'.

ncil¥sis
.for .
li' chniques
. .' .
Racecar Data
cquisltio
Jorge Segers

;u" 10

, • •...,IW .'

""
l
\ .

.
I
 ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR
RACECAR DATA ACQUISITION
Other SAE titles of interest:

Hands-On Race Car Engineer

By John H. Gl immerveen
(Product Codl' ; H- .12.3)

Formula 1 Technology
By Pet er Wr igh t and Tony Matthews
( Prod uct Code; H-2.30 )

Race Car Vehicle Dynamics

By William F. Milliken and Douglas L. Milliken
(Prot/lid Code, R-N6)

Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics

By Thomas D. Gill espie
{Product Cede: R-i N )

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ii
 ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR
RACECAR DATA ACQUISITION
. J6RGE SEGERS

~·r!1
'JZHE
. /-
rnemeuone
Warrendale, Pennsylvania, USA
All rights reserved. No part of t his publication may be re pro d uce d , st ored in a
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Libr a r y of C ong ress Ca ta loging-in- P ublica tion Data

Seg ers . Jorge.
Analysis techn iqu es for racccar data ac quis itio n I Jorge Seg e rs.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7680-1655 -0
I. Aut omobiles. Rac ing--D ynami cs-- Data processing.
2. A utomobiles. Rac ing--P cr for man ce--Measurem en t.
3. Au tom obiles, Rac ing--Testing.
/. Title.
TL243.S43 2008
6 29 .228028'7~c22
2007047077

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Iv
 Preface ix
(J)
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Introduction
xi
J-
What Is This Book All About? 1
Z
What Is Data Acquisitio n?
Hardware
2
6
w
Chapter 2 Data Analysis Software Requirements
General Requirement s for Data Acquisition Soft ware 9 J-
Different Ways of Displaying Data
Keeping Notes with Data File s
9
10 Z
Mat hematical Channels
Data Overlays
Filtering
Export ing D ata to Other Software Packages
Getting Organized
11
11'
13
14
14
o
U
Chapter 3 The Basics
Check th e Car 's Vita l Signs ' 19 LL
Lap M arkers and Segm ent Times
Comparing Laps
Inertial Track Mapping
GPS and Trac k Mapp ing
21
22
26
27
o
The Beginner's Data Log g ing Kit 28
W
Ch apt er 4 Straight-Line Acceleration
Torque and Horsepower 33
--.J
Traction and Longit ud inal Slip
ABSfTCS and Slip Rat ios
35
38
CO

~
Time Versus Distance 39
The Importance of Co rner Exiting Speed 40
Drag Racing Specifics 40

Cha p ter 5 Braking

M aximizing Braking Speed 45
Braking Effort 45
Braking Points 46
Lockup 47
Brake Balance 48
Pedal Trave l 49

Cha pt e r 6 Gearing
Upshifting 51
Downshifting 54
The Gear Chart 54
Tot al Gear Rat io Channel 5S
Det ermining Correct Gea r Ratios 56

Cha pt er 7 Cornering
The Cornering Sequence 59
Traction Circle 60
Effects of Speed 62
Thrott le Histog ram 63
Steer ing 64
Attit ude Velocity 68
Front and Rear Later al Accelerat ion 68

TABI .E OF CO '\TE:'\TS v

•
Chapter 8 Qu antifying Roll Stiffness Distr ibution
Fro nt and Rear Roll Grad ient 71
Using Roll Gradients as a Setup Tool 74
Fron t and Rear Roll Angle Ratio 76
Using th e Ro ll Ratio as a Setu p Toot 78
Suspen sion Trou ble shoot ing 78
Pitch Grad ient 79

Chapte r 9 Wheel Lo ads and Weig ht Transfe r

l.~te ral W eight Transfer 81
Longitud inal We ight Transfer 83
Ban king and Grad e Effects 83
Total Wheel Loads 85
Determining Wheel Load s wit h Mod al Analysis 86
Me asu ring Whee l Lo ads wit h Suspe nsion Load Cells 93
Tire Spring Rates 94
C hassis Torsio n 95

Chapter -: 0 Frequencie s and Shock Absorbe rs

Dam ping Analysis 97
Shock Speed Histog ram 99
Intr od ucing Freq uency Analysis 10 4
Freq uen cy Analysis Versus Time -Space An alysis 107
Theoretic al Analysis 108
Susp ension Optimizat ion Using Frequen cy An alysis 1 11
Mo dal Analysis 112
Mo d al Fre qu ency Iss ues 115
N onlinear Cons ide rations 1 17
Freq uency Analysis fro m Senso r D at a 1 18

C h apter 1 ~ Aerod ynamics

A er o dynami c M easurem ents ' .' 121
Air Density 122
D ynamic Pre ssure 123
The Coastd own Test 124
M e asuring th e Aerodyna mic D ownfor ce 126
Airbox Eff icien cy 128

Chapte r 12 Ana lyzing t he Driver

Imp roving D river Performance 131
Driving St yle Evaluatio n 132
Throttl e Application 132
Braking 134
Shifting Gears 136
C ornering 136
Driving Line 137
Driving Line Analysis Using GPS 139
D riving Line An alysis Using Vid eo Feed 139
Dri ve r C on sistency over Multiple Lap s 14 0

C h a p t e r 13 Simulation Toots
Intr od uctio n 141
Suspension Kinem at ics Sim ulati on 14 2
Lap Time Simulatio n 14 3
A Simulat ed Example 145

vi
 Chapter 14 Using the Data Acquisit ion System for Developing
a Race Strat egy
Fuel Consumpt io n 149
Tire Wea r and Driver Cons istency 151

Cha pter 15 Introdu ction to Meas urement

Analog-Digital Conversion: Accuracy Implications 153
Sensor Se lect io n and Application 154
Measurement Uncertaint y 156
Temperat ure Sensors 158
Press ure Se nsors 160
Displ a cemen t Se nsors 16 1
Accel eration Se nso rs 161
Speed Sen sors 163
Stra in Gages 163
Pitot Tube 16S
O xyg en Sen sor s 165
GPS 16S
Laser Dist an ce Se nsor s 166

List of Symbols 169

Re fe re n ce s 173

Biblio g raphy 17S

Inde x 177

A b o ut the Author. 18S

T \BI.E O F c.uvn.vr- vii

•
viii
Table 1.1 Logged channels an GLPK's Dodge Yiper GTS- R

Engin e RPM Tire temperature re ar right outer

1 (measured by engine ECU)
27

Engine oil temperature Tire temperature rear le ft inne r

2 (measured by engine ECU)
28

Engine oil pressure Tire t emperature re ar left middl e

3 {measure d by engine ECU 29

Air inlet man ifold pressure Tire t empe ratu re re ar left oute r
4 (measured by engine ECU)
30

Throttle position Tire t e mpera t ure front right inne r

5 (me asured by en gine ECU)
31

lambda left Tire t emperature front righ t mid dle

6 (measure d by engine ECU)
32

Lambda righ t Tire t em perature fro nt right o uter

7 (measured by engine ECU)
33

Eng ine water t emperat ur e Tire t e mp e ratu re fron t left inne r

8 (measu re d by e ngine ECU)
34

Air tem pera t ure before throttle Tire t empe ra tu re front left middle
9 (measu re d by en g in e ECU)
35

Batte ry volt age at eng ine ECU Tire t emperature front le ft o uter
10 (m ea sured by engine ECU )
36

Internal temperature e ng ine ECU Battery vo lta g e at ADL

11 (m easu red by engine ECUl
37

Lat e ra l g-force a t cente r of qravity Differential oil temperature

12 38

l o ng it ud inal g -force at c enter Gearbox oil temperature

13 o f gravity 39

Vertical g-force at ce nt e r of gra vity Int e rn al temperature ADL

14 40

Lateral g -fo rce at front axle Tract io n control wheel spe ed front left
15 41

Late ra l g-force at re ar axle Tra ct io n co ntrol wh e el spee d fron t

16 42 right
Ste e red a ngle Tractio n co ntrol wh e el spe ed re a r left
17 43

Brak e peda l po sition Traction control wh e e l speed re ar righ t

18 44

Brak e line pre ssure front Be acon lap t ime

19 45

Bra ke line pre ssure rear ABS wheel sp eed front left
20 46

Damper posit ion front left ABS wheel speed front right
21 47

Damper p osition front right ABS wheel speed rear left

22 48

Damper posit ion rear left ABS wheel speed rear right
23 49

Damper po sition rear right Gear position

24 50 (measured by e ngi ne eCU)
Tire temperature rear right inner Gear le ve r force
25 51 (measured by e ngi ne ECU)
Tire t emperature rear right middle
26
•

1;'\'THOIJUCflON 5
 (in this case, eight) were wired to the data
logger as well for analysis and diagnostics.
• Th e team implemented lap -time simulation
softwa re and used the data acqu isition sys-
tem to help build a virt ua l mod el of th e
racecar.
More signals mea sured means more accurate
co nclusions, b ut it ofte n requires more an alysis
skills as well. Gelling th e most out of the available
cha nnels is explored in thi s book.
Hardware
Data acqu isition systems are available in vert-
ou s con figuratio ns, h ilt the)' always lrave th e mai n
co mpone nts in common (Fig u re 1.3).
F igu re 1.3 General configuratio n
ofa da ta acquisitio n sys tem
A physical parameter (e.g., pressure, temper-
at ure. spe ed, force ) of interest is captured by a se n-
sor th at tra nsform s the measu reme nt in to an
electronic signal proporti onal to thi s paramet er and
under standable to th e data logging unit. Th e most
important property of the da ta loggin g unit is th at it
stores t he measu red parame ter s in an elec t ronic
memory. An output device (co mputer or laptop )
ca n co mmun icate with the data logger via an exter-
nal link. Th is link is ve ry ofte n bid irectional because
most syste ms offer some pamm et er s to be co nfig-
ured by the user. Contro ller a rea net work (C AN )
com municat ion link s a rc becoming more popu lar
as a replace ment for se rial or parallel links because
of th e co m municatio n (download ing ami up load
ing) speed a mi the much easier addition of differ-
en t devices to the system .
Via th is or a separate com munication link, an

: ----------- j~~
Engine ECU external display can be added to the system to visu-
alize se nsor rea d ings to the drive r. Some c urre nt
';-------1'----=.:= _
Dashboard syste ms 0 11 the market arc da shboards with a n inte-
grated mem ory. In thi s ca se. th e d ashb oa rd and
data logger form one uni t. Most engine ECU s offer
Physical _
parameter the possibility'to tra nsfe r e ngine- related sensor sig-
nals to an exte rnal data logger.
Electronic signal External
Figure 1.4 gives all exam p le of a possible
proportional to communicat ion link eonfiguration. It concerns all e ngineering system
physicalparameter (serial, parallel, CAN)
from STACK Ltd . bu ilt around a CAN. The system
sta rts from a di splay syste m wit h eight possible
inpu ts (RPi\I, wate r and oil tempe rat ur e, oil a nd
Figure 1.4 An exa mple of u possible data acquisition
ha rd ware config urat jml fuel pressure, lap beacon , lateral G and speed ). Th e
dashboard measu res these values but does not store
th em . Th rough a connec t ion to a CAN, t he mea-
sured Signals a re tra nsferred to a recording module
(t he logge r). To allow more inputs to be recorded.
additiona l input modu les ca n be adde d to the net-
work (only one is pictur ed). \ Vith an interface cable,
the use r ca n link a comp uter to th e ne twork to
down load data and configure the system .
Rec ent Hardware Trends
Du rin g the last three decades, data acquisi-
tion syste ms have co me a long way and basically fol-
lowed the advances in microcontroller technology.
~· ModuIe The th ree a rea s of pr im a ry importance a re the
~-ng ­_
200Hz per ehanne! available me mory to store dat a from incr easin g
8MbJIes numbers of se nsors. th e number of possible sensor

6 CHAPTER 1
inp ut s, and th e speed at wh ich t he dat a ca n be to what actually happens in the car. A missed gea r-
down loaded to an external compute r. sh ift can be det ected immediately from th e
Available logging memory is exp ress ed in recorded engine sounds, but also wheel spi n or
megabytes (megs) or gigabytes (gigs), and micro- clutch slip can be diagnosed wit hout filtering ou t
contro lle r manufac t ure rs are able to store more the problem from different signal traces.
available memory on an ever-decreasing microchip The accuracy of track maps can be improved
area. Increasing logg ing memory results in longer greatly by adding global positioning s)'te m (C PS)
recording times or the possibility to increa se the measurement s to the data loggin g syste m. Race
number of measured cha nnels. A complete 24 -hour Technology's DLi data logger uses a 5-Hz CPS to
race ca n be record ed whil e logging a reasonable measure position and speed. CP S position acc uracy
amount of channels. depends on various factors, but combining it witl~
Th e use of external memory cards , such as
Secure Digital (SD) or Compact Flush (C F) cards is
becoming more popu lar. Th ese co me in memory
capacities of lip to 64 gigs and using th em as log- Figure 1.5
Race T('C/lII o1ogy 's DI..1
ging memory makes long download times a thin g of data logger uses a CF
the past (Figu re 1.5) . memory card as loggill:
memory. t\la xim u l1l
Modern d ata ac qu isit ion devices often are mem on) size depends 0
incorporat ed into a CAN wit hi n th e vehi cle. Th e th e card manujacturer
CAN is a serial bus syste m su ite d for networking maxim um SI)ccificati on ,
and a dow nload cable i
devices, sensors, and actu ators within a syste~n and not neces., a ry.
was developed by Robert Bosch Gmbh . It is easier
to add devices to the net work (c.g.• externa l dash-
boards, inp ut expansion boxes) and mak e th em
communicate wit h each othe r. Data t ran sfer rates
betwee n these devices arc far greate r, compared to
para llel or serial connec tions.
Th e classic downl oad ca ble plugged int o a
serial or parallel port has been repl aced hy USB
Figure 1.6 Vic/eo logging
cables allowing vast amou nts of dat a to be down -
loaded to an exter na l computer wit hi n sec onds. iSY ·Hf.
.. .. ...
-Of

--
The latest developm ent s include co mru uuicuttug
= 01' •
with the system in th e car and down loadi ng data ~ -
from it through a wireless network. Typica l transfer m _
m
rates of a Wi-Fi network are 7 to 30 meg/sec. which m '
produces acceptable download tim es.
A more popular feature of mod ern da ta ..
acquisition te chniques is th e synchroni zation of ··tttt1Qt1:!rn I=\ltt~
video images. audio channe ls, and logged data. ..
.,
Figure 1.6 shows an examp le in whic h the images
(and sounds) recorded by an in-car came ra are syn-
..
chronized with th e cha n nels logged by th e data
acquisition un it. These typ es of systems are primar-
ily intended to register dri ver action in the cockpit .
but basically a ca mera ca n be aimed at almost any-
th ing, including the car's suspension and rotating
shafts. An audio channel makes t he system even
more powerful and puts th e engineer much closer ., = =IT

i vrnonucrrox 7
 inertial correc tions {integration of lateral and longi-
tudinal acceleration}ca n significantly improve it.
CPS integ ration has two major advantages.
The qua lity of t rack maps is much better th an when
only inertial sensor signals are used to calculate the
map (Figure 1.7). A closed circuit is not required ,
making this technology suitable for rallying and
powerboat racing. For motorcycling, it greatly facil-
itates the generation of a tra ck map . In frared tim -
ing beacons that define the beginning and end of a
lap are no longer required . Th e seco nd advant age
of using CPS is the higher speed accuracy, which is
typ ically withi n O.l -O .2 % . This is far better t han
that obtatned with a magnetic pickup sensor men-
su ri ng wheel speed . Spe ed acc uracy is of vital
importa nce to calculate t he lap di stan ce, and
improving it increases th e quality of lap seg ment
calculations and lap overlays.

Figure 1.7 Track map created with CPS

.. _---
'in, :.. t'''''i!J.&,i i
.;- ~ I G- I> l e o> IJ '" l3 ~ a ,.. ~ 11. . . 1,;'

~- -- rlll!P" '

8 CHAPTER 1
 Different Ways :E;

of Displaying Data N f0-

r.
Most da ta anal ysis soft wa re pa ckages provide
different ways of presenting data graphically. Th e
n:::: '-

,. -
,;0.
~

mo st important are tim e a nd d ist an ce p lo ts, W

O do a good job , the right tools are requ ired .
X-y gra phs, and histogra ms.
I- ;::::,

:IT
8-
Tim e and Distance Plots
The most importa nt tool for data acquist- 0- :.:.:::

«
~
F ig ure 2 .1 shows th e sp eed signal of a lap
. tion engineers is t he software used to ana-
a ro u nd Za ndvoor t-c-thc upper versu s tim e , th e ~
lyze data. This chapt er acts as it gu ide for select ing ;:::
a su itable software package , and tips are g ive n on
lowe r versu s d ista nce . Com pared to th e time plot , ..-
using t his package effec tively.
t he distance plot expa nds fast sect ions of th e track
and compresses slow sec t ions.
I .>
..-
:-'"-
General Requirements
for Data Acquisition Software
Th e distance g raph iud icntes wh ere a ll even t
occ urr ed, wh ereas th e tim e g raph shows when all
U ~

:E;
:r:
eve nt occurred. Grap hs a re plott ed again st d istan ce
On a ra cetrack du r ing a ra ce event or test
beca use a ce rtai n tra ck locat ion remuin s reasonahly
:r:
;-:
session, th e ti me available to ana lyze data from the
constan t over dilh'rcnllaps and cor relating an event ..-
onboa rd logger is li m ited , T he d ata acqui siti on /.
to a ce rtain place OIl the racetrack is de sired . T ime
engineer mus t provide clear an swers in a very shor t -<
tim e. Th erefore, choo sing the right softwa re pack-
plot s are used to dete rm ine t he du rat ion of an event ..-
o r the rate of chan ge of a signa l.
age for the job is absolutely essential. :.--
T he ellgilH:"er oft en wa nts to tnvest lgatc more
Software Features '"'
th an OIl P ch ann el at a ti me . Thi s ca ll be achie ved h:\'
Softwa re pre fe ren ce s ca n vary from persoll open ing mult iple graphs 011 the com put er scree n o r
to person. but th e must impo rtan t q ues tio n to he
answered is, "D ocs the software let you c usto mize
the way th e syste m displays t he da ta to suit you r Fig ure 2. 1 Speed t races [nnn one lap amI/till
ra ndcoon -s-the find against time, th e seco nd
needs? " Look for th e follO\\'ing features: against distance
• user-definable g raph limits; m
• multichan nel display; m I
, ,I ........... 1
i I
I ,i
-,{j - - j ---t~-!-I
• multilap overlays and plot of t im e d if fe r- m

ence be tween compared laps ;

=
,.
I
. 4\.~ .
• zoo ming:
• predetermi ned display te mplates;
,,.. j
,.
II. \
,
'I
v
\.
I
II

\J -fl ~t I -'~----J
-r--r-:'
:
--r:- - ! - ._.~ ~ -- - - · - 1,
• cursor functions (e.g., cursor data poi nt values, o.

·•
I

~ I
I
V V ( I
Hiah-speed sections of the 1\
-----1 y
.

/
, '" !
,j
I
set markers, distance and time location);
• plot data versus ti me or d ist a nce , X-Y .- • track areexoanded tile I
dist~nce axis. while oW-~eed
I

. .. .J,.
I '"' I
graphs , histogram s;
• track mappi ng; -
~

m
•• •• •• ••
seCtions arecompre ~d
•• •• ow
I J.
I.'.
J

• statistica l data per lap and.lap section s; m

m
~-
V
", . I / .
• data file organization ; (f
,
,.••
m
,. ~ /
• addi ng sess ion note s to the data ;
• switching between uni ts;
" '/

I.. -" 1\ '\ r

I i

• capability of creating mathematical cha nnels; •• II '" .v

, I
I
• data filtering; *
• ,v I " I
•
• data expo rt to othe r software packages; and
• user fri end lin e ss, so ftware support , and .- •
- I

updates.
-
I:""
'M' , , , , , , , , , , , , , i I i I , i , ,
-- I

1>.-\"1".\ A~.-\U SI S SOVl1 \AHE HE<.)n Hl·: ~ 1E~T"i 9

 by placing th e required channe ls in one grap h. T he
first possibility (Figure 2.2) has the advantage of
separating all sig nals fro m each ot he r to make pat -
te r ns e asily recogn iza ble . If a ll the cha nnel s in
Figure 2.2 a re placed in one g raph, it be com es vir-
tuall y unread able. as illustrated in Figure 2.3 .
Fig ure 2.2 Mult iple traces pictured separately
Howeve r, pl acing mu lti ple cha nnels in on e
g rap h h as th e ad va ntage in th at th e !I-axis is
stretched to its maxim u m, while th e t ime (or di s-
tance ) ax is remai ns th e sa me. Variations ill th e sig-
nal are much mo re visible . Figure 2.4 pro\"ide s an
example in whic h spe ed a nd th rottle Sig na ls from
t he same lap in F ig ures 2.2 and 2.3 arc di splayed.
Most software packages offer th e use r the capability
to man ually sca le t he Sig nal axis to fi t the dat a on
the screen.
X-YGra p hs

-
- =--
tiaaoo:!i
.a ~
\ Vhe n the relation ship be twe en two Signa ls is
inves tigated , plott ing th e m ill all X-Y g raph ca ll l w
I I I I
, -- - -- I
I I
.- I~
,,-
1+
-- -- use ful . A ve ry pop ula r exa mple o f t his [c-ut ur t- is

-
- -J----- - -
om I II ~
! g iven in Fig u re 2 . .5. Th is re p rese llts t he \'('hide's
a nli" "' !
-.-
-I traction ci rcle by plo tt ing th e lat eral a~a i lls t tile
-

I ~ I I =
L------V-t .0 =
., i:iiiii 1001gitll(lillal g-fl}rce .
~ ~~
Histograms
..
.~
K/ Hi stograms represen t the dis trihu tiou or a

-""'\ ..--!~ A/l y.- - ffi\-'VW1--.J n"VlA~/ Vv-l

set of data point s into seve ral ranges. Popula r histo-

1'1' g ra ms used for rnccca r data a na l>'s is a rt' H Pi\L

I I ~ t h rot t le posit io n, am i shock veloci ty. COIll·IIIS ioIlS
.-..... ~~I~ h !~( " r ---"'r'~~ e---- w- t hat c a n he d ra w n from t he m a re cove red in

i !- I ' - -
Cha p ters 3 and 10 . l,'igu re 2 .6 shows a histog ram
of t he ve r t ical chassis movr-nn-ut or a nux -cur. Th is
I
I I g ra ph was create d to una lvz c- the eITt'l't s o r Irk-non
on t he ver tical stal,ility (If th e ca r.

Ke e pi ng Notes
Figu re 2.3 M lI1ti"le traces ill one gm l'li w ith Data Files
Th e numbe r of <lata fi les cn-uu-d t il l r il lg a ran'
weekend or test sessi on ca n [u - qu ite- suhslallti.I1 . A
prim ary contributor to th is situat ion ix t i lt' filet thut
th e vehicle's config ura tioll did not rem ain CO II .. tuut.

