-state vehicle simulation program which runs on a personal computer. This program models the kinematic and dynamic behavior of road racing vehicles which use unequal length A arm suspensions. It is capable of modeling the outboard spring, rocker-arm, pull-rod and push-rod suspension types commonly found in road racing vehicles. Steady-state reactions to lateral, longitudinal & vertical accelerations are calculated for a vehicle, based on its basic design specifications.

Sample designs for a CART Indy car, IMSA GTS car and two properly & poorly designed Formula Fords are provided along with their computer generated modeling results.