Even if th is were not th e case , cu vtroutncut al c-ondi-

tion s we re probab ly differen t. To avoid confusion.
an effe ct ive systc m of relatin g the reco rde d d ata to
th e ca r's co nfigu rat ion is req uired . The silllpit'st
solution is noting the file na mes for each sexsiou on
th e vehicle's setup sheet. T he ana lysis softwa re also
may feature an ed itor to add notes to the n -spc-ctivt-
I) I data files.
Som e soft wa re package s a llow a specific
11 II se tup sheet to be appen ded to euch datil fill' . Th is
ca n be very use ful, as va riou s ite ms 0 11 the shee t a re
probably necessary to perform speci fic mathemuti-
ca l operations w ith th e data . Table 2.1 is a n exam-

10 CHAPTER 2
pIe of a set up sheet crea ted in a spreadsheet. Th e
dat a analysis softwa re read s th e values in th e table
and relates them to the correc t data file using the
F igure 2.4 Stretching th e graph's y-ori s can
time noted in th e columns, sto ring them as sess ion- make signal variations easier to detect .
dependent co nsta nts. These constants then ca n be
used in mathem atical express ions (Fig ure 2.7).
Suppose ca lcu lat ion of th e front dyna mic
ride height from th e shoc k motion signals is desired .
o. f--
- -- ~.
" mr-
- ~ .~
d- I -
rj
t ~r
I •

-
~
-,
"-

V
'1;1 -f
The equat ion incorporates co nsta nts for th e front _ .- - -~
-- '/' - T- ~
static ride height and motion ratio. At th e start of
, ~ .- - - ~- ..
1,\1- -L ~ t--J
1/-'" : ~I [ ._
the test , th e front sta tic ride height is 58 mill. Be fore

~l
the ca r's next outi ng, t his is modi fied to 56 mill.
The time at that mome nt is 131100 as no ted in th e
setup shee t. Th e ana lysis software modifies th e !
• \
- - .. - - . - -
appropriate session co nsta nt an d reca lcu lates th e
, J- ..:

I
dynamic rule height cha nnel for all files recorded - -- - - . -
after 13hOO.
Occasionally. old data files nee d to be re fer-
- . .. . -- - .. . - - - ! -,--
" ..
enced . Maint aining a qualitat ive record of the car -
...i lliJ
,
- ~I !,
configuration a nd ambie nt co nditions he lps wit h
quickly findi ng informat ion. ~ ... XI'" -
Mathematical Channels
Figure 2..') [..lm gitru!i/l a! against lateral ¥.101·ce data
Asoftware featu re that is men tio ned through-
from tt m lly crm,.., heat aro rmd Ctrcnit IJllit:£'1s I)crg at
out this book is th e creation of mathe mati ca l cha n- s luasm echelen ill tl/l Opel Corea. The g"nl ph ,·cp,·e...e ll l s
nels. Calculations are performed on the logge(l (lata thi...cehicle':.. t ract ion circle.
so th at th e result s can be plott ed and an alyzed as
separate chan nels. Th e way th ese channels are cre -

..
ated can \'ary bet ween d ifferent software packages,
but th e follOWing ope rations should be po ssible : ,"".
• add/subt ract . ..~

• multiply/divide. ..~

•
•
saine/cos ine /ta ngent.
diffe rentiat e/i ntegrate , and
• average.
--
..""
•.
•.
••
Th e software often feat ures the capability to r'.M
!.,
include co nsta nts th at ca n be used in th e mat h ; .'20
~ ...
expression s (Figu re 2 .8).
~4. ta

Data Overlays
On e of th e most powerful feat ur es of data
analysis softwa re is overlaying graphs from sepa rate
-•.
•.....
laps. If a softwar e package doe s not support this .......
",

option , buy a nother syst em ! Th is technique is

extremely useful in analyzing set up changes. d rive r .,..
·'~.:-
!=--;;•.•_=---;.".".,;;;----:.;:_=--;..,..=-~u;----:.....
;;:;;---;•._
;:;;:- -;."".,
•
=---;.;;.... ,
:;;;--";';:, ....
consistency, and performance cha nges due to vary- -~~..,

ing ambient cond itions. I n mu lt icar te ams or in

f) \TA . \ "\ " \ l.Y~ I S ~ ()Fn \ \ HI: IIrl..,)l "IH E \lC\ TS 11

Ta b le 2.1 MoTeC session comtont setup sheet

MoTeC Device: AD L
Serial No : 834
Vehicle: Vip er Cll
M oTeC Session Constant Setup Utility
Filename: ADL834.mcs 12/ 10/2004
Last W ritt en: 15 :50:43

Dat e Initial 12/oktl04 12/oktl04

Time Initial 13hOO 13h1 7
Test Spa: Test Spa:
Long Name Short N ame ChannellD Unit s Ou ti ng 1 Ou ting 2
Vehicle G eneral
Wh eelbase Wb ase 20400 mm 2418
W hee lbase-Left W baseL 20 44 2 mm 2418
Wh eelb ase-Right W baseR 2044 3 mm 2418
Track-Front TrackF 20401 mm 1654
Track-Rear TrackR 20402 mm 1722
Total Weight-Front TWghtF 20403 kg 577
Total Weight-Rear TWghtR 20404 kg 697
Static Ride Height- Front
, 5RHghtF 20409 mm 58 56
Static Ride Height- Rear 5RHghtR 20410 mm 97
Static Weight-Front Left 5WghtFl 20426 N 2894
Static We ight-Front Right 5WghtFR 20427 N 2766
Stati c W eig ht-Rear Left 5Wght Rl 20428 N 3502
Stat ic W eight-Rear Right 5Wgh tRR 204 29 N 3335
Ackerm an Factor AckFact 20444 %
Suspension Constants
Roll Bar Rate-Front RB R F 20405 kg/ mm 60 .21
Roll Bar Rate-Rear RBR R 20406 kg/mm 21.57
Spring Rat e-Front Left Sprng FL 20407 kg/mm 28 32
Spring Rate-front Right Sprng FR 20408 kg/ mm 28 32
Spri ng Rate-Rear Left Sprng RL 20440 kg/m m 32
Spring Rat e-Rear Right Spr ngRR 20441 kg/ mm 32
Static Roll Center Height-Front 5RCHtF 20430 mm 46.19
Sta tic Roll Cent er Height-Rear 5RCHtR 20431 mm 50.49
Motion Ratio-Front Left MRat FL 20434 1.373
Mo tion Ratio-Front Right M Rat FR 20435 1.373
Motion Ratios-Rear Left M Rat RL 20436 1.72 5
Motion Ratio-Rear Right MRat RR 20437 1.725
Motion Ratio Roll Bar-Front M RatRBF 20438 1.495
Motion Ratio Roll Bar-Rear MRat RBR 20439 1.5 50
Front Antidive FrAD ive 20423 % 36.7
Rear Antisquat RrASqt 20424 % 73 .8
Driveline
Diff Ratio DiffR 20411 4.10
G ear Ratio 1 GearR1 20412 8.57

12 CHAPTER 2
end urd nce racing whe re multiple drivers share the slowe r movements . Filte ring is a use ful but so rne-
same car. data ove rlays ca n ind icat e d iffe ren ces in limps dangero us too l hecause t he risk exists that
dri ving style . relevant high-fre qu e nc), eve nts are rem oved from
In Figu r e 2 .9, speed t ruces are ove rlaid fro m the Sig na!. In ge neral. use fi lteri ng as litt le as
two laps around Silverstone C ircuit. \Vhen compar- poss ible.
ing tw o laps , begin w ith th e speed trace s be cau se H gu r e 2. 10 shows a damper signa l logged at
th e int e nti on of eve ry cha nge in se t up or d river ,=:> O li z (da rk ~nly-('olored trace ). The lighte r t race
act ivity is to influence th e vehicle spe ed, First find rep resents t he sa me dampe r signa l filtered at four
where th e gains an d losses a re, a nd then find o ut sa mples , T hi s mea ns t hat ev e ry d at a point is
why they occur. I'e plal'ed h~' the aHorage of th is po in t and the four
When overlayin g diffe rent traces, it is prefer- samples at eit her side of it.
able to plot th em again st cove red di sta nce . Wh en
the r -axts is tim e . th e t wo tru ce s tend to d i\'l'rgt'
ove r th e duration of the lap. D ifferen t lap ti mex
mea n d iffe re nt t u nes we re measured to ,~('f 10 a Fig ur(' 2.li 1fi."tognw l ofchussis IWll n : motion
given poi nt on the racetrack.
Th e software usu ally calc ula tes the lim e dif-
ference between the two laps hei ng compared , The
--
......
rJllES
_ .t-.._ .~ ,_J«l,

w , 'm
.........:r- "/llIIJOOoI '19""" -, (5f)i

Pi Toolb ox soft wa re fro m which Figure 2.9 was

taken calc u lates t ile cu mula tive t ime d iffe n ' ll('{'
- ,
_ _ _ ....1_

..
0• •
betwee n two laps, Lap ove rlays a rc covered furthe-r
, 0·" 0
in Ch a pter 3 . ,~ o

, " 0

.'J..
"0
Filtering • ~ IlII

ri ~
Da ta fil teri n~ or. more appropriately smooth - ~

iog, is a process in which d at a poi nts a rc an 'ra~( 'd •••

~ .
I
over a given ti me interva l. Th is suppress es tl u- -~

higher fre q ue ncie s in th e Sig na l and en lnuu-es till>

lower freque ncies. Filt ering rem oves noi se from thr-
Signal or condition s th e signa l for th e ana lysis or
I
,
.~~ 11'>"11 .~ - '"
-~,,. nftrr,,-- ~ -

Table 2 .1 (continued)

Gear Ratio 2 Ge arR 2 20413 5.94

Gear Ratio 3 Ge arR3 20414 4.64
Gear Ratio 4 GearR4 20415 3.74
Ge ar Ratio 5 GearR5 20416 3.14
Gear Ratio 6 GearR6 204 17 2.78
Gear Ratio 7 :- GearR7 20418
Aer o Con stants
Rear Wing Angle RWn gAng 20425 deg 0
Splitter Height Front 5pl.HF 20432 mm 65
Splitter Angle Front 5pltAgF 20433 deg 0.6
Amb ie nt Conditio ns
Static Ambient Temperature 5AmbT 20419 C 15
Stati c Ambient Pressure SAmbP 20420 kP. 100
Track Temperature -: TrkTmp 20422 C 17

1l\ 1 \ " ' 1 ' ...1'.. ...0 1'1"\\" \1:1 -: HU .ll' IIIE ' IE" '" 13
 Th e filt e r tim e ca n he ca lcu lated usin g chassis movem ent) is much clearer. On th e other
Equa tion 2.1 . In thi s equation, 11 is th e number of hand , information dealing with high- speed move-
samples in th e filter inte rval. Th e filter tim e in th e ment, such as road irregula rities or nonsuspended
example is 8/ 50 H z = 0.16 s. mass effects, is lost. Th e maximum defle ction of th e
damper also se ems smaller. Preferably. display fil-
2 'n tered graphs as shown in Figure 2.10, with th e fil-
Filter time > - - c:-- :-- - - I Eq 21 )
sampling frequency
tered signal in a light color and the original tra ce in
a darke r ba ckground color to view wha t is occur-
The lighte r trace has th e ad vant age in th at
rin g at the high er fr equencies. If chan ne ls a re
th e slow movem ent of th e d am p er (induce d by
includ ed in mathematical exp ressions. use th e ra w
c han nel instead of th e filte red one, Afterwards, th e
Figure 2.7 Th e set up cO l l .... tunts ill Tabl e 2. 1 c a ll be math channel can be filtered if necessary.
u!;cd ill the Mo TeC ullalysis soft wa re ill mathemati cal
expression s. Exp orting Data to Oth e r
Software Pa cka g es
So met imes data logging software does not
h a nd le ever)' analysis requ iremen t . It may h e
10 requi red to export data into other software p ackages
""'"
'''''' such as spreads heets . math em atical softwa re , and
"""
''''01 lap time simulat ions. Most software packages can
""'
20013" expor t logged data ill ASCII (Ame rica n Standard
Co de for Inform ation Interchange ) or CS V~ fi: )fJ n at
""'" (co mma-sepa rate d va lues ). T hese a re essentia lly
text for mats th at can be read hy basic text ed itors,
spreads hee ts, or mat hem atical analysis software .
Appli cations for data expo rt can deal with
fuel st rategy, running logs for th e ca r, Fourier anal -
yses OI l shoc k ah sorb er motion . a nd lap tim e ximu-
lat ion referen ce laps. Tab le 2.2 is an exa mp le 01"
how t he ~ 1oTe C Int erp rete r software expo rts {he
wheelspeed and throttl e posit ion s i~ ll a ls of a lap
Figu re 2.8 Examples of mat fU' I1l (/licll l seg me nt to a CS V file.
channel defillit ioll...

Define Math Functions .'

, Getting Organized
I\.1os1 popular softwa re packages provide a
O"d """ I""'"' Flo..""" I u_..?"".....1s...." """"",,,I number of ways to configu re the software to suit dif..
No c.Ie c.Iedo'on til
is fe reut needs. This configuration should be done
'j "
" <S
,," E xpr euion ~G {calcr-s .81~mJ $""'GP ConstIlnl9'"O .001~1 1~
'Total powtII @M1eeIs'
I before arriving at the race tra ck. A good impre ssion
,," flO! ~. (S~l'Tolaipowel @""-'s' as 1ota1~ @_~ F.(·- ~--=- ~
"'" is nut made whe n the d isplay te mplates still need to
.. I,," ExpressionUlhake Hyd fdc Pre.. Frorfl(tlrake HYlifdc PT~ · Fronl'."Br"e
HYlifdc PTes · Re¥l1'100) 5S 'Brake bot IrQrl' """" I he organized when a prin tout of spee d, th rottle. ami
- Lood
I HPM data is needed. Preparat ion is everyth ing.

I" ,,"
E xpr~ ((ATNfRoi konrrr,ack · Fronl')J"Condllnl ' Dea_ 10A.o..) at 'Rei
.engIo ken: (r_r
Channel Grouping
.. ~--
S.....
. I Di splay te mplates ar e often preprograTllma~
f ,," EICPfO$$ion {lATNCRoife«'rr ,d.· A ~ · Degrees 10AIlIi.lnsIat 'Rei

.. ,,"
lIr'lgIelNl {tawT

flO! ~ · um SeconcIsl'Relltrge ftont (~5S _'R~ -Je 1r0l'll F.(·

:i1
.. hie , allowing user s to choose which cha nnels th ey

. " ,,"
51) FJM · l ,l1Xl SOCXll'lds 'RoI .engIo leal J~at~~ ~ ~_f 4' want to di splay toget her. This is a matter of pre fer-
~

" .. ;:\"
n. ~._ .••• : .~ Un.. ........ . ~ ..... L .~. ' •• ...",.,. ~ •. • • I • • • • • " " . . .... . . . .... , . . . . . ~ ..

~ ' e nce, hut a ll signals relat ed to th e sam e type of

,..,. "," , I:.r<oI -.~ ,
~~r I Hoi>'!I}~;, ~~,. _,: .
0;; ,.
-
a nalysis should be groupe d togethe r. The Iollowtng
list can be used as a guide :

14 CHAPTER2
 1. Vital Fu nc tions
engine RPM, engi ne water a nd oil tempera-
t ure, oil pressure, gea rbox and d iffe rent ial
tem perature, batte ry voltage
2. Ge a ri ng
veh icle speed, engine RPM , th rottle po sition,
gea r rat io
3. Fuel Co nsump tion
fuel pressure, fuel level, fuel used , fuel pe r lap
4. Eng ine Perform ance
speed , en gin e HPM , manifold air pressure,
air tempe ratu re inlet manifol d
5. Lambda
engine RP,\l, th rottle position, lambd a
6. Driver Activ ity
speed, throttle position, stee ring angle, brake
pedal position
Sensor Prep
Befor e ar riving at th e track, ma ke sure th at
all sensors are properly calibrated , the dashbo ard
programmed, and the correct sampling freque ncies
set. Suspension potentiometers, stra in gages, steer-
ing angle sensors, accelerometers, and brake pres-
sure sen sors should be zero ed when th e car is on th e
setup pad . Also, remem ber th at th e developme nt of
math ematical functions is not a trackside job!
F igure 2.9 OCCJ"lay of two hIps arou lld Silvers to llc
Circu it pc,jiJrmcd with th e Pi Toolbox package. TIll'
lime compare channel show... uhe re time i.o; gained
orlost.
CID'DIIJell
>"-'-"

7. g-foree
spe ed , g-force lateral, longitu di na l, ver tical,
co mbined g-lorct's
8. Bra king
speed, g-for('t' longitud inal, bra ke pedal post-
tion, brake line pre ssures
9. Damper Posit ion Raw
speed , damper poxitiou channels
10. Holl a nd Pitch Angle
speed , lateral and longitu dina l g-forct's , roll
angle, pitch a n1!:le
11. Wheel Load
spe ed , lateral weight t ra nsfer, longit ud inal
weight t ra nsfcr
- -
~"' .rn ..

12. Unde rs teer/O vcrs tccr

speed , th rottle posit ion. front latera l g-force, F ig ure 2.10 Raw and fil tered signal
rear later al g-force
13. Ope n Template
Use whe n putt ing signals t()gethe r t hat do not
fa ll und er t he prcp rog ram med di spl ay
templates .
Cha nnel Colors
Assign speci fic co lors to specific c ha nnels.
For example, all sensor signa ls related to one wheel
share the sa me color. A cha nnel that comes back in
diffe rent di splay tem plates shou ld have the sa me
color. Choose appropria te hackgrou nd colors. Make
t hings eas),.

1)\1".\ \ ' ,\ I .\ "il " "'lI n \\ \1 :1: n D ) t IH E\n:YrS 15

 Example Checklist • a USB drive (conven ient to tran sfer dat a
Figure 2.11 is a chec klist tha t was du plicat ed bet ween different users), and
fro m th e Pi System 6 software manual. \Vith th e • a digital weather station.
exce p tio n of a co up le of items, it ca n be used for
Basic Tips
any data acq uisition system .
When tr an sporting a car to th e racet rack, it is
Pitbox Setup no rmal to tak e spa re parts. Th e sa me goes for th e
Set up the computer equipment in th e pitbox da ta acquisition system. Not only sho uld criti ca l
at a locati on whe re it docs not di stu rb th e mech an - se nso rs he wit h in reac h in case of failu re hut so
ics (F ig u re 2 .12 ) . A table w ith a co uple of chai rs in shou ld cabl es, connect or s, and other spare equip-
n co rner of th e pttbox are jllst fine for p repa ri ng m ent. Budget s have a sa)' in th is, hut it is always
an alysis wo rk and holdi ng d iscussion s w ith the driv- bette r t o have backup solutions.
ers. ~I a ill l~' a matt e- r of pre fere nce an d hud get , the Download the data I0!Z1?;e r en' r~· tim e th e ear
[ollowillg r-qui pnu-ut is rccouunended : e nters because eve n 1'OII001t laps ca ll provide relc-
• laptop w ith a ll cxtc ruu l nHH1S(~. vunt in form at ion . When ana lyz ing the data , hegin
• color printer,
• data dow nload cable,
• in stall ati on C D of t he d ata acqui sition
software-. Tab le 2 ,2 Exallll,lc of /lOW data i s expo rted into (J

CSI'fife

Fo rmatMoTeC CSV File "

Venue."Spa "
Figure 2.1 1 Trocks idc checklist f or Pi Syste m 6
Vehicle," Dodge Viper GTS/ R"
,<uifi fr tln' (Co flrie,\' y of l 'i Rcsearcls}
Use r,"A nt ho ny"
Typi c al proc edure s: V ersi on 6 Profe s sio n al

Set PC COImU'I IaIIiofl

Name clala Io99ingIys l~m
~ r&I"""
~tl l tn>e
_.....-.....I~t lon

Setup
Data Source," MoTeC ADL 2222"
Co m me nt ,"R l SB+1 HSB+1 R ~ b+2 RARB HIS"
Date." 17/ 0 3120 0 4"
Time,"1 4 :S6 :2 1 "
Soilt d and drivw do\.llila
$tit do wnload directories
ChooseJuI'lC:bgn boxe s
calibrate "noon a nd charln ..l.
St:l System wMellpeod and RPM fi~
fnllime l . llChIr ad!,
ru l limll I each trad
~rtlt """

f,..1 I" " .. I ch""ll'" sensors

lime I d'Iarlge I onson,
""
-,- ,
,-~;;;';"Setup

"""'
Sample Rate," 10.240"
Duration, " 14 .648"
Seg ment." Lap 1 · 2:19.94 1 "

t,
O>oose Le U d\a ,.,..,.t, and lo9<;l'n<;l O1t.Ila
O1ooI e MRC dIaroet. 1nd bggng atIeria ~
f" slI,mll I e a ch track
tnt time ' eadl lrack
r..st tim .. t e ach \r.ldo
..."
Setu p

Se tup
W5pd FL,"TP" •
Whee l Speed . Fro nt Le ft ,"Th ro ttl e Posit ion ",
~ Sol "'armsand I. . .. rnt timo / ead'l lrd Setup
;; r enl-~ me km/ h."% ",
::;;;::;::;:::;~.Setup
~'"
Set tNld-of-lap and lo&l<lrn<Mry
Sot-~lI!IIotnttry ..ach trad< .
fn t timo , eachiraQ:;
17 0."2".
each Irnd< ( E~cet Of Aoooss)
-~_'-"':e iM:h Iria'~- setup
firsl time f oew ~ Selu p 211 .0 ,"80.8" ,
Mdl \rKl('~-~;':.:==:::'1~ !...~ 211 .1," 79.8" ,
.a.;nlrad< t <;ha"9" lOOSOl'S Set up

L~E:j~~~~~~%"" ~L,,;'".<-
~===E~:c 2 10.9,"79 ,5",

--
21 2.5, "8 0 .1",
2 12.9,"95.2 ",
Mok e and adjud U.p 2 12 .6," 100.0",
~ and ~ bMi::ioni 2 12.0," 10 0 .0" ,
212 .6, "1 00.0",
214 .0, "100 .0",
21 4 .6,"100 .0 ",
2 14 .9," 100.0",
21 5. 9," 95 .9" ,
21 5.9,"92.7",
217 .1," 91 .4" " , ,

16 CHAPTER 2
wit h t he vital cha n nels : en gine an d driveli ue tem -
pe ratures, pressures, a nd batt ery voltage. Ensure
t ha t no s t ra nge thin gs arc happening before
add ressing th e perfor ma nce data, eve n if th e driver
is sta nd ing nearby, shou t ing that the car is not
dri vable !
Listen to the dri ver : it is much easier to kno w
what to look for. T he n, ob serve what th e car is doing
(e.g., speed , accel erat ion, driver activit y) be fore
tryi ng to understa nd \\'hy it is doi ng th is (c.g., shock
data, stra in gages). Rem ember tha t the spee d trace
is whe re it all happens. A stopwatch d et ermines
whe the r a lap is a slow or q uick o nc , h ut the speed
~rap h te-lls whe-re time is gained or lost.
D o not fo cu s 0 11 1)' 011 the fa st est lap i ll a .'1 <'.'1 -
sion; ana lyze all bps undlook for cou xisteuc-ies and
inconsistencie s. Re member that tra ffic on the race-
track can huve a cons iderable influen ce 011 lap lime.
One la st tip : Look fo r t he obviou s fir s t.
De termine whi ch channel s a re expected to show
d iffere n ce-s afte r a set up cha nge . T Ile effect s or
acrodvn a uu c eha nges mo st likely show up in t ln-
sp('ed awl whee l-loud t race s.

Fh~lI r(' 2. 12 Try 10 fill d se parate .\"/JlI ce in th e pitbox

10 do (lllalysi.\" ico rk . (Co urtes y uJGLrK Ha d,,;!.)

,-",- - - ...
V@)b1EJfJ:lt1fMl '
 I

18 CHAPTER 2
 • speed of eac h whe el,
• front a nd rea r axle lateral acceleration ,
• vertica l acceleration,
• ti re pressures,
• ride height ,
• suspension load s (st rain gauges),
• tire tempe rat u res,
• brake di sc tempe ratures,
• yaw speed (gy rosco pe),
• propshaft torque ,
• aerodyna mic pressUl"l~s (pitot tubes). and
• gear lever force.
T his list can go on , am i of course t'llgill('t' rs
always ask them selve-s what cxactlv thcv wuut to
Ill{';lslln~ , Spt'eific nee-ds n-qu iu- spt'cHi<: vlunuu-ls
to Illg. Most te-ams start data.logging th l' six ba sic
cluuuc ls a nd then exte nd th e syste m step hy step as
the )' ga in more experie nce ill a na lyzillg t ho da ta ,
Ana lysis oft en provid e s as Illany an swer s as it does
new qu est ion s. Howeve r, suspens ion 1II0\'ClIlent is
usually the next logical ste p. \ Vhen inn 'sti ng ill u
svstcm, keep in mimi th e num ber or signals may he
(','\t(,I1 <1(·<I in th e future , which impact s t he w iri ng
lmruess. ava ilable memory, a nd o ther hardware ,
TI I(_~ e ng ine e le ctro nic co nt ro l un it (EC U)
of te n fe atu re s it s ow n da ta logge r tha l records
engi ne-s pecific dat a . T his syste m sho uld he capable
{II" t:o mlllllnieating to t ln- external data acq uisition
unit logg ing th e ch a ssis-relut ed p.uumcn-rs. In this
way. the signals fro m the e ngine ECU can II(' tran s-
fcrn-d am i overlaid wit h lap -t iming beacon s. Fo r
engine pe rforman ce a nalysis, th e most important
sig nals me t' ugine HP~ 1. t hrott le positio n, la mbda.
and uirbox pressure .
Example of Parameters
Tabl e 1.1 provid e s an overview of th e param-
et ers logged from th e G LPK Hacing's Do<lge Viper
duri ng th e 2004 Belgia n GT season . T he syste m
used was a ~1 nT('C ad van ced dash logge r (AD L)
wit h an internal memory of 10 Mb . communicating
wit h the eng ine EC U to receive a ll e ng ine -rela ted
cha nnels.
Most engi ne pa ra mete rs are recor ded by the
e ng ine manage me nt syste m and se nt to th e data
logger th rough a se rial link. Th e loggin g unit mea -
surcs and stun -s ge a rhox a mi differenti al tcmper a-
tu n -s as additional vital cha nnels.
4 CHAPTER 1
The six ba sic channe ls are a ll present: eng ine
RPM, vehicle speed, th rott le position , stee ring
angle , and lat eral and lo ngit ud ina l acce leration .
Th ere are fi ve d iffere nt g-force cha nne ls. Lateral ,
longitud inal , and vertical acceleration a re measured
by a th ree -axis g-force sensor locat ed near th e car's
center of gravity. In add itio n, two lat e ral g-force
sensors are located o n th e front and rear axle . Th ese
are conve n ien t for a na lyzi ng un derste e ring and
ovcrstccrt ng.
Th e re are eight wheel-spee d signals recorded
by tile loUing uni t . This Inigllt seem a hit excessive.
hu t this particu lar car was eqUipped wit h all engine·
controlled t nu-tiou control systc lIl (T CS) am i, COIII-
plt'tt'I~' separate from th is, all uutihx-k luukc systeJll
(1\ 13 5 ). Beca use t he team uses se pa rate whe el-
speed sensors for hoth systems, a failure in om- does
not affect t he ot her. All eight sig nals a re logge d 1(11'
an alysis as well as di ag Jl(lst i<: purposes.
Th re e se nso rs indi cate wha t occ u rs ill th e
!lrakill g syste m. Th e a moun t of pedal e ffort by th e
d river is reco rded by a linear potr-uttouu-t cr. Bra ke
line prcssures a re logged as wel l. III addit ion to
bein g usefu l for a na lysis, brake line pre ssure rcud-
outs make it easier to adjust the hrukc balan ce.
Suspe nsion t ravel is measu red by fou r po ten -
tiometers mounted on th e shock ab sor be rs. Th ree
locations pe r ti re measu re tire sur face temperatu re,
which accounts for another twelve sensor signals.
Table L I a lready rep resent s fifty-one cha n-
nels th at a re d irectly logged. Fr om these . the a na ly-
sis software c a lcu lates a no t he r seve nty-t h ree
channels , wh ich br ings tile tota l to 124. Getting lost
becomes a pot ential risk. In th is ease, th e inves t-
me nt in such a system and 1.1 11 th e se nsors was jus ti-
fied bv several reason s:
• T he ch am pion ship consiste d of seven races
on th ree different racetracks, To cont inu-
ou sly im prove th e veh icle a nd driver pe r-
form a nce , more data was required.
• D uri ng th e 2004 se as o n , th e team wa s
developing a semiactive hydraulic suspe n-
sio n syste m. Veh icle d yn amic parameters
were measured to co mpa re to th ose me a-
su red using th e conven t iona l suspe nsion .
• Tra ction control and th e ABS requi red four
wheel-speed sensors anyway. so those signals
 graphs must be exam ined to ensure that everyt h ing VJ

is working like it sho uld . M U

To check for de ficiencies in the signals, begin
with a graph covering the complete run (F ig u r e n:::: -< VJ
~

uch of the wo rkload for th e data acq ui-

3. 2). The data was obtained from th e first slint of a
24·hour race in Zolder, Be lgium, from a Do dge
Viper. Thi s example shows engine RP M, oil and fuel
W
r- - ~

sition engineer consists of comparative
analysis. Compa ring data from differ -
e nt laps or run s wit h previously collected dat a
reveal s th e e ffect of set up changes or driver perfor-
man ce. Most data a nalysis package s offer simi la r
techniques for compari ng different data se ts. Th is
chap te r cove rs th ese te chniques and p rovides a
basic interpretation of th e patterns showin g up in
th e most often used sensor signal s.
Check the Car's Vital Signs
W hen ana lyzing data , reliabili ty and safe ty
ar c t he first pr iority. The re is not a lot of perfor-
m ancc in u ca r t hat's sta ndi ng still when compa red
to one Oil tln- racet rack! Muke su re all preSSl1n'S,
tem pe ra tures , a nd voltages ar e safe before a na lyz-
ing per form ance. A deficiency in these signals may
explai n a lack of pe rfor ma nce .
T he most importan t cha nnel s to check a rc
engin e oil pressure, e ngine water and oil te mpera -
tu res, tran smi ssion oil te mpe ratu res, batte ry volt-
age, ftlel pressure, and (maximum) engine HP ~ 1. To
t-
pressure, engine oil and water temperature. gearbox c,
and differential oil te mpe ratu re, and battery volt-
age. The advantage of examining a com plete run is
th at t rends in th e signals can be recognized eas ily.
I Il Figu re 3 .2, all fluid temperatures rise to a maxi:
«
I
mum value, aft er which th ey stabilize. Engine oil
pressure is slightly high er at th e beginning of th e U
stint wh en th e e ng ine has not re ach ed op erating
tempera ture. After that, it stabilizes to around 5.5
bar. E\'er ything se e ms to be working fine he re.
When some thing ab normal is d iscove red , focus on
the specific eve nt and investigate th e problem .
In Fig u re 3.3 , a grap h shows th e resu lts of a
qu ali fying run aro und the Silversto ne Circuit. T he
a lternato r belt fails on th is ca r and as a resu lt t he
batt e ry \"oltage grad ually drops. At t he beginn ing of
the run , t he batter y voltage is approx ima tely 10 V,
which is aln-ady too low. Invcstigatlons of the prev i-
ous rU II ind icat e the problem began the re (and th at
it should have been dealt with already!).
Figu re 3 .1 Statistics table lL'ith minim u m, maximum,
at:erage ra llies for each cha nnel
(J1Il 1

these . reliahilit y indicators such as tire pressu res,

brake pressun's, dutch pressures, ami en gin e knock
signals should he adde d. I D ~.Yld Status SU'tITllIfY
E........l.oo · 3
All ea sy way to check th e vehicle's vital signs I
is by using th e tabular report shown in F igure 3. 1.
N.... loin 101.. A F Sob 10 U~ il"!i
This tabl e shows t ile minimum , maximum , and ~ · F_ Ldt 0.0' 228,6 133.1 10 <8640 110' kmIh twl,
average values for each logged channel for the dura- GForce ·latefa ·1.n , 1.74 .(1,23 2 9768: 15 G
~ O""'" 0: 4782 2332 1 4884 : 125 m
tion of th e run or a single lap. Some software pack- ~ngile Rpt,t OJ &SZ2 «« 10 <8640
ages ca n hi ghli ght values wh en t hey exceed a ~ngne OJ Pteuue .(1.142 6.500 5.360 5 2442D, '''''''
14 boo
~ngne TetJ1) 54.0 91.0 78.0 1 4884 · SC
user-defined alarm value. F~Preuuo 2.36ll 0.400 7.991 5 24C)i 12 boo
Some ca re must be tak en when interpreting IIYOOIo_ 0.01 100.0 41.3 5 2442D 2:t
~,'{,!-"", "ADL lW, 14.14 13.98 2 9768 1012 V
th e values in thi s table , In Figure 3 .1. the minimum ~_~ OJ T efIl) 35,6 lD2.6 SJ.o 1 4884 13 C
/1M PreAue • Mridd B2.ll 1~.o 90.4 5 2442D 3 kP.
value for engine oil pressure is zero, but this value
FuelUoed"'" Lop 0.00 2.92 2.10 1 4884 7410 I
was obtained whe n the ca r halted in the pits at zero Slake PecWPosDon -51.7 34.3 2.1 5 2442D 3911 1M'
S"""odAnoje .2S2.2 240.3 2S.9 5 2442D 4SD5
engine R P~ f. This is a p retty st raightforward con -
elusion, hu t t hese values Illay be h id ing a not her
FuelUoed
nit: m TN'IY'I
0.11
"'.
104.n
'II'
50.11
"'.
1
1 .....
4884 1OOIl1
:n:rI r. -",

problem in t he data. T hat is why one cannot n -lv

solely on a stat istics table to check vita l Signals. The o.ecl<iUii ........ CIOie

T il E 1lr\ SI CS 19
 T he de cre asin g power of t he batter)' had
some side e ffects th at beco me clear from this graph
as wel l. The fuel pu mps ca nn ot mainta in the desired
fue l pressu re . Th e more th e batt ery voltage d rops,
F igu re 3.2 Th is graph shows the car's vital signs f or
the bigger th e drop in the fuel pressure signal.
a complete run.
At th e end of t he run , t he re is a su dde n

.- -
~r4ph ~ Nonn41 1.,og-.. YJI41 f unctlo rn , .,100 4Q81H III8)40:J.ldlUel1, lo ldel. 21IOS12LlD4, 6:J9jW111 '" ~. f . ~ "" .,., ; ... -
cha nge in th e th ree pictured tem peratu re channels
,.,~
(engine oil, water, and gea rbox te mperat ure ). Th ey
( 31.1 cha nge to default values th at t he ECU uses whe n a
se nsor is not wo rking. Obvtouslv. the d rop in bat-
tery voltage causes tile senso~-s to malfunction .
T he problem in thi s exam ple was e asily
....
.... det ect abl e . So me times it is no t that obvious. am}
•.", ~ . th e d iagn ostic sig ns are much ilion ' sulu lc uud hid-
,.an
non
Oil pressure is higher when engine is still cold
.. ~ f .."rPl.,...... fu 1 l' 2IJ'J dell ill th e data. The data enginecr should dc\'('lop a
feci for tile norm al patt erns of t he ca r's vitul signs
'"~ ,.~-
~'V
~
~
~
~ so that po tenti al p rohle-ms can h e det e ct ed carl." .
~
~
~ m . \, .- r ~,
T he ca r ill t his par ticular exampl e ha lted ne xt to
the t rack, mea nin g there were two p roblems:
n,
~ Temperatures stablize
l~
c • T he d ata ac q uisit io n c ng inee r d id not
.,:g 7 noti ce th e problem ill tlu- data from tIl{'
li .......... nl T . n ", Oil iT ."'~,
, ., , , p re viou s run .

.:y~.&: . m
••
: , 1

"."00
u"W IT: 'P. ~ , W

• Th c d river did not notice the p rohlcllI d ur-

,,.,- - -- - - - -"'-- - '""""''''''""'''"JI;I'
100 ' ---- - - --,..---- - ing driving or did no t get a warni ng.
,. 10
~
12 ,~ ~ 18 M n ~ a u ~ u ~ ~
1~
~ ~ Q

Mut lrcuratical chunue ls ca ll help vixuulizc-

ala rm va lues in th e ca r's vitals. Cond itional l'XpW S-
Figure 3 .3 Effect... of a broken a l te r/HI /or bell
sions ca n he crea te d to gi\ 'c a value- of one if a vttnl
c ha nnel exceeds or drops licloo - a pre-dete rlll inc d
value. For insta nce . a low oil pressure alar m cha nnel
F~p,.es~el

1 8.38_ I assumi ng a va lue of one as SOO Il as uil pressu re d rops

10.0 QoeortIo x TtfflP
".00 tJso.O-C bclowS bar whi le t he engine HP." is greater th.m
:3,000 ca n be de fined as shown ill El/ lI 11 t;O Jl 3 .1.

LowOP =(Oil pressure < 3) . (eng ine RPM > 300 0)

(E' / 3 1)

,·t==1=t-=+==+==~==I:==t~:..:J~~t14t:t;z~\I
' ' '.' I
~~~n;~e sudden ~ . \ L
T he resu lting channel is shown ill Figure 3.4.
Mo st racec ar data acquisition syste ms ca n

, A ~1.."'- A.... \A configure t he driver d ispl ay by adding alarm mes-

..., sages in case of a prob lem or sendi ng an output sig-

"" Ir r ru nr n 11 ~ 1 hn lnl lnll n na l to a wa rning ligh t. Mak e sure that if somethi ng

~ J UWIll UU UWW UUU~ W UIJ l goes wro ng, th e dri ver ge ts a clear wa rning. Also
thi nk about priori ties whe n determining the right
DFcreasi 9 bette vottag
------.. ~ a lar m values. In th e exa mple shown in Figure 3.4,

.. ..
, t he drive r gets fue l p ressure a larm t hat ove rrides
,ro
- .. ,
the low-battery wa rn ing.

20 CHAPTER 3
 Lap Markers and Segment Times Grea t care should be taken in placing impor-
tance on t he th eore tical fastest lap because a slower
Performance ana lysis usually begins with fig-
tim e in one segme nt ca n result in a faste r tim e in
u rin g out wh ere on th e track time is gaine d o r lost
the next. Th e d river may take a d riving line th rough
befor e actual events a rc inve stigated. A quick way
one corn er that is faste r in t he particul ar cor ne r but
to assess this is to investigate lap segme nt times.
co mpromises speed in th e next one. Missing brak-
Lap t ime s a rc det ermined by th e a na lysis
ing poi nt s al so ca n cause incon sist e nt seg me nt
software me asu ring the t ime it ta kes for th e car to
pass th e lap beacon . This heucon rep re sen ts th e
location 011 th e t rack whe re a lap ends and the next Figure 3.4 I.•o w oil pre...sure alarm CI UII Ul el

on e hegi ns. It ca n he an infrare d pul se lo~gcd by

the data syste m or a manually entered beacon point
in t he dat a. Most data analysis packa ges offer th e
opt ion of pla cin g additiona l vi rt ua l beaco ns arou nd
th e t rack at certain di sta nce-s from th e sturt/ fiuish
..
be aco n. Lap segme nt ti rues are deter mined h~'
11ll'<lstl ri ng the e lapsed t ime be tween two C011SeCII-
tin:' beaco ns. Place me nt of these beacons delw Jlds
-1-·
on what need s to he ilnalyzed . Engin e pe rforJlliln{'{'
call he eva luated best o n a st ra ight track SPglll('lIt
wh e re th e ca r is acc c lc ratt ng. Corners ca n 1)('
defi ned as sepa rate Sq.';I111'llts , hu t t he corner itse-l f
can a lso he d ivided int o (' /If r y. apex, a nd ex it to
ill\·cst igate COJ"lleri llg performance .
In Figure 3 J i , all exa mple is g ive n from t he
Istanbu l Grand Prix track. The track was d ivided ill " • •• ... " S no OS 1 1CI

seven scgmc nts , separat ed hy six ma nuallv en ten-d

segllll'Jlt beacon s and a ll in frar ed lap bea con . Figu re 3 ..'; Sq~ me ll t tim es rep ort w..ing " [:j,1Ull["
beacons
Th e tabul ar re port ill th is exa mple gin's Sl'g -
uu-nt tunes fer all coven- d laps for each t rack se-ct or,
Th e fastest und slowest seglllt'1l1 time is higlJ lightt'd
..
ill ti le table . Th e last colum n gin_'s the d iffi..~rellt'l· ill •
'1:1
lap time to th e fastes t lap ill the outi ng.
F urthermc n -, tile softw a re ca lcu late d two
pcrform.m cc indicato rs from this ta hle -c-the theo- Segment beacons
reticul fastest lap and the fastest rollin g lap , wh ich
atte mpt to ind icate th e true performance pot ential
of a give n configur attou. As often happen s du ring a
lap, th e driver was delayed hy a slowe r car 011 the

_... .. .. _........ . _
track or a mistak e was mad e by ~ he d river. In th is [Task 11 . S,lit R.port - X

ease. the concerned seg me nt time was slowe r. Th e

theoretical fastest lap is th e sum of the fastes t sec -
o...Ing:
~
--"-=
'. ~
• o(llUlXi8W2>
e . - L . , r ... (a)
SOIIl Spl. "-'"'I {AIMI1

1..01> _ {-.-=>
e - '21"_

-, - , .. .-,.. - , r......... (N'l-=>

tor tim es in an out ing ami rep resent s the ti me th at

co uld ha ve been ac hieved in an ide al lap . In t he
"
~

" ..... ..., ",. . ,. ....."'...... ...."... ......,... """.. "'''"'..... .

0I S1;BJ
OI.5IJIlO
01:55,]00
. .. ..'" ..... ...."" ...
"" ""'",n .....
" ...
n ,11

u ...
"-"
"
",.
24.12 to.ll3,OlO

.."

... ..... ,,,.,,,. """....... .." ..... ........ ",",.""" "''''''''

" 01.55.' 00 ",

exam ple show n in Figure 3.5, this ideal lap wou ld ~

"
01.55_
01.52,,510
'OJ. "'".... ""1
1f .4I
lXl:ClO,ttO
han' bee-n 0 .23.5 set" quicker th a n the faste st lap . " ", n .", 11.43
"
\ 'l'ry good d rivers shou ld /.;l't d ose to th eir theoret t-
cul faste st lap t ime .
ffi-':
~ r _Up
0I S3,,213
I II ." ! 25 ,St I 10" ! " ,'nl n,301
1f)O l
""11 4:tOO .101
I
I I 01:53,1. I II~ ! 2S,lt1 10" ! 11."31 'l,)lll 1f,)ll1 23~1 I -". I

T il E BASICS 21
 tim es. Th e confid en ce level of thi s performance The fastes t rolling lap is th e lap tim e achieved
ind icator also depends on th e locati on of th e seg- be tween a beacon th at is not necessarily at th e end
ment beacons. Segmen t ti mes in areas bordered by of a lap-an indication of th e per form an ce poten-
beacon s placed at th e apex of a corner are more tial when th ere is heavy traffic on the t rack. It is a
sensitive to inco nsistencies than th ose borde red by lap ti me th e dri ver actua lly achieves. In th e exam-
beacon s placed at the middle of a straight. ple, if the end-of-lap beacon was th e split between
segment five and six the fastest lap time would be
Fig ure 3.6 The Circuit de Spa Francorch amps tra ck 0.107 sec faste r than the fastest lap in this outing.
divided in seven t rack seg me nt .~ Another issue that requires att ention when
M!!I . t'i

....._ _ . _' _ J'-J_ ' _ '

..
,_,*'
*j.)i3
-
calc ulat ing the theoretica l fastest lap is th e number
of t rack segments. The more tra ck segments incor-
porated, the faster th e idea l lap is. There mu st be
"'.- . .
:::::..... - _".. .." ' ."''' ,,&I ...
-.""" " :.. ".to,U",
_.,.."
' . ', > " ~

.•"... ",." "s::

" " I'll

"'.. ...
.. an optimum number of segm cllt s th at provid e a
rea listi c t heoret ical fastest lap. Sound [udgm cut is
necessa ry her e, both in dloosinl-': th e ril-':ht uurulx-r
of segme nts and having confidence in th is perfor-
man ce ind icator. The f()lIow ill~ example illustrates
th e effect of the numbe r of t rack segme nts on th e
theor etical fastest lap.
T h is exa mple di scu sses a ru n in a Porsche
996 arou nd t he Circ uit de Spa Fran cor cham ps
recorded with a Race Tech nology DL I C PS data
logge r. The fastest lap by t his vehicle in th is ru n
was 2 143 "67. Fir st , the track was divided into seven
seg me nts 'a nd th e seg me nt ti mes for t he full f 1l11
we re ca lc u late d hy t he a na lysis soft wa re . T he
--- - - -~ --- r' UT 00 - - - -- r -..·~ - -

res ults were given in th e table in Figure 3 .6; th e

fastes t sec tor time Iw r s(~gll1ent is Iai~h lighted . The
Fig ure 3 .7 Th e Spa track dt ctded into th ree
segme nts
sum of t hes e fastest segme nt limes resu lte d in a
theo retica l fastest lap of 2'-12"25 or it difference of
1"' " " 1."
"1 ....... _ - - -
i t; 4"kPjifiM.IHiIt .! Ii' 1.4 2 sec co mpared to the fastest pl'rfcmned lap.
~~
I....
l_~
~ ~i...IaJ ~ 0
__ l
- iiiWI- ...... _ _ • _ , ' -I
In Fig ure 3.7, the sumo run was ta ke-n. bu t
::,~;~ii""
.• U,,"
'.' .. ' III ",
" ...
r.
the track was only divided into three seg me nts. The
_•.1."
, ... .. ,,,,.,,,..""

.• u .. "
, .. " ' "

'''III '•.,. ..
. :II!
.. differe nce is obvious. with a t heo retica l fastest lap
lime of 2'43 . Th e d ifference he re compared to
ft25

the fastest real-life lap is only 0.4 2 sec .

In most cases, begin with fewer segments.
Variation in segment time may be greater with fewer
sectio ns because th ere is much more pote ntial for
mistakes or othe r problems in longer sectors . If that
happens. increase the number of segments when it is
necessary to pinpoint problem areas,

Comparing Laps
The most powerful tool in any data acquisi-
tion softwa re pa ckage is ove rlaying a nd comparing
- (tn! OI -; --- - [~- differe nt laps. Most analysis performed on ra ce car

22 CHAPTER 3
d ata is comparative. Whe n something is cha nged tLAP1(d) = ru nning lap tim e of Lap 1 as
on the ca r, comparing a run to previous ones ind i- a function of distan ce
cates th e differen ce of th at ch ange. t LAP2 (d ) = r unn ing lap time of Lap 2 as
By overlaying two traces as a fun ction of dis- a function of distan ce
tan ce , th e performance of th e veh icle and th e drive r
Th is is the diffe re nce in r unn ing lap ti me
ca n be compa red at th e same point on th e track.
plott ed against th e d ista nce of both lap s. In Figure
O verlayin g against time do es not bri ng any mean-
3.9 , instant ane ous va riance is show n as th e up pe r
ingful conclusions be cau se events at th e same time
tra ce. Th e trace measuring less tha n zero means an
p robably happ en at other locati ons, and t he t races
advant age for th e lap in which th e black speed t race
ten d to d iverge over th e length of th e lap.
wa s recorded . This give s the user the opportunity
Figure 3 .8 shows a n example of two overlaid
to locate areas where va riat ions be tween th e two
laps a rou nd the Niirburgring. It illustra tes how th e
laps occ ur.
vehicle speed can be co mpa red direct ly for every
C umulative va rian ce cun be expressed math-
location all the track. Co mpar ing speed is often the
ematically as Eqnutio n 3 .:1.
first ste p in the a na lysis because this chan nel is the
re sults grap h. An in c re ase in speed inevitably d = lapdistun cc
dec rea ses lap tim e. Variancc c umm = f Variance1nst. (Ef/_,1..'3 )
Th e respecti ve lap ti mes in thi s exam ple are d=O

Lap 6 (dark t race) 1'57"334

T h is is th e su m o r th e t ime d iffe re nce s
lap 9 (light t race) 1'56"065
between th e two laps. T he last sample in thi s graph
Th is is a di ffe rence of 1.269 sec bet ween the is the tot al differen ce in lap ti me. T he lower tra ce
two laps. Try to find in Figu re 3.8 whe re th is d iffe r- in Figure 3.9 shows th e cumu lat ive variance for the
enc e in lap time was cre ate d . O nce th e locations example. A positi ve value indicat es a n advanta ge
whe re tim e was gaine d or lost are pinpoint ed . th ey for the lap in whic h the gray trace.was record ed .
shou ld be fu rth e r invest igate d to find a lit what Cu mulative var iance shows how a diffe rence in lap
exac t ly happe ned and where th e spe e d difference
originated .
To pinpoint more cfflcie utly area s on th e Figure 3 .8 Overlay af the speed ' race oftwo laps
t rack where ti me is gained or lost , math e mat ical aro und the Xarlm rgring
fu nct ions ca n be create d. Th ese are created auto -
H it! !Iii, ' E,,·,,!utH', "!IIoi!I i. IIM! -! !IVI,W'lIE " i,j R MQQ
mat ically by the ana lysis software. Some subtle di f-
feren ces between softwa re packages are possible ,
but th e idea is always th e same.
Conti nuing with t his exampl e. Figure 3 .9
shows th e sa me speed trace overlay with two ext ra
graphs that de termine th e difference in lap tim e
between the two laps. Th e MoTeC analysis softwa re
ca lls the se caria nce that can be graphed eithe r as
insta nta neous or cum ulativ e. In stantaneous vari-
ance is defined in Equation 3 .2 .

(Eq.3.2)

with d = distan ce , going from ze ro to th e

length of th e track me asured
bet ween two beacons (lap distance )

TH E BASI CS 23
 tim e develop ed over th e du rati on of th e lap , Effects Becau se speed eq ua ls dist an ce per uni t of
of corne r exit speed, changes in gearing, and brak- tim e, va riance calcu late d by th e subt rac tion of th e
ing points on lap time can be det er min ed easily two speed Signa ls gives th e same result. As an exam-
from th e graph , ple, Race Technology's analysis software ca lculates
two similar variables-t ime slip rate an d tim e slip.
Time slip rat e is th e differen ce ill ve h icle
spe ed , expressed as it percentage , If in one corner
Figure 3.9 Instantaneous amI cumulative oarian ce th e ea r is doin g 100 km /h during; the re feren ce lap
between t wo laps around th e Niirbflrgrin g
and in th e next lap it is doing only 80 kin /h . it is
20 % slower. Time slip rat e at th at point 0 11 th e tra ck
is 20% , Th erefor e, th e higll<;r t he t ime slip ratc-, thc
slower th e car is at th at poin t. A negati \'(' t ime slip
~ ,. 1 ", ' ·'~1_JJ< ,.
., . '.. ~, ra te> IlH';lIlS ti ll' spe ed at th at poin t is higher tl um
that 01" the rek -n-ncc lap.
Ti uu - slip is the sum o r a ll timc- slip rntc-x.
Multipl ied b~' the elapsed lap tiun-, it pm,·i(Ips e-x act I ~'
th e sa me n-sult as the- cumulutive vnriu ucc. Figure
3.10 gives a n example of two lap s aro und C ircuit
Zohlcr. At th e end or the lap . tlu- t i u«- slip value- is
,.. exactly th e dif fe re nce be tween the two lap tim cs.
D ista nce lIsn all y is culculntc-d hy integrating
'.. the sppe d signaL Th e n-fore. I)y 11Sillg tllis sp('(·(lsig-
nul direct Iy to calc ulate th e di ffon -mx-1){' l\"{'{'1\ two
lap times as a fun ct ion oldistu uco. the accll ra('~' is a
/\_.---- - - ~. ­
..
bit bette r.
_ _ 2OOfOIOl«1I)<l)I. ", Looi·' S1.111 !'io<' l
, T he qua lity 01" a ll 0\'(' 1'101, ' ami the- variu uc-c-
fuucrtou d ppl'lHls gre at ly 011 th e ;[('t'llrac y or tlu-
d istnuce ca lculation , x to st o r th e titu c-. di stuucc is
Figure 3.10 Time slip rate and lim e ,'i Ii" heln'e'en det er mine d hy illll'gratilig tlu- wl J( ' l'I ~sp { · ( '{ 1 sigllal
IICOlap.'i arouud Zo klcr a mi, the re fore, is slIhj(·(·t to a 1I11 Illh('r of p otr -ntiul
.... 1114, i An.tl
,.. c.. o.t>~ _
m.....h'kA "-1\11.1 j , ;; e rrors. Lo cking brakes a nd wheel sp ill lll a~' a lll'r
"1"18j ~.. ftlJ ~ ~~llll!IJ .<m th e relatiollsh ip het w('('ll thr- HP~I of t lu- wlu-c-l
a nd th e ve hicle spe-e d t t-urp o rn ril v Th e ro llillg
rad ius of th e tire changes as a fun ct ion or
thr- load
put on it. Th e <ll'cur acy of the tillling 1)(';\(' 011 also
can be a source of error. Finally, the path th e driver
follows differs somewhat from lap to lap, so the lap
distance also varies as a result.
All of th is me an s care wit h ovc rlavs is
req uired because it mi ght mean e vent s th a t
occurred at the same locati on are not bein g co m-
pa red . Most mod ern qu alit ati ve softw are pa ckage s
incorporate algorithms to red uce th e e ff ec t of wheel
lockup by compar ing wheel spee d to th e 101lgitlld i-
nal g-force cha nnel. Wh en th e values of t he spe ed

- -
cha nnel cha nge too mu ch wit h re feren ce to the
Loot, nil
)2.,t
!.<pI , . .. ~'--
lc> 1 , n n
-''' ........ ~ int egrated longitudinal g~forL'c channe l, th ese val-
ues are corr ec ted by interpolation ,

24 CHAPTER 3
 Measuring sus pe nsion tr avel helps eva lua te
t he e r ro r in th e d istance channe l and even ca n
serve to align th e dat a . As long as th e car follows
the sa me line around th e track, th e road profil e cre-
ates an enor mous amount of sma ll peaks in th e sus-
pens ion potentiom eter dat a , a nd this se rves as a
fingerprint of th e t rack. Th e bigger th e offse t
bet ween th ese peak s, th e larger the erro r is in th e
distan ce fun cti on. Suspension t ravel ofte n is mea-
sured at a high samp ling frequen cy, so it is an idea l
Some software w riters use algorit hms in the ir
software to align da ta nsing th e t rack pattern. Thi s
method was developed by Willi am . C. Mitchell l
an d pro d uced effective results.
Figure 3.11 O r;e,-!ilY Of two lap s am llud th e Ist an bul
Park Raci ng Circuit . Th e II pper' t race shou:s th e left ·
f ront suspens ion pot entiom eter d WIlIle1. Th e lDlu!"
tmce is the leftJront wh eel spee d .
r-.... I \I

1\
chan nel to align th e distance functi on of two 0 \'('1"-

la id lap s, An example is illust rate d in Figure"

.1.11-.1.l.3.
F ig u re 3 .11 s hows a n ovcrl .u of t wo laps
a rou nd th e Istanbul tr ac k. Speed t race uud le-ft-
front suspension poten tiom e ter data arc pict ured.
O n first gIa nc<-', th is looks like a d ea n overlay. Two 7!O~~+-t-t--+--+--11--+--t--+--+--t-- 1

areas are indic ated in the g raph. Area 1 is situated /I I...---- 1

/\ /
at th e begin ning of th e lap, while Are a 2 is more to
th e e nd of th c lap, with the preceding co rne r show-
/ I ""-I' / /
ing a whe el lockup e vent in one of th e laps un der 'v I.! J ~
co mp ariso n.
IV
~I J", I~ u
I I I Figu rp 3, 12, the potentiom et er da ta zoo ms
I
in on Area 1. Th e spikes ill the dat a created h~'
surface irre gul ar ities a synchronized fo r tl u- two
road " .- ~ xoo
-
laps. At thi s poin t du ring tin- two laps, the-n- is 110

signi ficant d iffere nce in the distanc e fun ct ion and l"i~lI re :1.12
Zoo ll/ of /lft-f/"(m f
th e ove rlay can he considered align ed . I
, !-' .\'1l."'/lf' Il ...ian l )(Jfl' II f icnn-

.JI MA. .
Dal a alilj
Ii'igure 3.13 takes a closer look at Area 2. As dl'I" ,.. i~II f1/ OIl Are a I . A f
1'\. I .1
(h;.., point ill ,he lap.
shown in Figure 3 .11, thi s area was preceded hy a v
,"'IF~
~" J tlll'/"(- u-n... lUI .,' i~ ll if; nlll t
come r where ill the gray trace a wheellockup eve nt (JjJ.\'f'f;11 m ad pm};/..

/
~
dlltil.
occu rred. Th is mean s th at at th is poin t, IIW ,l SIllT,d "\c..
wheel speed is muc h lowe r th an th e tru e veh icle u: rl\
speed. As a res ult , th e potentiom et er data is no t ·H

synchro nized afte r thi s even t. Th e g ray tra ce lags

the black on e by 6.2 Ill. At th is point , th e accuracy
Fig u re 3 .13
of tile overlay was comprom ised, whi ch could lead Zo o m ofhft-fmll t
to wrong conclusions. .m sl Jf'",,';orl po ten tiom-
eta .\'jgtw l 0 11 An'a 2.
Most software packages ca n offset th e tim ing
The ,..it!.lIll1...hift ccl (i 2 m .
bea con w it h a ce r ta in di stan ce or tim e interval ,
allow ing a manual correct ion .to be p erformed on
th e data. This does, however, cha nge onl y th e sta rt-
ing point of th e lap and ha s no influenc e on th e di s-
tan ce e rrors c re ated during the lap . If o ne is
zoom ing in on a specific a re a, th e 'data mu st be
checke d to ensu re it is alig ned at that location and
th e bea con is offset as nec essary.

I T ilE BASI CS 25
I
I
~
 Me asu rement of the road surface a lso can om et er signa l can serve as re ference points to place
help whe n a beacon is missed or when th e signal is beacon s into the data.
not present at alL If th e soft ware a llows t he user to In Figure 3 .14 , a spee d t ra ce recorded
inser t beacon s manually, t he peaks in th e potenti- a round ZoJde r is shown. Because a beacon channel
was not recorded, lap ti me data is not present. Th e
arrows in t he illustration indi cat e where th e beacon
Figure 3.14 •
Speed trace aro und
Zolder u'itllOut a beacon
signal. Th e arrows
....I ....'
... .... • •
nor mally would be recorded if it had be en pr esent.
which was som ewh ere at the sta rt/ finish stra ight in

-
front of t he pits. A quick look at th e g ra ph shows
indicat e th e locati ons
ll.'here beacons are T. that during thi s run the ca r did 6 laps.

I
"

desired. I
, Irl
. . . \ Vhen a suitable suspellsi.oll position peak can
be foumlncar th e locations indi cat ed hy tile a rrows,
,j
~jlilll
this peak can serve as a virtual beacon. Figures 3.1.'>
'I/U"
I~
and 3.16 provide two l'xamples for tl u- Zoldcr speed
.
truce . T he first gr aph shows speed a nd k-It-Front
i I potentiomet er traces for the- location indi cat ed in
Figu re 3 .14 as An-a 1. Tl «- road profil e is evident from

•
- this signal, and a distin ct in ' peak in the tra ce was
selected us the location fill' the lx-ucon . As a refr-re ncc,
the di stan ce to th e next "r;l kil1~ point is 1.50 m.
Fig ure :1.15 , Th e sa nte was do ne ill Figll rt' :3. 1G for A rea 2.
Area 1 zoomed ill. A Th e sa me di stiuctivc peak re-turned ill t h is tru ce .
beacon ums manually
insertecl at a clisti,lctive
r- "\ 'Ii \ now at 155 III from the II (' \ t brakin g po int.
"if / ,, 1V II JV"
I
suspension potent iom- ,i , '. , ,
,
. This pro cedu re is rc)II(}\\,(·{lltJl' ( ' \'('1': ' required
eter peak.
W'" \r--" fi\1 .,.' 'v <; Y
o• ..... ,.... , beacon , a nd at t he
t ime s we re ac hieved
('OI H: IIlSioll ti lt' lilli ow illg lap
dll ri ll ~ t hi s 1'1111 :

•• ,,,. O ut lap 2'20"065 lap disten ce e 3.76 3 m

l ap 1 1'52 "8 3 5 l ap distance e 4,000 m

~ --- lap 2 1'52"72 5 l a p d ist an ce w 4.004 m

V ----- lap 3
lap 4
1'5' '' 730
"50"45 0
lap d ist en ce e 4,0 0 0 m
l a p distanc e e 3,9 91 m

I .. In l a p 2'28 "655 l a p d ist an ce w 4,3 6 3 m

---"'. To va lid ate th e qua lit y Ill' t ilt' IlIalillally

Figure 3.16
. "
inserted beaco ns , two lap s [ nuu thi s run ca ll 1)('
ove rlaid a nd t he road profilt' compan-d . Figure
Area 2 warned in . Th e .\

• d'J'
same distincti ve r-, 3.17 illus trate s an almost perfect fit ill tl« - area ju st
If'
potent iometer peak ! afte r th e sta rt/finis h beacon for Laps 3 amlot.
L~ ,)i, 1]\ \,k \) \
returns and, again at
th is point , a beacon was
manually insert ed.
,1
V' .
f"'\ .rI\
~.J!
~ ,\ J

" "' . 1-- .... ~

Th e previou s example used a ru n t hat d id not
have a beacon signal. \\'lit'll a run on ly misse s part
. of th e required beacon s. th e di st an ce from a
• -•
.- recorded beaco n signa l to a d isriucnve pe ak in th e
road profil e ca n determine wln-n- a missing be acon

»> v
should be inserted. as illustrat ed in Figu re 3 .18,

V Inertial Track Mapp ing

u
" .- ... _ ..........
Tr ack maps ar e graphkal n-pn-scn tnttons
the location at which lo~('d data was reco rded. It is
or

26 CHAPTER 3
a helpful software feature for lap navigation and a .,-- ,-- ,-- .-- ,-- ,-- ,--,- -,- -.- -. Figu re 3. 17
Overlay af Lap 3 and 4
visua l aid for dri ver s and engineer s that can be used
at th e area just after th e
while ana lyzing the data. To draw a track map , j manually inserted
three signa ls should be pre sent: wheel spee d, lat- ,t beaco n. The t wo traces
are perfectly aligned.
eral acceleration, and a lap beacon . Whee l spee d . .l
integration gives the covered distance , and com-
M • .-j- - -j-- -j-- , - - j - - j - - j - - f-----jl- - j- - I
bined with later al acce leration th e he adi ng of th e
veh icle ca n be calculated. The lap beacon indicates
the start and finish point of the lap. Th is technique
is ca lled inertial mapping.
It is, however, just a graphical represe ntation of
the racetrack and has its limitations. It can offer a
or
d ear and quick illustration events ex'Curring on the
track, as shown in l' igure 3 .10. In this example. brak-
ing and accelerati on zones arc ind icated by d ifferen t
colors. Top speeds OI l the straights alit! miuinnu n cor- - ~::: b:.!:
..... I
Ngu re .'3 .18
Use th e disteHl cc f rom 11
lIering speed s are give n wit h their corresponding
:- '","){I'- hll t'ccon/ed beacon ( 0 a
distin ctive mad surface
engine HPIv1. Accuracy limitations, however, mean
\I, ,•. JI ~ ,.) ,1;, ~\ .
., \ '.1 '!J
V'"
\! '1. ,,W
" , l"V
", ,,j,, irregularity a... a
tha t it is no more than that-a visual aid. rejerence to tnecrt
lifV'J.... !~

" '" ,
"-{ II I
missing beacon s ;/1
GPS and Track Mapp ing .I th e da ta.

\ Vith th e lise of CP S becoming more pop ular

in racecar data acqui sition , t he acc uracy of track V -,
maps ge nera ted by analysis softwa re pa ckages has -: --- I'o~
increa sed Significantly. Maps now offer some inte r- '-- I----
estin g featu res.
By combining th e CP S po sition and ve locity . I I
signal with late ra l a nd long it ud ill:.ll accele ration ,
t rack map s t hat are accurate to withi n 1 m can be
Figure 3 .19 IIlt:r(i(/lIY 1Jl //l'lwel (rack nUll' of 7.nlder
gene rate d. Thi s makes it possible to overlay t rack ;'lClic(l(hl~ (o p ...,w cd.v, ntiuinn un cornering speeds, allll
maps of differ ent laps and co mpare th e drivin g co r r e"'p (JIu l i llf!. l -lI~i ,ll' HI'."
lines (see Ch apter 12 ).
Inertial mapp ing docs not work on t racks that
arc not closed (e.g., a specia l stage in a rally). Fo r
----
Upl. \. .1U

motorcycles, special algor ithm s a re ne cessa ry to

calcu late a tra ck map often det rimental to accuracy.
For boats, inertial mapping also is not an option.
CPS mapping gives excellent resu lts here. CPS in
itself does not produc e highly detailed track maps,
but in combi nation with inertial mapping th e results
increase in quality.
Another advantage of CPS mapping is that a
trackside beacon is not necessary. A coordinat e
beacon can be defi ned in the software , wh ich is
more accurate than using an infrared beacon . Ho w
many ti mes arc beacons not placed befo re a session
or left out on th e track after the day is finished ?

'1111': B.\ SI CS 27
 F ig ure 3 .20 shows a track map of Spa gen er- CPS does not increa se on ly the accuracy of
ate d by Race Tech nology's DLi C PS data logger. t rack mups , T Il(' speed mea su rement o f a G PS is
Th e g raph covers a co mplete outi ng, Zooming in 011 not in flueuced hy wheel spi n, lockup, or ch ang ing a
separate corne rs reve al s t he d ri vin ~ li ne s ta ke-n t ire rad ius due to load or wea r, T his means t hat th e
durin g thi s o u t ing , a s th e b oxed se ctio n (t he d istan ce fun ct io n be comes more accurate . thereb y
Hat d tllo u cor ne r) cle arly illu strat es, Eve n a ll o ff· in creasing the qu alit y of lap overl ays, Mo re co n fi-
roa d tit-d ati on du e to a mi ssed h raki n~ poi nt is donee can he p ut in the variance function.
recorded. making it ea sy to determine where the Seg me nt beacons are determined coordi-
grass in the radiator came from . nates created in the analysis so ftwa re. T he)' arc not
dependent on <lIl~' di stuuce calculation , which
l;igure :J.20 Track m(/I' UfSl' ll crea ted wii' lg CP S inc rea se s the se glllellt t im e ca lcu lat ion a('<:lIrac,';.
and. t lu -n- fon- , offe r a lllor l' ac c urate tl u -o rc-tica l
",-""""",,, _ _ . !l . !'ash'sl lap .uul fastest roll i ll ~ lap,
~-,~l.@J ~laJ ~ ~J ~JU!l- Q!J
~ "" o-l
The Beg inn er's Data Logging Kit
As uu-utiouc-c] in Chapll'r I. allY data log.!.!;ill~
"Offroad excursion"
svs tr-m illll' lIdl'd Ii. n· th e unal vsts o f rac-e-car and
_.,/ - -
drin 'r [It'rlill"lllalll'l' sho uld log at lea st tho six hasil'
sig nals: t'lIl!ilU' HP.\1. vehicle speed , t hrott le posi-
ti ou . o; t('(' !'ill!.!; all~le . and lun-ral and lon g itu d ina l
at'{:t·I, 'ratioll . TI I('o;(' o;i ~ lIa ls al n'ady t-ontui u a \'ast
m nouut 0 1" i u l oruu ttion to an alyz(', Evt-u ill a st ut c-.
of-tlu--urt d ata acq uisition package w ith nu merous
se llsors , tht 'M' six si!.!;t1 a ls rem a in t ill' most impor-
Alternate
tant alll l illost use-d datu n -sourcc fc» tho ( 'ngi lu 'e l".

,."-
driving
line Tl«- m-xt lo~i cal ste p is to add s us pc-uxiou pun-uti -
ouu- tc-rs III th t" svs tcm . I II th is sr-cfiou. the t ra ct's

~_. " ... ('n';IIt,d h~ th ese sensor sig:nab urc e xplored and a

,"'-" It S' Do .-:I li't,ll ilr wadin)!; t he grapl ls (h'n 'loped,

Lo g g in g Engine RPM
E II~illl' HI'.\ I ofte-n is u -con k-d I"nl1 11 a Illag-
," ..
Fig ur e .'1,2 1
Engine IU ',\[ t m Cl' '1'
'00' t n-t ic- '> , 'II '>Or pLtn ·d ra tl'd lu-d t riggt'l" wl]('( ,I Oil
lit ';1

t ill ' (·I I'.!;i lll :S ('ra llbllah . T IJis sens or counts li lt , pu lse-s
+---+-,1
I .i gellt'rah'd h~· this Iri ~gl'r whee-l and co uvr-rts them
v { \. iuto lilt' 1111 Inlx -r ofcrauksludt revolutions pt'r un it of
tiu u-. 1'11(" prod llc(Ad graph tvpicallv resembles th e
!- 11 ,11 I
om- in Fi~ll rc :J.2 1, Xcxt to a ll engine -rela te d analy-
;
N~ \J\ sis . thi s g rap h reveals th e shift ing ac tivities o f the
11' ~ Sl ~ l! ;f, dnvr -r as well as information on chassis bal ance ,

- \
~ r4.!
'~ ,,/
I
10 tract i

--... '''' I
)
T hi s t ra ct' wa s logged o n th e Z h u ha i
lnt e-rn ut ioual Circuit . Th e illustrat ion shows th e
Mm l
, m~
•
; J ........

. <,
" area fro m a nd be-tween the two ind ica ted co rn ers,
The first corner is a ri~ht.hand h airpin turn taken in

~~ \ "::: <,
)
se-cond p:t 'a r li.llow('d hv a short straight. The second
co rner is a tight k-ftha uder. agai n taken in second
gea r, T ill' tvpk-al S;l\\·toutll pat tern ind icat e s up shi fts
Zhu hal .....' " - -
C' M
as th e driver gtws tlt rougl! t ile gearbox Frein seco nd

28 CHAPTER 3
 to fift h gea r. Shift RPM varies between 5 ,700 a nd Figure 3 .22 Vehicle sneed troce
5,800 I\PM and the engine reaches 5,400 HPM ill
fifth ge ar befo re the driver ap plies th e bra ke s. To p.po fed 25' , mil>
Down shiftin g is ind icate d hy th e steep up going
,. '
"'< eration Sr k in g

spi kes in the graph as the driver blips the thrott le to III
synchronize th e eng ine an d gea rbox.
I I / I 1/ I
1/ I • / / /
The mi nimum co rner RPJ\·1 is so mewha t d if-
I II
ficult to re ad fro m th e grap h, as t he jagged ness of I e
I
the trace ind icates a ca r strll~l-!:ling to find tract ion
uu t of t he co rner. Th e hairpin turn was ex ited at all
I
V I
e ng ine speed of approxtmatelv :3,10 0 H. I'M . A quick
glance at t he power C H I' \'{-' or this car's f'ngi ne' ind i-
cates if a lowe- r gear sho u ld sclcc tr-d o r uuotl n-r .- -j- ,
V
, --
~ 4 y,
Minimum corn I
7

ratio 1)(-' used . C earing is inn'stig ate d

ougl dy ill Ch np te r 6 .
!l101"<' thor-
I I I
I 1"" 1
• " " • ' oo '" '"
Logging Vehicle Speed
Tho spee-d t race is the resu lts graph. It is till'
hcxt way to conclude if a ch ange on th e ca r or ill
d ri\'illg style produced allY I"(' S11It . Th is is t he rea son Zhuha llntn1
CilCult
why most a nalysis wo rk is do nt' w ith th e SIH'c d
graph as a refi-rr-uce . It is also th e ea siest t race to
lise for track navigation . Be-cause thi s g raph rq)J"('- Figure 3 .23
I
scnts a ty p iealla: 'OlIt of each track (ind icating cor- Speed histogm l/l of
.1 Zl snliui
ners bet ween uecek -mtiou uud decclc-rution Z ( l l \( 'S )

a1\(1 th e signal is used so much ill an alysis wor k. all

expe rien ced data ellg ilH,pr looks more- e1 II S( ' I ~ ' at tln-
sp eed t ra ce rat he r thu u at a track lllap to [i tu] a
1
-I~I~
location 011 the t rack. ,j i ~l-
Figure :3.22 tracks tlu- \-{ ,Ilic!t' SP( ' I '( ] () l' a (; "1' I I

car d ur ing a lap arou nd Zhnlrni. :\ rising [im- n 'pn '-

'i ~i_L
scnts accc-lerutiou . \\·hill· a downward slop( ' 11\(' ; 111 "
I I
I I
the ca r is losing speed. Minimum cOnJ('ring spt·t·d
and top speed on th e straight s an' illlpor ta lli pt·rlilr - ,j i-I,
ma nce measures 01' this graph . an d (,(lllllla riJ lg tl«'S ( '
to pr evious outings shows when' t ime wa s gai ned or
lost. Use thi s graph to eva luate brak ing poi nts . ne-ro - Figure 3.24
dynamic co n figu ratioll s, ami engi ne tweaks. Speed histogram of
Mon za AUlodmm
A ge nera l gla nc e at th e speed t ruer- lu-lps
es ta blis h some tra ck cha racteris tic s. Is it a h igh ~
speed track wit h many high g -f()J'ce co rners or is it
p r imarily a Mickey Mou se track w it h 1I1111H'I"ll U S

tight cor ne rs and hea vy b rak in g zones? Whut ki nd

of base setup should be used for the track in (p ws·
tion ? Anoth er way to visualize this is to pic tnn - tilt'
speed data in a hi stogram . Ncrk -c- ti le cIi n t'n'II ('('S ill
ach ieve d speeds for th e same car het wccn Z huh.u
(Fi gu r e 3.23) and Monza (Figu r e 3 .24) , ". "; 0 •..;, ~ , ,..~ "". "". "' , 10<,

,
Til E H :\'i IC ~ 29
 Lo g g ing Throttle Po siti on
The th rottle positi o n signa l measu res what
th e driver is doing w ith his right foo t on th e accel-
erator pedal. Throttle position usu ally is expresse d
as a pe rcentage, wit h 0 % meaning t he driver is
completely off th e accelerato r pedal and 100 %
mea ning full throttl e.
Looking at t he t hrott le t race in isola tion is
not vcry illustrative. It is, howe ve r. one of the most
important cha nnels for diagnosing chassis or driver
issues. \Vhen the th rottl e is op e ne d partially, it lI SII-
ally ind icates a proble m with th e ca r or th e d river.
I;'igure 3 .2.5 shows all ex.unplc of a thrott le
position tru ce . Th is c ha nnel becomes a n impor-
ta nt unu lvsis too l wlu-u viewed wi t h ot her cha n-
nel s. as numerous l·x.llllpi es in th e n-maiucler of
th is hook show.
Lo g gin g St eering Angl e
As wit h throttle pos itio n, steering a ng le is a
driver ac tiv ity channel. It records th e an gle at
which th e steeri ng wheel is turned and, just like
thrott le po sition, is an inva luable di agn ostic tooL
Steering ang le ca n be express ed as degre es turned
by th e steeri ng wh e el, spi nd le , or rim , as well as
steering rack travel in mill imeters. T he sha pe of
the graph is the same in all cases (Fig u r e 3 .26) .
If the sensor is properly calibrated. a O-deg
steering angle mean s that the c;~r is travelmg straight.
The SAE Veh icle Axis System in Referen ce 2 defines
a positi ve steeri ng wheel 'lllgic for right-ha ml turn s.
The ,\'a~' tILl' sll'l.'ring angle trace is pictured ill graplls
de pends 011 t ill> way the sensor is mouutcr l, but it
usuullv is also uscr-defin ublc ill the softwa re . Xot c
that the re arc exa mples in this hook in whi ch thi s
sign convention was not followed .

Figure 3 .25 Throttle l'0sili u,1 tru ce Log ging Latera l Accel e ration
Lateral g-lorcC" is t he channel logged as the

n
accelerat ion perpen d icu lar to the car 's ce nterline ,
and strict I)' spe aking it measu res corne ring for ce .
Thi s channel usually is disp layetl in u nits of g-force s
I c .,
(l g-loR'e = H.H I III /s- ).
Sig n co nve ntion , according to th e ~ AE
Vehicle Axis System for thi s t race, is t he sa llie as
with the steering angl l' channel [i.e ., po sitiv e for a
right -ha nd turn ). In Figure 3.27, a posit ive value
ind icates a right -hand turn , whi le a le ft-han d tu rn
produ ces a ncgat in' late ral g-fo rn' value. Note tha t
the re arc exa mples in th is hook in which th is sign
co nve nti on is not followe d.

Figure 3 .2 ()
Stee ring angle trace
. R trttIan. tum
\ ..I
Th e maximu m "a llies for (,(>rJ lering accelera-
tion depe nd s o n the uvuilablc grip (k nown as th e
(expressed as angle of fric tion coefficient between road and ti re ) a mi th e
th e steering uheel i,1 I I I ! norma l loa d workin g on t he t ire s. Ph ysically.
degrees) Ii
I, i I' I
!
,
I Equation 3.4, where V = vehic le speed and H ::::0

I... '. !OM

!

,I
I
,I.! I 1, I
cor ner radius, ap plies.
"'l , rl I
I
i
v-;f . {,
v2
, G 1at=T
I
I
ij Th erefore , the high er th e speed at which a
cor ner with a g tven radiu s is negotiated, th e higher
the lateral accele ration is. Th is means that a ca r
.\f,.:... t>m gene rating a ce rtain amount of g rip and down force
at a certa in speed has a th eoret ical maximum speed
• .. .. .. through a corner with a given radius.

30 CHAPTER 3
 1

T he late ral g-force tr ace help s in a na lyzing Longitudin al accelerat ion displayed with lat-
handling beh avio r and abso lute cor ne ring powe r era l g-forces in an X-r graphf orm the popu lar trac-
and is also a parameter in nu merous mat hematical tion c ircle. a u sefu l vis ua lizat io n te ch n iq ue
channels used in this book. illu strating how th e po tentia l of th e tires is used.
Logging Longitudinal Acceleration T hi s g ra phic a l rep re sen tat io n is cove red in
Lon git ud inal g -fo Tt'e is t he acce le ration Ch ap ter 7.
logged along an axis parallel to th e car 's ce nterl ine , Logg ing Suspension Travel
(i.e., perpendicular to the lateral g-force ). It is basi- Th e six ba sic signals cove red in the previou s
cally th e accelerat ion created hy the e ngine 's power sec tio ns a lready give t he engineer a sign ifica nt
o r the deceleration d ue to app lication of the brakes. am ount of in for mation abo ut chass is and d rive r
A positive value is used for acceleratio n. For decel- perfor ma nce . Eq uipp ing the car w ith four suspen- .'
e rati on, t he' sig n fo r the longit ud ina l g- force is sia n tr avel potentiometers helps in further diag nos-
,
negative .- ing vehi cle dyuu mtcs. Because suspe nsion travel is
An example oflongitll(lin<ll accelera tion trace
is giH'n in Figure .3.28, from which some standa rd
fe at ures ca n be read . Muxtnuuu hra king e ffort is Fig ure 3.27 Lateral acceleratioll tra ce
di splayed as th e minimu m value of the down wa rd
d ips as the car dece lerates. T his value is high e r if - .- ' .
braking commences at a hi)!;her speed beca use the r
effect of aerodvnami c drag adds to th e bra kin g L
e ffor t . Maximum forward accelerat ion decreases as
speed increa ses. also ; 111 effect of uerodvuam ic {lrag. +--
O n long stra ights . forwa rd acceleration is close to
zero whe-n engi ne powcr Olltp ut matches the aero -
dyna mic n-xistunce. T he short d own ward spikes Id - -
oc curr ing d nri ng fo rwar d ac ce le ratio n represen t ,
upshifts into a higher gea r (sec Chapter 6 ). ,
';lIIQ
j
• ...,
,
, ...
,
,."
j
:lllO(l Ju"l..~~~
If a longitu dinal g-fo rcp sensor is Hot present,
another solution is to diff e rentia te t he speed cha n-
nel. Speed alld lo ngitudin al accele rat ion are related Fig ure 3.28 Longit udinal acceleratio ll nucc
th rollgh E q ua tio n :1..5 . (R'ii!1c..i jDo<4
Ii... 1.,,1.. ,'OW!!,,!!
- --- - --
~ l liil [. r
-

l.'£ !w!a ! ~
-- --
...

~:I!mW ~
-
_f i;; , jlW@l i i 1fa~
_ ..
~ s- l o".,.." l

( Elf . 3.5 )
Acceleration
decreases with

Most analysis software packages allow differ-

e ntiat ion of a channe l. E xpress th e speed cha nnel
used as input fo r the di ffe rent iat ion in meters pe r
second (l km/h = n.27R m/s}, so t hat the output is
in m/s2 . T hen conve rt to g- fon:es if necessary.
A ca lculate d lon git ud inal accelerat ion t race ~

is less acc urat e becau se differentiating is ba sical ly ...

~
--
'filte ring, an d it depends mainly on th e differenti- .-
...-
at ion ti me used by th e soft wa re and th e samp ling '.-

fre q ue ncy used to log t he spe e d cha n nel. Th is

way. eve nts such as gear sllirt s may not be visib le
..-
~_!.-...._ ""'_='_"-'_"-"_""'_='_"-'_"_"',".-:=_",.",.:-,,"=
_CU,.'"'_= ',:;.",_"-=-;:;,","
in the data.

'n u: B;\ SIC S 31

-
 used extensively in the following chap ters in mathe -
uuuical chan ne ls. a re view of basic p roperties of the
signa l is need ed.
Suspension movem ent ty picall y is measure d
as shock absorber di splacem ent. With thi s signal. a
sign convention a m] a short expla nation o f nom en-
cl utu re is necessary. All inguing shock travel from
static ride he igh t is considered positive. When th e
wheel goes up relative to th e chassis. the sensor sig.
nul has a positive sign. This motion is called bump.
T he op pos ite is tril l" for all outgoing shoc k t rave l
from static ri de I I('i~h t. Th is is ca lled droon. Shock
ab sorbe r s pc-ci ulis t s lise t he nam e s h llm p and
rcbonnrl, hil t tlJis ;td lla ll~ " re-f e- rs 10 t i lt, gradie lltor
t11(' sensor sigH;)!. A po sit in.' g radi l ' li t {i Ilgoi Il ~ shoc-k
travel. n 'gard less o f static positio n ) is eall ed hllllll'
t mcci, while a lJ('gath"l' gradiellt (o utgoing sho ck
travel . rl'ganlless of static position ) is referred to as
l"I: lm /l1ll1 trace! (Fig u re 3.2 9).
Pictured is t ile Signal from a damper potenti-
omc-n-r meas uri ng suspe nsion travel at the fro nt le ft
wll('l,l. Th e up pcr tracct s till' ruw. un fil tered Signal.
"'j;:",..e 3.29 5 /1-"1'(' 11.'.; 01 1 /IIOl'elllent t ra ce
Figure .J..1 0
SW'I'('I1.'.;OIl fran" versus
ldu't'/ tran'l
32 CHAPTER 3
T his measu re me nt combines two di fferent catego-
ries of suspension mo vement in one Signa l.
1. Low- sp eed Movement
T h is includes t he sus pe ns ion m ovemen t in
respon se to chass is attit ud e ch anges du e to weight
transfer (pitc h a nd roll) a nd to the va rying aerody-
namic load s at d iffere nt speed s. The lo-ver port ion
of Figure 3 .29 show s th e suspe nsio n move ment sig-
nal after a filte r (2 0 -samplc moving avcrage filter) is
applied . This trace re preScllts t ile 100\'- SI)C C O move-
meut of this suspension co rne r.
2 . High-sp eed Movement
TIll' suspensio n nmvr-nu-nt ind uced by road
irre.t! ulariti('s aud curb s la kl' p lace al a high('r frt>-
qllt' nc~' l imn the Ic m".spct'd movement . 111 Fig u re
3 ":2~. t his movement is s('paratl'd from lilt' raw Signal
h~" subtraet ing t he filtered signal from it. It is thi s
po rtion of the d ata that wa s used to insert missing
timing beacon s in th e data earl ier in this cha pter.
Ren u-mbe r that sus pension t ra ve l is h ei ng
measu re d here . no t whee l t ravel (Fig u r e 3 .30) "
" 'hen the mot ion rat io of t he suspcusiou is known .
OI U:' l'; l1l ca lcu late the whee l travel from the S IlSpt:' lI ~
sion t ravel si~l1a l lis i ng Equatio n 3'(>'
~ IR
x su~rcnsion
with ~I H = moti on ratio
\\ lied = wln-clmovcmcnt
.\ slIsp l"llsio!l = xuspt-uskm JII0 \'(' Il l('lIt
TIt( ~ motion ratio cn n 1)(' mea su red stuticnllv
hy jac king up the wln-cl to a ce-rtai n d ist uncc a nd
IIIpa su r in g the stroke of th e- shock absorber (or
reconli llg it electronically ). I f a good s us pens ion
geome try software package is uvuilab lc . th is ratio
ca n be calculated as \H'II. To ge t the wheel move -
ment . create a m uthe-mati cu l chan nel t h at mul ti-
pli es the- sus pens iun 1Il00'C'lIIellt cha n nel w it h th e
motion ratio.
En sllf(' th at tilt' potent iome-ters act ua lly mea-
su re shoc k ab sorber t rave l. So me t imes the se nsors
a re mo u nted in suc h a way t hat there is a motion
ratio bet ween se nsor t ra vel a nd shock absorber
!B OH'lIH.'II t. T h is s ho u ld h e corrected in the
softwan-.
 z;
~
(b ) T he aerodyna m ic drag of a vehi cle depends
011 its fron ta l a rea , drag coefficie nt, and local 0
air d en sit y an d is a fun ction of t he ve h icle
veloci ty sq ua re d (Equatio n 4 .2), wh er e p is n:::: <:
:::::
W ~

r-- uo-
the den sity of air (1.187 kg/ nr' at 10132.5 Pal ,
20°C ), C n th e d rag coefficient , A th e fro ntal ~

C
orn e-r ing is one thing . hut as so on as t Il{' vehicle su r face, and V the vehicle velocity.
rnc ec ur ex its a t urn t he next e hal,lenge tl u' 0- .-,:

«
D = O.5 .p . C O · A . y 2 (Eff .1.2 )
d ri ve l" faces is c(Jn~ri llg th e foll o w in g ~
straight in t he least p ossible time. I n th is cha pter, Equation s 4 .1 a nd 4 .2 possibl v imply th at ;...-:

I -
,
an alysis too ls are p ro\'i,led to evaluate t he pcrfur- some coe fficient s need to 1 )(' esti mated . Howe ver. it
num ce or a racecar in st r;light-Iillt' uccc-lerutinu. is also possihl(' to d etermine t he tota l external res ts- -
Torqu e and H o rse power
tuuces th roll1!:1J a cous td owu te st , which is covere-d
ill Cha pt er 11. U '~

Tlte IUl"lIU{' a nd hor s{'p m\"( ' r de-livered to the Th e l on p l<' req ui red to overcome th t' to lal
d riven w heels h as b een alwnvs o r in terest to til(' extern al force 0 11 th e vehicle is g ive ll in Eqnnt ic n :E;

ra ce e ngi neer. E" uluatiou or

en gine cha nge's o ften 4 ..'1 , wit h rrnllillg; the d riven t ires' ro lling radius.
is pe rfo ruu-d Oil all en g ine clvuut uou u-tt-r. II 00n~ \'(' r,
Text = (Frolling
. +D· ) .'roiling
.
th is re quires re mova l orth e en ginl' fro m the rucc--
ca r, and it ( 11 1)' shows th e torq ue a nd (l()\\l' l" \ ', I!IIt'S
I n ad diti on 10 th e to n Jlle rt -qntrcd to over-
me a su red at t he flvwl u -el.
J\l t'<lSllrillg t he car 's 1001g itlld ina i accck-ru -
(' 01 11(' tl u- exter na l l"OIT l 'S. the a m o u n t or to rque
uvutlnble to accc-h-rutc- t ln- \'('h id e is g ive ll hy
lion , ve hicle \'l·loeit y, a lld Pll g i l W HP~ I [n ikk I 'S it
Eq'u u t ian 4 ..1, whe-re C 1ollj.{ is the lon git udina l
p ossih le to calcu late th e tonpH' t u tu ]. tlH'n'I(ll"t" t ilt'
a t'n,h 'ra tioll of tln- n ·h iell· l;wa sHred 11\' t lu- data
ho rsepower) d(~li H'r('d to the wh eel s w it h n -lutivc-iv
reliable aCl'l1rac~·.:l As me-nt ioned in Chapt e-r:1. IO Il-
gi tu d ina l uccclcrutio n c a ll 1)(, dl' r in'c! fro II I ti ll' T mass:; III . M r . G long ' rnllling
velocity Sig nal. so o n ly HPi\l and SPC('c! an ' 1I('C('S-
~ I f is a factor t h a t take s in to a c c ount dri ve -
sary to perform tlu- culcu lntion .
To rqu e delivered to t ilt, dnvc -u whe-e-l s III11 s1 liuo rotatio na l inerti as a nd t he muxs factor
( l~· (/ I l(l t i o " ... 4 ..') and -1.(;) .
c o nq ue r prima r ily the ex te-rnal Iorc-c- s al'li ll~ ou
t he ve h icle. TIIl 's(' a re (a) rol lill ~ n-xi sta uc-c and M + 1\1,
M r = -:-:--'-
(b) ue ux lvnamk- d rag. ~I

(a) Holl ing re sista nce is cn-atcd wln -u a t i n ' ill i'v ! r :; 1+ 0. 04 + 0 .00 25 · i ~)ta l (Ef/ '/ ,(i )

co ntact w it h t he road surface face-s a d isto r- \\'it h \1 = trau slut ioual m uss = mig
tio n in its foot pri n t. Th is is culled t i rc dru!.!, \ I f = equival ent rut.u ionul tIIilSS
and is charac ter iz ed I)\' a nondin n-usionul
roll ing resistan ce coeffi cient (HJ Foll ow ing th is. th e d nveu -wlux-l torque call

A mod ern radial -ply tire 0 11 it pa ssl 'lIg('r II(' calcu late-d wi t h Equat io n 4 .7.

ca r typicall y has an R~ vah 1( ' Il l' appnl\illlatt -lv T _ Tmass + Texl

whee l - .
0 .0.3. For race car ti res. t h is va hu- ca ll ht, as Itotal
littl e as 0.00 ,5. T he rolling resistan ce is I!:in'll And fina lly, th e d riven -wh eel p owe r is gi\'e n
in Eq ua t io n 4 .1, where 111 is th e total lllilSS
h~' Equa t ion 4 .8 and de fined hy E quation 4 .9.
of th e car, a nd g th e gnn 'ilat io na l acc e le ra -
tion (9.81 I11 /s 2). rcngmc = (Frollin
. g + D + Fmass ) . V (f:r{- ·U j)

Tmass
Fmass (EfI· 4.9 )
Frolling :; R x · m ·g
Trolling

'i T H \I C It rr .rxr : \c< I'I .FII \T1 0 ,\ 33

 Ae rody nam ic Dr ag close to its original top speed. For example. th e top
At higher vehicle speeds, aerodynamic drag speed of a car needs to he increased by 10 %. To do
be co mes th e dominating factor and th e eq ua tion thi s, 33 % more power (1.103 ; 1.33) is requi red.
for air drag force incorporates t he vehicle spee d Do not get stuck too much on top speed.
squared. To calculate the power at the wheel s, drag Th e fcllowtng example is a ca se study on the
force is again multiplied by spe ed. Simply. th e D odge Viper GTS -R pictured in Fig ure -1.1.
power required to overcome aerodynamic drag is From the di stance graph pictu red in Figu r e
closely relat ed to th e veh icle speed cubed. Thi s 4.2, th e Iollowmq cal culation data is taken at the
means that to double th e speed of a vehicle eight point indicated by the curso r:
times th e e ng ine pOWt'f is needed. This is whv e ng ine RPM '" 5,508 RPM
e ng ine modification s have only a small impact O il veh icle speed (V) '" 230 .4 km/ h
top speed. An old en gine th at is down 011 pow (' r longitudi nal ace . (G 1o ng ) '" 0.195 G
might accel erate slow ly hut st ill he abl e to reach
Th e necessary vehic le prope rti es to perform
the cu lc-ulutiouit n- t i lt.' fi,lIowi ll g :
' ·'" ;guTe .1.1
f)od~(~\'iper GT S·n ve hicle total weig ht (m) '" 1.32 3 kg
(Ctw rl csy ofGU'l\.
Uaci ll g) gea r'" 5th (ito ta l '" 3.14)
r rolling '" 0.365 m
R~ '" 0.02 5
CD ~ 0.601
A '" 2 .3 m Z
Th e data was taken [rom a test ru n performed
0 11 t he Circ uit lil ' Spa -F ruuco rt... h.nu ps. T ile to p

speed d uri ll ~ tha t pa rt icular lap was 26 7 km/lr. Ti le

ca lculat ion exam ple concen tra tes o n a ra ndom d ata
poin t :dong the st ra i ~h t lead ing to t he Los Co mbes
Figu re 4 .2 J)i.~ t (III c(' graph illli .~t"(lti"f!, (J la/' llmw ld chicane. At this poi nt . the car is accelera ting O il a
Spa. CIUII I1U'J..; ,,, "od t!r't! urr [ nnu uheelspeed. th rottle stra ight Hill'. Note that at this section on th e t rack
IW,<,itiOIl , longiu ul inul flccl'll'rfltioll (ill this case
calculated by c!e,-i.-ill!! tlu- vehi cle '''I'C'('il chunncl}; tl u- roud run s up hill . whic h tnllucnccs t he calcu la-
f'llgi ll(· l U).H . (IIHI IIII' f!.1·lI r IIO... itian, tion (t he long it ud ina l ucc eh-rati ou h e re is lowe r

"',.., -,.,
1.l')
r
th an expected ). If the ~IOPl' of the track is known ,
til t' IOllgitmlillal ton-e compoucut can be calcu lated
as an extra exte r na l n 'si."ta Jlcl' \\"o rking o n th e ea r
(see Chapter 10). For silllplil'ity. track slo pe is not
taken into account in this ca lculation (E q ua t io ns
-1 .1O- -1.16) .

Frolhn. = 0.025 ·1323 ·9 .81 = 325 N ( E(I _t .u»

D = 0.5 · 1.1 87 . 0.60 I · 2.3· ( 230.4

3.6
r = 3352 N
(E'I. 4 .11)

T", = (325 + 3352) · 0.365 = 1342 Nm ( E'I. 4.12)

M f = 1+ 0.04 + 0.0025 ' 3.14 2 = 1.06 (EI,. 4.13)

Tmass =1323 · 1.06 · 1.9 12 · 0.365 =979 Nm (E,! 4.14)

'. ~

34 CHAPTER 4
 1343 + 979
Twhee l = = 739 Nm (Eq. 4.15)
3.14
Pengin, = (325 + 335 2 + 2682) . 64 = 40 6976 Nm/s
(Eq. 4.16)
wit h \ Nm/s = 0.00134 \ hp
Pt:'1l~i ll(' = 546 hp
Fig u re 4 .3 re presents a dynam om eter r un
w ith t his eng ine pri o r to t he test fro m which t he
data was taken to per form th e ca lcu lation ahove.
Note that below 1,.50 0 RP!>.·1 the power and to rque
vulues we re not measured because thi s e llgi llt~
sp ee d is out o f t he measu rem en t interval of the
dy namomet e r. At <I n e ngine speed of .5,.50 0 H P~ I ,
t ile gra ph slum's a torq ue measured at the flywheel
of 784 Nm a lld it power of 614 hp. Compa ri ng t his
to the res ult of t he prece di ng ca lcula t ion , thi s
mean s tha t the loss o f to rqu e d ue to inte rn al fr ic-
t ion an d inert ia is 4.5 Ntu , or approximately b% .
I f th e data acq uis ition system ca n expo r t da ta
to a math ema tica l analysis package or a sp re.ad-
shee t, it is possihle to crea te a torqu e a nd powpr
curve direct l~' from the logged data wit h the eCfua-
ttons used to perform the previous ca lculation .
ne e ds to be develop e d between t he grou nd and
the tire footp rin t.
This longitud inal force is crea te d becau se of
tire me cha nics, whe re the front of th e footprint is
co mpressed u nder the d riving to rqu e. Th e com-
pressed pa rt adhe res to the road surface, resulting
in forward st ress . Thi s stress reverses in th e back
part of th e footprint as th e tire radi us recover s. In
t his pa rt of th e footprint , sliding occurs between
the ti re and the road , which is de fined as sltp Slip
means that the angular velocity of a d riven wheel is
always greater than tha t of a free -rolling wheel.
Th e longitudina l slip velocit y is calculated by
Eq nu t ion 4. 18, where V is the linear velocity mea -
sured at a drive n whee l, and Vo th e linea r velocity
of one of the free-rolling wheels,
(Eq . 4.18)
Note that linea r speeds are compa re d where
a ngular velocities should be co mpared . However ,
900,--------- - - - - - Figu re 4 ,3

Calc u lating To rq ue and Power at t he Wh e el s aoo t---------j:t:::~~.___-- Torqu e and lJO lVe'- CU I'lJC
of th e Viper VJ() c ng ine,
The procedure for l:a lcubti ng the to rque and 700 +-- - --re-iJc-- f-- - - - -Oe- - mcm;ured o rl a
E dy namomet er
powe r at the wheels is time consumin g (unless per- ~ 600 +-- - - f-- - - - - --<'r"'>=<>-.;:;,-
forme d llsing a xpn -adxhce t or ot her mat he matical
,
~ 500 t - - - f - - - - - --,£''--------
software packa!.!:e) . For qu ick analysis purposes and >-

to han ' ;\11 id\'a Il l' the e ngine 's power out put , one
~ 1 - -0- - - - --::;1---;::=:::;:=:::;--
400

shou ld defilll' a nuulu-marica l cha nnel that calcu -

i 300 +-- - - ---""= - -1 -0-- Power
O
Q.. Torque
-¢-

lates Ihe jlmw r tl u-l'ngilll' is llsing to accelerate th e 200+--------<:?!-~--===--

car. Equa tion -1 .-1 gan' lite torque used to accelerate 100 t - - - - 6 - - -- -- - -- - - -
the vehicle. CO!ln' rt ing ti lis to horse power gives o +---:-~-~-~-~-~~
E q uat io n 4 .17. o 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Eng ine rpm
Pmass = GloM ·m · V · 0.00 134 1 ( Eq. 4.1i)

For the lap in F i~ure 4.2, this cha nnel looks

Figure 4 .4 The 1lOwer th e eng ille is delivering to the
some t hing like th at illustrated in F ig u r e 4.4 . wheels to accele rate the ca r
I nterest illgl~·. this graph a lso shows th e powe r t he
brakes a re utilizing to decele rate the vehicle , so this o.m.
chan nel also ca ll be used to analyze t he braking o.
....."....,
~,

e ffort of the car -driver combination.

Traction and Longitudinal Slip ·lIm.o

·1200..0

~~~~Ed
To brake or accel e rat e a ve hicle, Ne wton's
se con d law ind icat es t h at a longit udinal for ce "0'1
" &Ill..o ~
.~

st U \1 (;11 "1"-1.1 \1-: .\ c c n .E ILH I O :\' 35

--
 fo r sim plic ity, th e e ffec t ive radiu s of th e tire is • Measu re one free-rollin g a nd two d ri ven
ussum ed to he consta nt. whe el speeds. Th is makes it possib le to cal-
Further, the slip rat io (SR) can he defined DY cu latc se para te slip values fo r left- and
Eq ua tion 4.19. rig ht-d rive n wh eels and to eva lua te d iffe r-
e nt ial work .

SR= (~)- l ( Eq. 4.J9 J • xteasure four-wheel speeds (tile best setup).
Refe re nce speed "0 can h e averaged
between t he h \ TI Iree -rolltng wheels.
For a free-rolling wheel sn - 0 and for locked
• Mea su re at le ast on e frec-rolli ng wheel
braking 5H = - 1. " 'lIe('1sp in gen erally is defined as
speed and ca lculate the speed of the driven
SH > l.~
wheels from t he e ng.ille HP~ I . gear ratios.
Any gi\"l~n tire de\"l~lops its maximum coc ffi-
a nd t ire radius. Th is is t he h-ast accurate
cn-nt of friction and. t he-n-lon-. its gre iltes t IOllg it lH li-
option hut uscfu I ill ch.uupionslups where
uul force at a ~in'll pcn..ellta ~( · of slip (I;'ig ll l"(' -I••:;) .
res t r ic t io ns exist for t ill' nu tu lu-r o f use-d
\\ 'hell the slip rati o {'xt't'eds thi s vuhu- (Lc .. where
wlied -speed se llso rs to h a ll traction control
mort- torq ut' is being ap plied tlut u the tin' call trans-
m it to th e ro ad su rface ). t ln- trac tion capacit y
syste llls rrcso.
decreases. This is lrut- for uccc'[c'mtio u and braking. Figu re 4. 6 Illust rates data taken fro m a CT
:'\ l ll itipl(~ wIH:'l'I-spl'(-'d signa ls are n'qu ire t! to ear around the Spa track. zoon u-d ill O il t IIt" La S Oil rcc
meas u re slip and calcu late t l u- slip ratio for a gi\'l'll hairpin wlu-n- tln- car t!cc('lpr.lt('s from 22S km/h to
rac-e-car. Vario us C< lll fig u ra t i()J ls a re l)()ssillle : app roximate ly 55 km /h (t h e slow('st poin t 0 11 tl u-
track) an d follows wi th a hard acce lerat ion p IJas(·.
• ' k asu n" O I H' r;'('e -rolling a nd 0 11(' driven
Tlu - ea r wa s eq nippe d w ith two l Iull-effi-ct
whet' I sp('('d . pr eli·rahly 0 11 the sich- that is
sensors to nu-nsu n- tlu- d rh'('IH "hc (·1 n· locit ics an d
loaded m o s t or
the t i l ilt'. 0 11 l he mee- t rack
ou e to IIlc aSUrL' tilt' undrivcn front-len \\'heel spt'cd.
(left-hand side on a riu ht-hau d stck- r.we -
Longitud inal slip rat io is cuh-ulute d as a 1)('1'-
track a nd vice versa).
ct.·llta g{· lIsing Equut in n ·1.20,

0.5 · (WSPD RL + WSPD RR )

Fi #,un ' ·1 , ;') T ire coefficient of friction ver su s slip ratio SR = 100% ·
n n' n,,:fJid,'/I( IIf WSPDFL
[nction 1"('/'.\ /1 .\ .\ li/J rutin.
n :p r (',\ ,\ f'd 11\ fI 1.6 where \ \ 'SPDHI. = 1I1t.'<I Sllred w Iled sp('ed
/ Jj' /"{'( '/I ( II :':"
n-u r len
1.'
v -........ \\ 'SPD It H = nu-asun -d wln-c-l spee d

c:
0
1.2

I ---- -. rear righ t

\\ 'SPD FI. = un-asun-d wheel speed
fro nt left
'"
I
u

-•
E
0
t: 0.6
D u ril1~ th e hrak ing ph ase, t he aerody na mic
d rag al'Hng 011 ti lt' car was decreasing rapidly du e
to the decrea se in vehicle speed . so it became more
u
i 0.6
I difficult for the driver to modulate th e b rake pedal

I
0
u to not loc k the front wheels. Du ring t he first part of
0.' t he b rakin g p ha se . the slip ra tio went d ow n to

0.2
I
I ap proximat ely - 3<k . in d ica ti ng t hat th e tires co uld
ha nd le the hra ke torque. At a speed ju st below 80
km/h th e slip ratio suddt.>n ly- but mo mentarily-
o d rops to - 1.5 %, wh on one in ve stiga tc s usin g
o 5 10 15 20 2 Equation 4.22, this means t hat at least o ne of the

36 CHA PTER 4
rear wheels was about to lock. At th is poi nt t he
d river, gett ing a wa rni ng signa l from th e ti re s th at
lock up was abo ut to occ ur, eases off a litt le bit on
t he brake pedal, re stori ng th e slip ra tio to ab out F ig ure 4.6
- 5 % . Fro m the point whe re the d river push es the 250.0 Dri ver Mag'ws
Wallincler negotiat ing
t hrottle pe da l, the slip ratio becomes p os itive, the Spa La Sourc e
200,0
pea king at .5 %, Note that maximum slip ra tio is hairpin co rne r in a GT
reached whe n t he thrott le ped al is half-open. After car. Bot h rawan cI
l SO,O fi ltered slip percent age
this, t he slip ratio d rops off to 3 % , a similar value channels are illustra ted.
seen d ur ing th e braking ph ase . At high er sp eeds, 100.01----,---,
the slip ratio becomes zero.
SO,O
In gpileral, the g raph call he read as follows :

SR p o sit ive During br a king Front wh e el (a bout 0.0 '-~_!:Q!!""'-l'ill!.!L ..J

ph a se t o) lo ck
During Rea r w hee l (a b o ut
a cce le ra tio n te l sp in 20,00

SR ne g at ive During b ra king Re ar w heel (a b o ut

ph ase to) lo ck
Duri ng Front w he e l (a bout
acce leration to ) spi n

T ract io n proble ms most often occ u r whe n

tile d r-iver is ('xiti llg t he tu rn . hasicall y in a t ran -
sient situation. Tlu- n- forr-, loss ortract ion or wheel ·30.00

sp in most like ly takes place first o n th e d rive n -40,00

w h<'d th at ha s t he least load on it (l.e .. th e wheel at
.G.4 6.5 G.G 6,7 6,< 6,9
the in side of t ile corn er) . For th is reason . it Il la~' hi'
use-ful to calc ulate separate slip rat io d la llllpls for
bot h driven wheel s. T hese cha nnel s are' pict u rt-d
250,0
Hg llre 4. 7
ill Iligure 4 .7. Walliuder arou nd
A {!.aj,j
200,0
Th is dat a is ta ke n from th e sunu - ca r a s in thr Spll La So urce
150.0
co rucr; (cit" eparate
Figure .... .fi. Th is dista nce graph shows the separate "'w clumnels [o r lip rat ios
slip rati o values for left aw l ri ~lit rear wheel s. Th e 5110 vf the rear-drixc n
wheels lllust rated and
lo-ve-r graph shows t he speed eli Ifc rcucc be t wee-n
the differen ce ill speed
th e two rear ,,-Iwt'ls ill kill/h. ..... .... . . betuxcn left- am i d gh t -
T he slip ratios for the t wo driven wheels <I re
0.00 - __~
--,-.,
. \ '
-;- -•.- .:_- _ dri cen uiheels

pa rt icularlv usefu l for ana lysis.The conc lusio n d rawn ·10.00 "
from Figure -l.i is that th e inside rear righ t wheel
(La Source be ing a right-ha nd corner ) was against
the blocking limit under braking. This wheel has less
load on it th an the out side wheel d ue to the weight
tran sfer resulting from cornering. Tract ion occur-
ri n ~ out of the corner see ms to be pretty good as the
c•••, •• •:.
d river progressively puts on more throttle.
The cha nnels covere d in t h is pa rag raph
. . , ,
. ,_ • • -r • •• , - • • ..

."J.(XXl ~====:::::;:======::;
~

require th e use of mult iple wheel-speed se nso rs,

usi ng up to four digital inputs fro m the data loggi ng
un it . Even logging at moderate sampling rate s, th e
channels use up a considerable po rtion of th e un it's

"d lt \ I C I IT· L1 '\ I: .\C C EL ElU T IO:\, 37

mem ory. Il owever, analyzin g slip ratios with driver
act ivity and late ral/l ongit udin al G channels makes
pinpointing handling problems much easier. It also
pro vides the eng ine e r goo d in sight on th e perfor-
mance of th e different ial.
ABsrrcs and Slip Ratios
For any tire , there is a given slip ratio whe re
the t ire develop s its ma ximum longit ud inal force.
Th e drive r uses t he accelerator an d brake ped als to
co ntrol slip rat io. A BSs and T C Ss a re designe d to
kee p the tire at its ma ximum lon git ud inal force
wit h the slip rat io as a cont rolled variable.
T he ABS mon itor s th e speed of t he wh eel s
and regulates th e hyd raulic pressure to t he calipers
aecurdingly to maximize the hraking effort. By pre-
venti ng the wheels from locking and keep ing th em
at an opt ima l slip ratio. t he sys te m e nables th e
d rive r to maintain steering cont rol and brake th e
ca r in th e shortest possihle d istan ce unde r most
co nditions. Traction control evaluates t he amount
of cIIgine power tran sfe rred to t he drive n whe els.
T hi s ca ll he don e e ithe r hy dire c tly limiting th e
engine out put (ineIudi ng cutt ing th e fuel supply or
retarding or suppressing th e spark to one or more
cylinders) or by applying th e brake to th e wheel
th at excee ds the upthua l slip ratio.
Figure 4.8 Ma1eC Eng;/I €, Mm w :?,em ent saft u:a,.e
uith t raction cont rol f unction
_ _ _ _-_-_1lll!2B
l engine-controlled TCS on th e French Magny-Cours
i slip regulation . a no t her co m mon ly used
38 CHAP TER 4
While th e ABS and brak e-con trolled TCS
re q ui re se p a rate actu ation uni ts, most cu r re nt
moto rs po rt e ngine ma nage me nt sys tems limit
engine output pow e r in case of excessive slip . In
most cases, the only requi rem ent is to wi re th e nec-
essary wheel speed signals to th e engine ECU and
do th e program ming.
Figure 4 .8 shows a n exa mple of a simple
eng ine -cont ro lled T C S. The user ca ll e nte r t he
desired amou nt of slip, in this case expressed .1S the
differen ce bet ween t he l i nea ~ velocity of t ile d rive n
wheels and a reference speed , for d iffe re nt engine
loads. Th e engine man agem en t measure s t he dif-
[err- nt veloci ties and calculates th e slip. As soo n us
this value exceeds th e ai med slip value at the giH'1l
load site , t he software starts progressin·ly cutting
ti le ignition .
In some se ries, te chn ica l re gulat ions on ly
allow th e use orone senso r to spe cifica lly mea su re
the veh icle's veloc ity. A backdoor to th is r ule is
(when t he software allows) to lise a calcu lated cha n-
ncl as th e d riven-wheel speed for the slip ratio ca l-
culation a nd put a wheel-speed senso r on one of th e
free -rolling wheels. Tile speed of the d riven wheel s
ca n be ca lculated using Eq ua tio n 4. 21 .
v = 2 · 11: • frolling . n.:nginc ( Ell- -/.2 1)
i to ta ]
This met hod may not be as accurate as using sepa-
rate senso rs on eac h wheel but ca n he useful when
rq~t11at iOl l s lim it speed mcusu rcu u-nts.
T his descript ion of the TC S and ABS is very
limited . Keep in mind th at electronica lly maint ain-
ing the optimu m slip value of four tires is more d if-
ficult t ha n it looks bec ause the slip val ue where
maximum traction occurs is not a co nsta nt a nd is
likely to va ry even du ring one race lap. Measu ring
and eva luati ng slip values using the met hod men -
tioned in th is paragraph may provide a use ful tool
in TC S and ABS de velopm ent.
Th e Iollowtng example rep resents dat a taken
from an end urance racecar eq uipped ,..-ith a Bosch
racetrack, Th e d isplayed cha nnels are th e following:
• Ign iti on angle during ASH (acce le rat ion
name for tract ion control). Th is channel
 •

shows how much th e TC S int erferes wit h Figu re 4.9 Traction control exam ple
the eng ine ignition to decrease th e slip of
the d riven wheels. Th e values for this chan-
nel are taken from a use r-definable tabl e in
the engine ECU and are expressed as per-
ce ntages of t he original ignition an gle.
• Nominal slip value represe nts th e ma xi- ~
mum allowable slip value for eac h particu -
lar instant. Channel values for this also are
~:
ta ken from an e ngi ne E CU ta ble with
spee d , th rot tle positio n, a nd lat eral G as
variables. -,
n

• Reference spee d -, !
- 1

• Slip of d rive t rain is th e act ua l slip expe ri-

1
e nced by t he d ri ven whe e ls c a lcu lated • ".
accon ling to Equation 4.20.
-!
• Th rott le position

Fig u re 4 .9 shows th e ca r during a co rner "

>.

- -
.... ....--"., ("1.).... 0
r,
~.
fI
" - ,
.. .~ .lD) . ...
- " ' ''',,l:JI ..

exit phase. Th e ignition angle du rin g the ASH tra ce

ind icates when th e TC S is act ive. Th e g raph shows
a couple of short downwar d spikes indic at ing br ief I ,
Figu re 4. 10
Slip ratio tmce with
T C S ac t ivat io n. O ne spike is ind ica te d wit h an Ii traction cont rol
ar row and occur s du ri ng a mom ent whe n th e driver I
applies th e th rott le pe da l. At th is mom ent , th e ,
act ual slip value shortly peaks at 6 %, wh ereas th e lI
E C U concludes t hat no more th an 4% is tolerahle . I ,
As so on as th e act ua l slip rati o drops bel ow th e
,.
, I II
no minal value, the T CS deactivates. i, III
As tilt' d river applies mo re th rott le , th e sys-
tem needs to co rrect more to stay wit hi n nom inal
.1'1 II1II
slip values. T he applicatio n of traction con t rol is
III .1.,/1 I j ~ ,i ,
i h 1)1 1
~ r\ 7V", k.L-' ,.Jv,
I

also \'er r noticeab le fro m the short up ward spikes

in t he uctual slip rati o. An exa mp le is give n in
-'
. . 1
.. . ..... -
,_
Figu res 4 .10 and 4 .11 , the first with traction con-
trol and th e second without. · Figu re 4.11
Slip ratio tra ce wit hout
t raction cont rol
Time Versus Distance
,
"I catch him in th e corners, but he runs away

1•
from me on t he st ra ights . . ." is an oft en-h eard
co mme nt from racecar drive rs that could be ju st !
I,
the illusion of a tim e gap versus distance . Suppose
•
the drive r is closin g to wit hin 0.4 se c to t he car
di rectly in front of him (Figure 4.1 2) . At this po int .
·
both cars have a corne ri ng speed of 65 krn/h or 18.1
1\ /
m/s. Here, 0.4 sec tra nslates to a di stance between
, IH
YVV
bo th car s of T Ill . The cars a re exactl y ma tched in · ,A II ~( r-c Ij
ho rsepower and aerodyn amics an d, while exit ing •

STH.-\I GI I T-Ll~E .-\CCELEHATIO;'; 39

_.
 the co rner, bot h accelerate at exac tly th e same rate
(as the speed trace in Figure 4 .12 shows), keepin g
0.4 see be tween them. Halfway up the stra ight th e
cars we re do ing 180 km /h o r 50 m/s . Now 0.4 sec
tran slates to 20 m, a difference that reaches its max-
imum at th e end of the stra ight (27 m at a speed of
265 kill/h ). To th e d rive r, it see ms that his opponent
is running away fro m him . hu t in reality he is not.
T he ti me sepa ratin n neve r ehanges; it is j ust a ll
illusion.
The Importance
of Corner Exiting Sp eed
St raights O il racer ruck s cuu a<;l"11I1 1I1 fo r
70 - l')()% 01" the tolal truck lengt ll. A rucccnr ofn-u
spends III1K·h more li llie 0 11 a straight at maxiuuuu
accelera tio n th an an ywh ere e lse . Howe ver. l'\'c ry
st raiglltaway sta rts w ith c,xiti ng th e pr eced ing co r-
ncr, and maximizin g; t he speed at wh ich th e ca r
comes o ut of th is co rner ca n mini mi ze the t hue
u nti l th e ne xt braking zo.m.'.
In racing lite ruture an d drh'ing schools. cor-
ner exit speed is oft e n a hit overrated. hilt t lie prcvi -
principle st ill re mai ns trt n-. F ig u re 4.13 shows
O ilS
two ove rlaid laps of t he Spa t rack , focusing on th e
wor ld- fa mo us Hai d illo n curve a nd th e fi )llow ing
straight .
Figure 4.12 lime cersu.x d h tllllce: both ca r.s had a
CU U .xtan t :Io(lP of U.-I .<;(·(, bd u'e('11 t/W III , but ill dix tunre
th e gal ) in crea.xes u'it h speed. l1 u' d riccr ill ,h (' gnl y
ca r p rohll1Jly ente red th e pit .<; and a.liked [ or a m ' l l '
(, 1I ~ i ll(,.
Bot h laps were run in the same ca r with t he
same driver on tile sa me day. An aerody na mic set up
change was perfor med o n th e ca r to c ure a high-
spe ed uuder ste er problem, and the g ray speed t race
in Fig ur e 4.13 re presents t he result. The driver is
able to go 0 11 t he t hrott le more flue nt ly w ith th e
resu lt th at comen ng speed increases by 2 .9 km /h
and th e d rive r succ essfully negoti at e s t he exit of
the corner.
The straight filllowing th is co rner hus a leng th
of990 11l. Th e lap illustra ted h); the black speed truce
gin's an a\'era~l' speed along this st raight (ca lculated
hy the data ;Ieql1isition software) of 2..HiA I kill/ii (or
fiS...J-lfi l1I /s ) am i a sect or t i 11I<.' of 1-l.-l6·t 51'C. Assum ing
tha t the ca r has the po te ntial to keep t he :2.H km /h
d ifferen ce un til the next hraking point mcuns an
a\ 'erage spl'('d of 2-m.;3] km /h (o r 69 .2.5:2 III/S) and u
sec tor limp of )·L:2Hfi sec. By t'xit ing t his corner
:2.9 km/h faste r, this car ~a i ns a sector ad vant age 01"
0.17 sec. In reality. ho\\"(:'v('r, this was Hot tilt' cast'.
TiI <.' second lap (g ray truce ] ha s all ;j\'eral!:e
speed on the ~t ra igh t awilY st'ct or of 24 .'-; .:3:2 kur/h
(o r 14..'3.5:3 m/s ) gi\'ing u sector timc o r 14.:15:3 sec , a
d iffere nce w it h tile hluck lap of O.II Sl'C. Fig ure
-t.l:3 d earl y shows th at most of th is tt uu- is ~a i ll ('d
O il the first half o r tlu- st r;) i~ht. Al' ro<lyll:11 llic drag
increases w ith t ill' sCJ uare of speed. D uring tlu- s('e-
e nd lap, speed is hi~hpr; thu s, th e n' is IIUII"(' d rag
a nd less acceleration. In th e slower lap, .u-cvh-ration
is h i~he r and the difference in sp<'e d n -duced. At
tile end of th e straight, th e ea r uppmncln-x tile point
whe re c llgilll' output is lIlatdu,d hy d rag a mi till'
car ca n 110 longe r accelerate. In thi s case. a high -
sp e e d cor ne r is followed hy a lo ng st ra ig ht.
Optimizing COI"I l<.'r exit speed for thi s co rne r gives a

0,4 sec
,( 0.4 sec
I net gain of ju st over a ten th of a sec ond. which is a
conside rable a<l,·antage .
7 meters OA sec 27 meters
20 meters
Drag Racing Specifics
A drag race is a n auto mo tive acc e le ration

;/ ~
~m;. contest fro m a sta nding sta rt bet ween two vehicles
over a pre de termined di st an ce .P The nature an d
/ 180 km/h =SO.o mi.
, ~. / rules of th e ga me make drag racing a mathe mati cal
exercise , and data logging can e nha nce e ffectively
,~ ~ / . th e success of th is exercise.
/
..
-,
"--------
65 kmlh = 18.1 m/s
The acce pted sta nda rd for th e di stan ce of a
drag race is a qu arte r mile or a n eight h mil e. The
race b egins usin g an electro nic device co mmon ly

40 CHAPTER 4
referred to as t he Christmas tree, which di spl ays a
visua l countdown to the d river through a series of
lights, when compe tit ors leave th e sta rting line , it
ac tivate s a ti me r th at is stopped whe n th ey cross
the finish line. Th e tim e bet ween these two eve nts
is th e elapse d tim e (ET).
A dmg rac e is a tournam ent-style elimination
race be tw een two veh icles. The losing ve hicle in
eac h ro und is e limina te d , while the winner pro -
gresses into th e follOWing rou nd of competition.
ET Bracket Racing
Son u- classes use it handicap ped for m of com-
pe tition ca lled ET brarket raci,,:/i Th is mak es it
possihle fo r vehicles of \'ar ying performan ce ahili -
The 60- ft interval tim e is a measu re of the launch
fmrn the sta rti ng line , and it oft en det ermi nes how
qu ickly the rest of the ru n is.
D eter mining the appropri at e d ial-in consis-
te ncy is of vital importance. Starti ng strategy, gea r-
ing , and t ire pre ssure s are so me issue s th at need
ca re ful attention a nd are where a dat a logg ing sys-
tcm ca n be of assista nce. weather circu ms ta nces
a lso play a major role in de te r mining t he vehicle 's
Figu re -1.13 Corner exit speed and itx
COI I.W' q IU? IICeS a ll th e f ol/ml"illg st raight
,-"
0.10
_7>

,
11T• .,.],J".u.: ••• ~ lo;

om .+ 0.11 sec time gain

tie s to com pe te witl r each othe r on an even ha sis. -0.10 ~g;:;;~~~~~~~~~~..::. __.;;;;;;;===.;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;.;;;;';::~~
Each compe titor has to pred ict the ET at whic h th e
vehicle wi ll mil . T his is ca lle d d ial-ill. In a run ,." 2.9 kmlh speed
difference
1.3 kmlh speed
difference
be tween two ca rs. th e slowe r vehicle re cei ve s a
990 meters
head start eq ua l to th e differen ce in ET. 2m. 31

He re's all exa mple. C a r 1 ha s pre viou sly

cov e re d the qu art!'r m ile in 16 .6 8, 16 .7 1, and
16 .7.3 see. T he d river fee ls t hat a dial -in 01" 16.70
see is app rup riutc . Ca r 2 ha s been tim ed at 1.'3 ,98 ,
13 .99, uud 14.02 sec, a nd a dial -in of 1··1.00 sec is
sele cte d , Thi s mean s t ha t 'Ca r 1 re cei ve s it he ad -
star t of 2 .70 S('C whe n th e C hrist mas tr ee COllHtS
clow n to each ca r's sta rt. T he result of th e ra ce is
det e r m ined as follows:
••
• If both ca rs r un a h igh er £1' th an th e ir
dial- in, t he w in goes to th e veh icle t hat
Figure 4.1-1 Dmg racing ;.<oj a '~I' ec ific [o rm of
lTOSSCS the finish line first. motor-sp ort ill u:hieh dat a acquisition 1I1s0
ClI II be an odcanta ge.
• I f bot h cars cove r the qu arte r mile in thei r
exac t d ial -in tim e s, th e wi n goes to the
d river that rea ct ed qu ickest to th e sta r ting
signa l (reaction tim e ),
• If a car gO('s qu icke r t han its dia l-in , it is
d isquali fied . Th is is ca lled breakout .
• If a ca r rea ct s to the Ch ris t mas t ree too
qu ickly, it is d isqualified. This is ca lled red
light,
• If bot h cars break out , the o ne that r un s
closest to its dial-in is th e winner.
• If one ca r br e ak s o ut a nd th e o t he r ca r
jumps t he C hrist mas tre e , the one th at
breaks out wins.

In sanctioned eve nts, interval tim es are avail-

abk- to t he co mpe titors at 60, 330, 660, and 1,000 ft.

STltAIGI IT·LJ:\E ,\ CC I: L E RAT IO X 41

 potential ET. Stra ightline acceleration \ 'VaS covere d
ea rlie r in this cha p te r, and th e influence of th e
weath er on engine and ae rodynamics is investigated
in Chapter 11.
Figure 4.15 shows a ru n of a Top Fuel racer
nn th e Willowb ank quarter-mile d rag st rip. Top
Fuel represents the high est class in drag racing,
and th e cars acce lerate from 0 to 160 km/h in less
than 0.8 sec. Top speeds ca n exceed 530 km/h . Th e
followin g signa ls are shown : engine HPM, d rive
shaft RP r..1, th rott le pos ition , clutch fluid pressure,
and speed (front wheel speed and correc ted speed).
These t races were created lIsing MoTeC's i2 ana ly-
sis software in whic h a specific drag racing template
ca n be create d.
T he ver t ical lines indi cate t he d ifferen t
seq ue nces of th e ru n. Th e official result shee t
showed the followtng inte rmediate tim es for t his
parti cular car:
60 ft 1.020 sec
330 It 2.420 sec
660 It 3.446 se c
1,0 0 0 It 4 .315 sec
1,320 It 5.0 73 sec
Figure 4 .15 Engin e a nd dri ve shaft RPM , throttle
position , clut ch fluid pre ssure, and speed of u Top Fuel
dra g racer going clo wn th e quarter m ile
These resul ts ca n be entered manu ally in th e anal-
ysis so ftware after whic h th ey are indicated in
eac h graph.
T he softwa re calcu lates a corrected speed
signa l to determine th e cove red distance . In th is
case , th e front whee l speed is correc te d using th e
longitudinal acceleration. During th e first 60 ft of
th e run , th ere is qu ite a d iffe ren ce between the
measured wheel speed and t he ca lcu late d cor-
rected speed. Thi s occ urs becau se th e front whe els
of the vehicle are not in contact with the gro und at
this stage.
~ leas u ri llg t he wheel speed at the rear axle
gene rates huge errors ill th e logged da ta bcc.mse
of the inherent soft spr ing rates o f the rear tires of
a Top Fuel raceca r. In fad , t his kind of cal" use s
the variation in tire rad ius due to the wheel's cen -
t rifu gal forces to increase the gear ratio as dri ve
shnft-Hl'M increases. C PS-based speed me asu re -
ment is a suitable solut ion for thi s problem .
In thi s exa mple, the ca r reach es a maximum
velocity of 283 mph, but it achie ves thi s speed a fter
th e finish. Th e speed as t he car crosses th e fin ish
line is 277 mph. Up to the 1,000 -ft point. t he speed
tra ce is nearly linea r, indicati ng a constant IOllgit ll ~
din ul accele ration.
Anothe r obvious fact is that th e th ro tt le
pedal is on th e floor for the complete d urati on of
th e run . Th e amount of engi ne power transfe rred
to th e d riven whee ls is det ermined by t he clut ch .
The clutch and its release mechanism ora Top Fu el

.- ~
,' ~,
~
_.---~"-~".,."..
dra gstcr is a comp lex syste m, and its tuning is vital
for a fast ET. The clutch fluid pressu fC tra ce docs
. . not look as though it is influenced by only th e d riv-
: :
er 's foot. Alth ough elect ronic closed -loop syste ms
are banned in th e Top Fuel cla ss, a mechan ical
Full ~rotue tor ~ulI i. system-partly hydraulic, partly pneumatic- takes
du~tion 0 nr ca re that th e clutch is engaged in a cont rolled way
over a pr edetermined period.
Another run of an undefined dragster is
shown in Figure 4.16. This example concerns a
bracket rac e. The driver in this case needs to lift
t he thrott le in the last 300 ft to prevent a breakout .
The driver covers the drag st rip in 6.138 sec. Thi s

t
Start of ron
Froot wheels
lifted from ground
End cr run
trace also sho ws th e br aking effect of the para-
chute that op ens after th e car crosses th e finish
line .

42 CHAPTER 4
 Th e concerned ca r was equipped w ith a Figu re 4.16 This dragster cove rs the quart er mile in
6.138 sec, but decelerates in the last sectio n to prevent
3-spe ed gearbox with th e following rat ios : a breakout.
1st ge ar 1.60
2nd ge ar
3rd gear
1.28
1.0 0
- >--1
V ! ,.
However , ge ar changes cannot be detected /
! Parachute opens;
here from the engine HPM graph as is t he case in a Incre~se d deceleration
typical road racing RPM trace. Two sma ll, rough
• _ "'1'"
dri veshaft HPM are as hi nt at a gea r change; in thi s
case, use a gea r po sit ion sensor to determine th e ....1.........-...·•
used gear.
T he di fferen c e in e ng ine HPM (wh ic h
remai ns relatively constant) and dri veshnft HPM is
in fluen ce d co mple tely by th e clutch . To determine
th e amou nt of slip in the clutch, use Equatio n 4.22.
'\ : Deceleration
.
_.- : preventsbreak-out

Clutch slip:;: " engine - ( lldriveshafi . i,o,al)

llenginc
(Eq. 4.22)

i
Start
i
Fin ish

with nellginc = e ngine HP1\.-1

'\Iriveshaft = drive shaft HP~-1
'total = tota l gear ratio

The res ult ing mat hem at ica l cha nnel is pic-
tu red in Figure 4.16. As in th e previou s example,
t his race is d riven wit h th e clutch instead of th e
thrott le pedal.

I ST HAIG I IT-I.I :\E AC CELEH.\T10:\ 43

--
 I

44 CHA PTER 4 •
I

•
 slam the pedal, as thi s probably locks lip th e fron t G
LD
n:::: ::.::-<
wheels. Th er e need s to be a balan ce between a %
co n t ro lled bu tld up of br a kin ~ e ffo r t ami
aggressi veness. ~

Th e longitud inal G cha nnel ca n he d tffcr cn- W ::::

cceleratiOn is req uired to minimize the lap

=lA
·
ti me of u given racecur. I mp roving th e
acceleratio n cap ahilities of th e vehicle
result s in faster lap s. Optimizing the brakin g acti on
of car and d river does not directly have th e same
effect. I Iowever, when the time spe nt und e r decel er-
atio n can he decreased, th e di fference ca n he applied
to accel eration, which resu lts in faste r lap time-s.
A Simplified exam ple is offere d here . Table
.5.1 shows th e percent age of tim e spent under lnu k-
ing amI accel erat ion d uring two di fferent laps per-
form ed by t he same ca r and driver around C irc u it
Zolder.
Tab le 5.1 Aceelcnl tio ll and deceleration percent-
age...f or t lC O differ'cnl la/H, aro u nd Circuit Zolde r
Lap A Lap B
Acce le rat ion 68.24% 70.78%
tiated (by ca lculating the slope of the signal trace )
to give a meas ure of braking speed . To br ake t he r-
vehicle in Figu re 5. 1 to a maximum braking effort
of 1.49 G with in 0.-18 sec, this differentiation shows
a peak nf3.10 GIs.
0....
«
Brak ing Effort I
Il ow does om- know what th e vehicl e's rua vi-
11111111 hrakill~ pu tr-utial is? The ximplr-st way to
U
un swcr thi s ques tion is to tes t it. A $t raight-Iille lest
ind icates t i lt' highest ncgat tvc longitu d ina l uccelcr-
uti ou ucl ricvcrl IIIHle r bra king" Th e sPl'l'<! sigllals
ind icatc wlrcu t he wheels tend to lock tip.
Auth or Buddy Ft'~' presents a ta rget vuluc for
th e ca r's peak hraki ng dccek-rutiou h~' eOlilpar illg it
with t lJ(' ca r's co rne ring potl'lltia l.h For ears p ro-
d ucing lip to :2 G of ('on lt'r illg powc r. max imum
longit udina l C s should ill' uppruxi matt-lv H.5 o/r of
the muxiuunu late ral Gs.

Dec eler a tion 31 .76% 29 .13%

Lap t im e "33"21 2 1'32"1 7 8

Figure .5.1 Till' time it take»ji,r,'w drircrto (l chicT( '

Bet ween the two run s, a fresh set of t in 's is maximu m bnlki,,~jiJl"("c
put on the ea r, which creates a gai n in ot he r areas
as well. 1I00\"l'\"cr, a d C<''I"l~aSC in the total d u rat ion
under brakin g over complet ion of a lap brings a n
ad\"i.l1l tage almost every time"Th is chapte r de mon-
stra tes how the rucecur's braking syste m as well as
the capabilities of the driver to slow th e car down
can he analyzed a nd opti mized. 0.48 s

Maximizing Brak ing Sp eed

Th e act of braking begin s when th e driver
hit s the pedal. To waste as littl e time as possible,
brake pressure must be built up as quickly as possi-
ble. An analysis of braking speed is achieved using
H'"
the longitud inal acceleration channel to mea sure
the tim e it takes to ge t to maximum braking force
(Figu re 5 ,1).
Anyt hi ng under 0 .5 sec is cons idered fast
braki ng. This does not mea n that the d river has to .. GFo<m '~ jG)
_f'l" . . .
'-J~
.~~, - 1,49 G

·1' .......1.... '"

•
•
-
 This value vari es slightly with th e configura- 9S % lat eral G
tion of the vehicle . Th e following corrections should -2% front engine

be applied where necessary: -2% wid e tires

front engine -2% +91 % ·2.0 G : 1.8 G

rear engine +2 %
T he max im u m longitudinal deceleration th at
square tire contact patch +2 %
th e cur act ua lly reaches ca n va ry so mewhat fro m
average ti re co ntact patch +0%
cor ner to cor ner. Uph il l or do wnh ill brak in g
wid e t ire con t act patch - 2%
increa se s or decreases pea k lon gitudin al Gs , resp ec-
As an exa mple , co nside r th e D od ge Viper tive ly. T rack surface, tir e temperature , wea r, and
GTS- R, front-engincd and equipped with wide rac- compo und have an influ en ce as wel l.
ing t ires. Th is car is capable of cornering at 2.0 G. Once t he bra king ac tiv ity coincid es w ith
Therefore , the maximum lmlking e ffort for t his ca r clltering a cor ner. lon git udina l G s decrease while
is th e following: the ti ft'S need grip to bu ild lip ('o rnc r-ing force .
Equ ati on .5. 1 ca lcu lates co ruhi ucd accelerat io n
and ca n Iw used to det erm ine the- maximum d eccl-
2
eration unde r brak ing wh ile turning.
Figure 5.2 Peak
I
longitudinal acceleratio n
as a fun ction of corner-
i'lg acceleratiOlI
G"
~ 1,6
o
~ 1,4
1.8
-- '<;
<,
<;
I G co mbined = JG 1m
2
+ G long
2

-, To find th e lon gitudinal G, rea rran ge t he

~ 1,2
u -, e quation as sho w n ill Eq uatio n .5 .2 .
~
;;;
~ 0,8
2 0.6
1\ G
lon g = G
J combi ned
2
-
G
J lat
2
'8>
~ 0,4
\ I
... \ I Th e Viper has a Imlk ing th resh old of 1.1) c .
0.2 I
I
Con sider that , while hraking. th is ca r is corn e ring
o at 0 .5 G . Sub stituting the se values in Equation 5 .:?:
o 0.2 0 .4 0.6 0.8 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
gi,·es th e maximum uchicvabk- braking decelera-
Lateral acceleration [G ]
tion as givell ill Enuu tion .5 .3.

(Eq..5.3 '
Fig ure .5.3 Effect ofth e speed at wlticlt a corn er i...
approa ched on th e In·akin:!, p oint location
Fig ure .5.2 shows lilis n-lat iunxhip g ra phi-
17m cally. Note that thi s is a qlla rlt 'j" of tln- tra cti on cir-
cle (se e Clltll,ter 7 ). Fro m the g raph. it is ob vious
that betwee n () an d O}j lateral c: hraking capa bili-
ties are not a flec ted st rongly.
To eva luate if th e driver is hraking ade q uately,
"OJ, compare howdosdy he approad u's th e target set by
th is ca lcula tion . Xot brakin g liard e llough may not
be a driver-related issue . It lIlay be possible th at the
brake ba lance is set tip impro perly o r th at th e re is
another problem in tile vehicle config tlmtion.
J

Braking Po ints
. . ... . . ~. _. __ . . , . . __l · The d iscu ssion ahou t braking point s begin s
with spec ifying that th e loca tion of t his point o n

46 CHAPTER 5
the track depends on the speed at wh ich th e corne r ratio ind icates th at at least one of the front whee ls
is app roached. A difference in approach speed can is abou t to lock. while a negative slip ratio ind icates
affect Significantly the br aking distance (Fig u r e t he same problem on the rear axle.
5.3). This affects the reference points th e d river However, the easiest way to detect lockup is
uses to select the brakin g point. the speed graphs. Figure 5.6 is an example of a car
Th e graph shows two speed traces of th e with dead)' too much rea r brake bias. \Vhen a wheel
same ca r as it approaches a corner. Th e hlack line locks, the speed t race d rops nearly vertically. When
shows the highest top speed. 6 km/h more than the the tire regains grip (because the dri ver senses the
ot her t race. The brak ing point du ring the lap with
t he lower top speed has moved 17 In further down
t he tr ack. At thi s point , th e two traces co nverge, Fig ure 5.4 Eilrly braking ShOIC.o; "1' i ll th e Combined
ind icatin g the braking effor t was th e same for the G tra ce (J.'i (I tO
alley
two laps.
Effe cti ve braki ng is no tab le in t he co mbined
"D
G g raph as a smo ot h tran sition be twee n t he br ak-
ing peak and th e maximum la te ral acceleration '"
duri ng co rne ring. when tile driver brakes too early,
th is tr ace shows a fja llcy (Fig u res 5.4 and 5 .5),
ind icating th at du ri ng thi s period th e t ires a rc not
used to their fullest capacity.
Effecti ve brakin g is revealed in th e t faction
circle graph as a near-circu lar trans itio n bc t w~el1
maximum cornering G and maximum longitud inal
deceleration . It is all abo ut using t he car's tires
effectively.
Another ind icator for early braking can he
inadequate brakin g effort (also known as easing 0 11
th e brak es). Det erminin g th e hraking effor t th e •
driver should aim for was discussed in th e previous
paragraph . Figure 5 .5 Earl y
Evaluating late braking is not so easy. Begin brakifl g. Th e driver does
not u...e the p roperties of
by investigating where in the corner th e lateral G ' .00 the tires to th eir fullest
peaks. A peak at mid-co rner or later may indicate capacity .
late braking.

Lockup ·1.00

Locking the brakes often is accom panied by ~ .2.00

big smoke t ufts from th e whe els. This resu lts as

often in one or more tires th at are no longer round.
When brak e lockup occurs, all the wheel s usu ally
do not lock. Th e wheel most likely to lock is the one
,...
2.SDI

2.2OOl ....._""
_ . - . ,. . tM

,-....
2.lDJI
with the least load on it (t he inside of the corner). ' .lUll
,.om
on the axle with the highest brake bias . Other fac- I.' "
,
...-....... -
tors may apply as well. This means that wheel-speed
senso rs on each wheel are nec essary to det ect '.lUll
•.om
lockup during braking.
In C hapter 4, the longitudinal slip ratio was
_.
defined . D uring th e braking phase, a positive slip

Blt\KI:\'G 47
 Figure 5.6 Brake locku p sho w.'! up as a dou:lllnl rd
spike in th e speed graph and ill the longitudinal slilJ
percentage, dep end ing 01 1 which axle the lockup takes
place.
wbec l lockin g tiP and eas es off th e brake ). the speed
trace jumps again. Sim ultaneous ly wit h t he down -
ward spikes in th e speed t race , th e longit ud inal slip
perc(,lltage di ve s. If the front wheels are locking lip.
thes e- spikes aim upwa rd .

Brake Balance
M aximum bm ki ng d eceleration o nly occ urs
whe n all tires s tm u ltnncous ly op era te at th ei r maxi-
IlU IIll coeffi cie nt of Friction . Therefore . p roper b rake
halunc e is vital. Co rm-r-r-ntrv unde rsteer fol lowed
hv m id -corn e r undcrstccr and the co mhi nat ion o f
10\\' h rak ing Gs cuu lit' di ag nosed as too nllld l front
lnukc- hlas. Too Il IIH..1t rea r bias lea d s to ('O rlH'!'-{'lI tI Y
on>rsh 'c r if not anti cipated hy th e dr-iver,
In e-x t reme cases. too much luukc h ias 011 eit he r
a\ l(' leads to on e or 1110re wheel s locking lip . T he ca r
fro m whic h the d ata i ll Figure S.fi wax o htn iued
clea rly sn fff.-:' rs from l':'\l'cssi"e rea r bra ke h ias.
Figu re .5. 7 Front m ul
rear bra ke line p r essll l"e
-- \l pasllr ing brake Jim' pn'sstl re make s it Y('ry
('as ~' l() t rack the vehic le's brake balan ce. It is a gn'at
200.0
\\'a~' to re-store tile proper halu ncc wl u-n SOIlll't h illg
ill tilt' hru ke svxn -m is changed. It re ve a ls t h e b rake -
100.0
n -lntr-d ucti vitio s o f t he d river. and th t' liuc pn's-
sun's are va riables in calcu latio ns fi ll' h ra ke fmel's.
0.0 ' -_ _~=-=_=="- ---' All t'xHlllp !e is giYl'll ill F ig u re .S.7. At the- ('lId
of tlu- straigllt. the d rh'(-r slams on t ill' luu kc-s, result-
Drivel t u n orr illg ill peak luukc line p resstlre s of .5 .500 k l'u an d
br a ~t elto. l tO I . old
lotk lng Ihe b' a kel
. L kflO kl'a for the fron t a nd rea r axles, re sped in ,ly.
~, ,",n t' r this hraking peak. the d river sta rts to ('as,' off
4lXXl t il l ' Ilt'd al p n 'sslIn ' to avoid locking t he bra kes.
Bra ke bala nce is de filled wit h Equa tion .SA .
I II l ilt' pn -viou x t-xumplc. tln- fro nt b ra ke bias ca n
11(' c.rk-ul.ucd as Eq ua tio n .S..S.

2lXXl Fig u re .s.8 is a n X-Y g rap h o f Front vt-rsux

re a r b ru kr- p re ss ur e . Th is g ra p h sl um 's a smull
100J .. amount of sca tter. indicat ing that for a gin:'n fron t
h ra kt- p re ss u re th ere is a vur iati on in re a r br a ke
o , ... .. ,. . , ... : . 1.' L >-- pn.'s sll rl·. This undesi rabl e effect ca n have various
Brllke Hurt~ Pit\'$ · Re8"n,P.,1.
~;{;f~f;';",X'!
~ '» ('; \I I St ' S . Cu llpe r d e fo rmati on o r fre ep lay in th e
(l('d al ho\ asse mh ly ca n le ad to in consiste nt bra ke
Pf('SS\lW d ist r-ihu t ic n .
Brake line p res sur e front Anot her way to visualize compliance in th e
Brake bias = . 100%
front Brake lin e p res sure front + Brake line pressure rear I )ra k il l~ s~'stl'1l1 is pictu red in F ig u r e 5 .9. This grap h
plots bra ke bala nce aga inst fron t b ra ke p ressure . It
illustrates t he variation in p ressure d ist ribu tion for
. 5500
Brak e b,a s front = 5500 + 4860 . 100% = 53% an y ~iven fro nt brake pressu re . For low pr essu res,
(Eq 5.5 ) th is variat ion is h igh (free play in the pe d a lbo x

48 CHAPTER 5
 < •

asse mbly), and it diminishes as brake pressure rises . Figure 5.8 Front cersus rear brake line pressure
Brake bal an ce variatio n at h igher pressures is ca use d
by ca liper or br ake pad deformati on or expa ilsion of
th e brake hoses. A braking system w ith a co nsistent
b rak e pressure di stribut ion shows le-ss th an a 5 %
var iatio n in b rake balance from 15 bar fro nt p res-
su re ollwa rds,7 Th is is d early not th e case in Fip:llfe
5.9 . The grapll shows a brake hn lunce variat ion or
10% at 20 ba r and th e goal of 5 % is only reach ed at
-4 0 ba r. Bet ween 40 and GO hal', the graph S )lOWS it

stra nge hill. This variation in b rake bal a nce proba-

bI~' is cau sed h~' brak e ca liper dclonu ution. T his also
can he seen ill Fig ll n ' 5.S. Th is d ata was t uk c-n from
t he sa me session . At ·-10 luu; there is a sh irt ill lnukc-
balan ce . (;e Uill f!; rid of th is tyP(' of br 'lk illg s~·st(' 11 1
com pl iance is vital to achicdng opt im um h rak ing
perforuuuu-c . Fi~ ll rc 5.!J Th is X- r plot of brake balance agai nst fnm(
brake line pressure prov ides a good me tho d to check the
brukc Imlonce comistl'/Icy.
Pe d a l Travel
B' . .. l>In . ...
Brake p re ssure S P lI SO LS a re vuluub lr- for 1oo,D

('!let-king t he h raki ll ~ svs tc-m. Add ition ally. nu-axnr- ~O"D

ing t he travel of t he brake pedal provkk -x use-ful

"..
inforuuuiou . If brake- pn'ss lln ' ('11<l1I11(' ls an ' l ll ll
uvuilahle , loggin g peda l trave l at le-ast provtdr -x
so me in format iou t hat would 1)(' n -vr-uk-d bv t he
p ressure ch annel s. It tells whe-n and ho\\' t l«- drive-r
applies th e hrakes: 1.00\'(>\"(>r . it doe s no t n'\'('al ' l l l~ ·­
Brake caliper
tiling ubout the bruk« lial.m c« .
".' deformation
C IH'cking ped al trave-l .u ul brake line- pre s-
".'
sures provides a good indic-ation ofhru]«- pad thk -k-
10 .0
ne-ss. This ca ll h e particularly Ilst.f'1I1 ill ('Ildll rall t't'
races . A s the brake pads we ar. mnrc- Iwd a l truvc -] is
required to achieve tln- suuu- hrake- lu« - pn·ssllrt 's.
Ped al t ravel also indi cates b raking c()ll.sist('I]{,~ ·. The- Figure .5.10 Front brake pressure agllill.'" pcdol tru cel
previous pa rag raph slHlwed thut pcdulb.», fn ·t·play
lead s to inconsi stent brake lial.mcx -. Fi g llr< 's .s.h .uu l
5 .9 illu st rate d a vehicle w ith poor pcd ullu», r igitlit: '.
&<_--_.~-

--
A plot of fron t brake p ressure agai nst peda l trave- l
from the same se ssion in t hi s ca r is pi c-tun-d i ll
Figure 5.10. It shows that significa nt hrukc p n 's-
sure on ly is being built tip a fte r 10 IIUIl o f pt'(lal
travel. Afte r tha t th e re is a sig n ifica nt d eg ree o f
va riatio n in bra ke pre ssllfP for a ny gi\'(,11 p('dal
t ravel val ue .

",0

B H.\ K I '\(; 49

be ._ - - --- -
50 CHA PTER 5
 ...
These are shown in Tab le 6 .2. By taking th e sum
-o Co'
o r these measu rement poin ts in th e inte rval det er-
mined previously. a good ap proximation of the area
~ <
-Z
::::
bel ow the pO\ller curve is ob tain ed. Taking th e su m
of th ese figures gh-es us th e follOWing: W -
r~"

Co'

he ge a rbox is a dev ice that all ows th e

5,80 0 RPM
6.000 RPM
207 hp
209 hp
~
e ng ine to op e rate wit hin it s powc rhand 0-
«
6,20 0 RPM 208 hp
(i.e.. t he HPM ran ge whe re th e e ng ine 205 hp
6,400 RPM
delivers t he most o r its power) for a w ide spee d 6.60 0 RPM 20 1 hp
ra nge. This is an add itiona l respon sibi lit y for th e
d river, wh o is alrea dy t rying to ba la nc e t he ca r
6,800 RPM
+ 7,0 00 RPM
197 hp
172 hp
:r:::
bused on the limits of ~ ri p produced by t he t ires.
D ata logging is n:'r~' use fu l in cvaluanng th e shift -
Tota l 1.399 hp
U
ing te c hniques of t he dr iver a nd ca n hel p wit h 1(, fi nd the right shift HP ~ l lor third gear. the
sell'c ti ng t he most effic ient gear ratios for a ny gi\'en interval must be det ermined th at provides as much
racetrack. area as possible unde r the power curve . In th e prc -
Anal~7.i ng th e driver's shirt ing techn ique ca n vio us exa mple , t he power figu re at 7,000 HPM is
be broken into two l' a tc~or ies : upsh ift ing, (i.e., rather low compa red to the lower revs. T herefore. it
cha ngin g to a higller gea r) uud down sh ift ing (t.c., is necessary to cha nge the shift po int to 6,8 00 RP M
chang ing to a lower gea r). a nd obtain the rollowing resu lts:

5,600 RPM 205 hp

Upshifting 5,80 0 RPM 207 hp
Wh en an a lyzi ng l og~('d d at a, t he re ar e two 6,00 0 RPM 20 9 hp
important ite-ms w ith regar d to the up shirting pro- 6,20 0 RPM 208 hp
ce dure-c-t hc shirt ing point and the du rat io n oft l«- 6,400 RPM 205 hp
upshift. 6,600 RPM 20 1 hp

Shifting Po int + 6.&00 RPM 197 hp

Th e shifti ng poin t d <')w llds on th e shape of Tota l 1,432 hp

the l' ngine power curvv. mort' speci fica lly th e tota l Figu re 6.1
area beneath the po\\ ·t·r curve situa te d w ith in th e Engine RPM cersus
vehicle speed fo r a ll
e ngine 's op(' ra ti ll~ rall~(, .
F3 car
As all e-x.uup h-. lake a Fonuula S sillgle -seate r
car. Table 6. 1 gh t's the ~t 'a rh()\ configurat ion for
this ca r. The spee ds a re cuk-ul.ru-d at a sh irt point
of 7,000 HP\1. III l;i~lIr e ti.l , the spe e d versu s
engi ne RP\ I is graphically n -pn-sc-nted . Figure 6.2
shows the power curve o r tlu' t'llgillt'.
Assum e on e is t ry ing to find the o pt im u m
gea rshirt HP\ I for thi rd ~ear. F rom thi rd to fou rth
ge"If, the engine HP\I d rop s approx ima te ly 1,200 .
So. with th e earlie r me ntion ed shift point or 7.000
RP\ t , the engi ne picks lip in fou rt h gear at 5 .800 Fig ure 6.2
R P\ 1. :\ow til t' ure-a bel ow th e powe r c u r ve
-.., Power cun.:e f or the
example F3 car
betwee n ,S.bOOa nd 7,000 HP\ lcan be calcu late d . -..,
To ma ke thi s ea sy, d vuo mc usun-ment poin ts in
inte rvals or 200 HP\ I are e nte red in a spreads hee t.

<:I-:.\ III :\ G 51
 ... -

Hepeati ng th is exercise finally gives an op ti- run. the drive r shifts at 7,00 0 HPM. Du ring th e sec-
slai ft point at 6,500 HPM . In th e same way.
1l1ll11l ond run, the shift point is decreased b)' 500 R P~1.
th e n-q utrcd shift point ill ea ch gear can be ca lcu- The resul ts are given in F ig ures 6.3 and 6.4.
luted. To illustrat e the importa nce of shiftin~ at the B)' decreasing t he shift point for all gears b)'
co r- n-e t e ng ine speed. a n acce le ration test on a 50 0 RPM, t he e lapsed lime afte r 1,000 m of
straight line of 1,000 III is simulate d using Bosch 's straight. line accele rat ion is 0.12 sec less th a n be fo re
Lap slm software package. (See Chopt er 13 for and t he top speed is increased hy 6 kill/h. In thi s
more inform ation O il thi s package .) D ur ing tlu- first situation, it is necessary to dec rease th e shift HP~l
to increa se t he a rea under th e engi ne po wer curve,
Tab le ti.l C eurbos J,ml'erli es of (HI l".'3 car; , ,' lif titl/!. hut lo r different e ngines th e opposite a lso ca ll be
point li t 7.000 RPM true . In thi s ca se, en sure that in crea sin g th e sh ift
HP\I does 110 t affect th e reli ahi lity of the e ng ine ,
V RPM
21 22 I I/step Ifina l (km/h l d rop Get the advice of t he e ngine builder.
TI l(~ Illllgitud inal accclcrutiou cha um-l al so
1st 33 12 2.75 2.7 5 7.79 98.5
p rovides a good indica tion if th e sh ift H P~I is cor-
2nd 29 15 1. 93 1.93 5.48 140.1 2.07 9
Ted . Upshifts show lip in th is t ruce as sho rt <10\\'11-
3rd 25 15 1.67 1.67 4 .72 162.5 96 6 ward spikes. A corn-et shift HP\ I results in a si milar
4th 25 18 1.3 9 1.39 3.94 195.1 1.167 lo ngitudinal acceleratio n at th e heginn ing and e-nd
of thi s dow nwa rd spike. Figure 6 .•5 illustrat es a
5 th 22 19 1.16 1.16 3.28 234.0 1.164
properly pe rformed upshift . wllilc Figure 6. 6 shows
6th 26 25 1. 0 4 1.04 2.95 260.5 713
an exa mple of au upshift pe rformed too (·arl)".
Sh ift Du rat io n
21 22 Ratio T he othe r imp ort a nt point to unt o ill upshift -
Final d rive 34 12 2.83 in g is th e sh in du rati on . Becau se tint c sp e nt
between gea rs is time when ~ h(' ea r is nol uccclcrat-
Step up gear 1
ing. min im izing thi s s h ifti n~ ti me also reduct'S lap
t iun-. The up shi n hl.·~in s w it h di s(,lI ~agi lig th e
Dyn amic tire radius 291 mm dutch. followed hy Illodng the gea r le ver to t he
Shifting point 7.0 00 RPM m-xt gear a nd engaging t he clutch. The input shan
need s to slow down to svnchron izc w ith the- m-xt
ge ar rat io. whic h is uch h-vcd hy hackinp; off the
-fable (j.2 Power fig ures [ora n FJ engi ne. token th rottle (o r clilti ng the- igllitioll) alUl depre ssing t he
[nnn II dy tlO tc...t
d utch . Th e re is a trade -off betwee-n upshi ft du ra-
tion and r(,liahili ty. Quick shifts Inc rea se til e wea r
Engine Engine Engine Engine Engi ne Engine
RPM Power (hp ) RPM Power (hp) RPM Power (hp) on do g or svn ch ro ri ngs hilt save lap tim e . Sound
ju dgme nt is ill order he re.
2, 000 36 3, 8 00 114 5.600 205
Shift thu c c a ll 1)(' det ermined [rom tile logged
2,200 42 4,000 128 5,800 20 7 dat a whe n th e longitudinal acceleration of th e vehi-
2,400 49 4,20 0 150 6,000 209 cle is recorded. As d iscussed previously. shift tim e
2,600 55 4,4 0 0 162 6,200 208
is the ti me when th e car is not accelerati ng. Th is
appea rs in the longitudi nal G gr aph as a downwa rd
2,800 63 4,600 162 6,400 205
dip as shown in Fig u re 6.7. T he sh ift action begins
3,0 0 0 70 4,80 0 169 6,600 201 wh e re the longit udi nal fo rce d rops off an d ends
3.200 78 5,00 0 181 7, 0 00 197 whe n the ca r picks l ip acc eleration agai n.
7, 200
To ge t a n idea ab out th e driver's sh ifting
3,400 88 5, 20 0 191 172
te chn iqu e. ca lcula te th e shift tim es during a lap in
3. 6 00 10 0 5,400 200 7,400 14 2
d ifferent gear s ami calculate th e average.

52 CHAPTER 6
 Det erm ining shift times can help the e ngi-
m-er evaluate th e ability of t he d rive r to shift gears
q uickly, or it ind ica tes if th e gearbo x is bei ng
abused . The latte r is impor tan t in endurance races ,
pa rticularly whe n th e re is more th an one dri ver in
the car. Table 6.3 provides some expe rience num-
lx-rs for the upshift durat ion. These dep en d on th e
driver and on the state and const ruction of th e
gea rhox and clutch mec hanism. Sequential gea r-
reading of 10 Hz means there is a sen sor read ing
eve ry one -tent h of a second . Give n the va lues in
Table 6.3 , th is is clea rly notaccurate e nough , The
50- Hz line gives a readin g eve ry 0.02 sec. In thi s
line, the downward spikes produced by upshi fts a re
seen clearly.
Figure 6 .5
An upsliift perjormed at

_.-
boxes and pO\wrshift syste ms (cutt ing the c llgilw's 1.00 th e riglit sliift lW M
ignition t riggered by a signal from t he gear leve r) UooI. .......
_ . .... lio.
1H'lp minimi ze sh ifting time wit ho ut sae rifid ng
n -liubi litv.
To accuratclv measure shin li me, th e correct 0.50
s:llnpling frcI!tlt'lIcy should lit' selecte d to log longi-
tudiual uccelcrution . III Fi gu,-c 6.8, two (Iilli.'rent
laps by the same ca r are examined . F rom tile truce
lo~~ed at 10 li z, th e time it take s th e driver to
ck mge gear cannot he det ermined accurately, Th e
0.00
--
-0.50
Figu re a.:J Sim ulatio n of l .()()()-m strui g ju-iine
accclem tirm , ... hiftillg gean, at 7,()()(J lU'M

. ~
111"-'''P'I
-.
·1 .00
..- ! .
11 U IMd.____:----:
~

'.-
,"-
II . ._ .: . ,.;;;; '1Ilk.
·1.50
G F",,:e · l oOOitudinol Gl

..... 1 1..'1

Figure (j.{i
1.00
I"'l _ .... IlOO 1-1 1IlC", too .... _ tool '(Ul JOt!
Sliifting too (·tldy result s
: . :.1'«; I' 1'1'''1 Oflnl in ;'1 les... lo ngit udin al G.1i
IOftg rtud 'nol
. CCllOf, lIon
at th e riglit side of tlie
up shift spike.
I'-ig,u,-e 6.4 Simu lation of l .()()()-m straight- line 0.50
(lcct'!nation, sliifting gears at 6,500 RPM

0.00

·1.00

.• •• • • • _ •• t _ •••t-
G """,
..
Table 6.3 TYTJ;cal shift times for various racecars Downshiftin g
Upshifting and downshifting require sync hro-
" , ~;; lv
I ~UPShi~; ~i
~' '""' I;' " ', .,
Vehicl e
jft;/, d uretlcn : j nizing the engine spee d with that of the t ransmis-
sion input speed. W ith upshiftin g, t he en gin e
F3 car 0.1 5 sec
passively synchronizes RP M because it slows down
Po rsche 9 11 GT2 Turb o. synchro- as th e clutch disen gages. This is not the case when
0.35 sec
nized H-pa ttern gearbox
down shifting because the engine needs to spin faster
Dodge Viper GTS-R. synch ron ized when it en gages th e lower gear. Blipping the thrott le
0 .32 sec
H-pa tte rn gearbox (Figu re 6 .9) as the transmission passes through
neutral achieves thi s. \ Vhen th e engine is not spe d
Dodge Viper GTS-R. seque nt ial
0 .23 sec up by the dri ver, it is by the driveline when the clutch
gea rbox, no po we rshift
is re -en gaged. wh ich up set s tire adhesion of a car
Dodge Viper GTS-R. sequential cornering nca r th e limit.
0 .18 se c
gearbox, with powershift
D own sh ifting inevitably is connected to brak-
LMP1 prototype. sequential ing. and the dri ver shou ld e nsure that eng ine a nd
0 .10 sec
gearbox, e lectroni c paddleshift t ran smi ssion HPM ar e sy nc hro n ized properly.
Failing to do so could result ill snap overstecr, which
is not desirable, especially whe n th e driver is t rail
Figu re 6.7
Drte nnining !ll" ~" ift braking. How much blippin g is nece ssar y? Too little
dum/ioll from the il blipping up set s the g rip at the driv en wheels, whil e
IOll gi/ luJill ll l G channel / 1
/ ~ too much blip ping over-revs the engine .
An example of too little throttle blipping is
given in Figure 6 .10. T he driver actuates the tIlrot-
tie on downshift to a max imum 10% throttle posi-
tion . The engine RP~' I is raised less than necessary,
0.25 s
which is illustrated by the upward spikes in the total
if;""'i).'~ gear rat io channel. How to create this channel is <.'0\'-
G Fa ce· LongitucfmI (G)
J hrottle POSitior, f~ ered fully in the next sec tion, but for now it is suffi-
cient to know it defines the rat io bet ween w he el
speed and engine HPI\.1. Ideally, wh en e ngine and
Figure (U ) Vm git uc!i1l1l1G sampled at JO 11;; transmi ssion input shaft revs are equal, this channel
and.50 H:::. shows the actual gear ratio. If d uring the down shift
the eng ine RPM is too low when the lowe r gear is

..
". 10 Hz \
,.\wv~~~G..:Y.." ,.;yJv.,~~-_'Y1, . ~
-
engaged , th e transmission spe eds up the engine and
t ile gear channel momenta rily increases.

>' .V~>
i" '
-, 'I' .......""... " ~ "

,m Mo st engi ne over-revs occur duri ng dow n-

." 50 Hz ~
! .
'- I
, shifting and usually are due to two rea sons-shifting
'm dO\'IIn too q uick ly from a too- high engine RP M and
",rllllii.•_~ ....... excessive throttle blipping. The trace in Figu re 6 .11
'" illust rates a guaranteed way to destroy an engine!
... ~ ---- - ---+\.l. .- ---"
-
... 1~ -" . .
. .
The Gear Chart
c.-
The re lationship between engine speed and
wheel speed is linear under normal circumstances .

..
,
T his linearity is indicated by the total gear ratio. A
common d ispl ay forma t for gear ratios is th e gear
e
• .,
"
.., ..
.
s
..... cha rt pictured in Figure 6.1. This chart disp lays the

S4 CHA PTER 6
relati onship bet ween speed and engine RP M for Vehicle speed re lates to engi ne RPM . accord-
each gear. ing to Equation 6.1.
With th e analysis software. it is po ssible to
create an X-Yplot similar to the gear chart. Figure v = 2 · 1t . rrolling . n enginc
(Eq. 6.1)
6.12 provides an example of this. It conc erns a car i tot
with a 6 -spccd seque ntial gearbox. Only data point s
where V = vehicle speed
recorded during acceleration (longitudi nal acce ler-
rrolling = tire radius
ati on > 0) are plotted in the graph to d etermine
nengine = e ngine RPM
from which minimum RPM the d river ac celerated itO! = total gear ratio
the engine.
The first conclusion apparent from thi s graph
Fig ure 6 .9 Th rottle blil' s during down shifting to
is that only five of six gears are used . No sections on slj llcllmni;:.e e ng ine and t ransm ission in /JUt shaf t RPM
the trac k requ ire first gear to be used. Third gear is
used the most, as indicated by the de nsity of data
points for this gear.
;~
.,n
n r--, 1\

I{
~"~~~..{. ...
The maximum shift Hl'M for each gear is eus-
ron
i1)' recognizable. In all gears, RP lvl ran ges are
, . ..

detected that are well within the speed range fo r a '", Th

lower gear. Here the driver probably is trying to lise

du ,
!,- '
/ 1--.
s
r-
the best of the engine's torque band. Note that the
engine in this case has a maximum torqu e outp l,lt of
,
, II r- r- I- -- ..
approximately 800 Nm. ..,
Also wort h noting is the scatter of data points.
~
/) - ~. , . \ -'
Theoreti cally, eve ry HPM corres po nds to a pr e-
determined vehicle spee d in each gear. Therefore, Figu re 6.10
all the data points should fall exactly on the straight 250.0 BliT'/l;ng the th rottle illwf-
fici ently duri ng do wnsh ift s
lines plotted in Figure 6.12. The deviation from the sho ws til' in th e gear' ratio
200.0 graJlh as up ward spik es.
line is greatest in the lower gear. espe cia lly in the
lower rev ranges. The probable cause is whee l spill
150.0
upon acceleration, but the mounting location of the
wheel-spe ed sensor also cou ld be an influence. A
100.0

~. ~
sensor mounted on the left-front wheel rec ords a
speed grea ter than the right-front wheel in a right- 50.0
hand corner, and vice versa. \ Vhen both nan d riven
wheels have a wheel-speed signal, the average of the -- I' '
two can be calculated and used as the x-axis in the f
gear chart to remove this effect , although thi s proba-
·3.000
bly would not provide much information.

Total Gear Ratio Channel

-4.000
The total gear ratio channel was used ea rlier
in this chapter to evaluate the driver's downshifting
technique. It is a mathematical channel that expresses
the relationship bet ween engine RPM and veh icle
-5.000
, ,
._ . - . - -- - - - - - - - . ~ ...
~

speed. In an)' gear, th is relat ionship is a consta nt.

The graph looks like a stepped line. conveniently d is-
playing which gear was used at any part of the track. ---. -. _
-6.000 '--_ -. ; - . ;Cl"~ ... ,OtiO
-==""'-"=-_--'
,

G EAR IXG 55
 Vehicle speed and engine RPM are logged
channels, so Equation 6. 2 is for 4ot.
. 2 · J'[ • Trolling ' "engine
I tot = V
Fina lly. if km/h arc converted to m/s and RPM
to revs/second , th e result bec omes Equation 6.3.
I = 0.377 . fro lling ~n Cngine
tOI
Figure f),II Too m uch th rottle bli ppillJ!. results in
ocrr-reccing the ('''giue, as dem onstrated here by all
II 11 UlW t c d dr ixcr ill a Porsclie 9!J6111"01i1lti Circuit
'Zohler.
Graphically, th e mat hematical channel looks
like the lower trace in Figure 6.13. Note that
Eq uation 6.3 was multiplied by - 1 so t hat when a
higher gear is used the line steps up. and vice versa.
CEq. 6.2)
The upper trace was obtained from a gear position
sensor in th e seq ue ntial gearbox. To detect which
gear th e driver is using, thi s trace is obvio usly
clea re r. Howeve r, th e mathem atical c ha nnel also
ind icates an om ali e s suc h a s whe el sp in, whee l
( f ir 6.3) lockup under braki ng, and ins ufficient th rottl e blip -
ping on down shi fts.
The tota l gear rat io dlaT;nel also may be use d
in other nuuhcmattc-al cha nnel s requiring thi s
input. To de crease the de viat ion from the ac t ual
~ea r rati o, it is also possible to use the an.'rage whed
spee d of two or mo re wheels wlu-u multiple se nso rs
are present.

Determining Correct
Gea r Ratios
Given th e large a mo unt of lite ratu re avai l-
ab le, th e subjec t of selecti ng t he proper gear rat ios
is no t cove re d in thi s hook. Auth or Puul Van
Valkenburg d e scribe s t hi s subjec t excelle nt ly."
Uegi n by finding th e optimum e ngi ne HPM in top
gea r an d optim um shift points in th e inter me diate
gears, as di scusse d in t he first paragraph of th is
chapter. Select t he top gea r for the longest straight
on th e track and the intermediate gears for the cor-
-~
. -
-_.....
- ---:::::-----:,---=,-----:c::-----:::---
, - - : : , - - - = - --' ners uud must efficient acceleration.
To select th e proper gear ratio for a corne r
exit, first find th e engine HP~I in each gear where
maximum longitudi na l uccelerution occurs, as pic-
Figure 6. 12 " 'Iwe! sIJC'('c/ no,'sus engine JU',U plot
tu red in Figu re 6.14. Following th at, rind the H P~I
in th e corner exit ph ase whe re th e car accepts full
thrott le. Thi s should be slightly below th e revs for
maximu m accelerati on . If not , co rre ct t hi s by
selecting a diffe rent gea r ratio.
H and li ng problems mo ve th e point where
th e ca r accepts full th rottle fu rther dow n th e cor-
ner exit. Do no t try to selec t gear ratios for a co rner
exit when the chassis is not balan ced. Also be awa re
that th e optimal gear for one corner may not be I
optimal for anothe r. Invest igate all corne rs leading
I
on to a sig nificant st raight because this is where sig-
nificant ti me can be gained .

,~,

'....
J

56 CHA PTER 6
I
I

J
Figure 6.13 Gear 1JOsit ion cha nnel f rom sequ ential
gearbox a lld calculated gear rat ios f rom ve hicle spee d
and engine RPM

~- _ . ..:- -- ~- - - ; . . , ,'--'--,

6th
5th 5th
-aon

-snn

-G.oo:l

·7.roJ

-8.roJ '..-- ..... --....- -**===""'-""

TotalGear ratio: ·2 775
.0 1.0 3.0

Fig ure 6. 1-1

6lXXl En~ill e Rl'M at
maximum loug itu clilltl!
. 670 ,pm
5(XXJ llccelem tirm
) ; "
4lXXl -'./"

30CIl
21m
1(0)
0

1.00 "n . Iongnualnl ' 6 - _ . ... :- ..

0.50

0.00

-0.50

·1.00

·1.50 Ii Force·

G EAHl NG 57
58 CHAPTER 6
 reason , New ton 's laws of friction do not apply for
r-, C)
racing tires . Tires can develop mor e lateral force .....::::Z
t han the vertical load acting on t hem.
For a vehicle to change d irection, all th e ti res 0::: wz
assu me a slip angle. This ang le exists because of th e
resisting mo ment due to the e lastic friction bet ween
W .::::
o
I- u

~E
xcept for drag racers, all racecars negot i-
ate corners and the ability to do so as fast
as possible minimi zes lap time. Thi s chap-
te r covers the ph ysics in volved in cornering a nd
how th e cornering capability of a raceca r call be
investigated using da ta from the logging system .
The Cornering Sequence
The car-d ri ver co mbinat io n goes thro ug h
various phases whe n ta king a corn er. T he corneri ng
pro ce ss basically consists of the follow ing ph ases:
1. Braking Point to Initial Turn-in Point
Th e straight- line bra kin g phase fo rm s a n
integral par t of th e corneri ng seq ue nce becau se the
poi nt where th e driver hits th e brakes det ermine s
t he locati on of th e turn-in point and entry speed.
2 . Turn-in Point to Cor ne r's Apex
T he drive r usually is brakin g sti ll afte r th e
turn-i n point (i.e . trai l braking ). Th is pe riod is fol-
lowed by a shor t neutral th rottle period w he re the
dri ver tri es to ca rr y the speed through t he cor ner.
This is not a coasti ng period , an d it ca n he very
shor t to no ti me at all in durati on.
3. Corne r Exit
T his ph ase begi ns whe n the d rive r goes har d
on the th rottle and exits the corner onto th e follow-
the t ire an d road surface that d evelop s when the
tire is tu rn ed. Put simply, t he slip angle is the di f- 0....
fe ren ce bet ween the di rection tile wheel is point ing
an d whe re it is hea ding.
Fro m a ph ysical point of view, t his is what
happens whe n a car develops lateral g rip:
«
:r:
• On th e st ra ight preceding the corne r th at
the driver wan t s to ta ckle , the stee ring U
whee l a ngle is fluct uati ng arou nd zero a nd
all t ires have a very sma ll slip a ngle approx-
imately equal to their toe se tt ing, T he re is
no lateral acceleration.
• At th e turn-in poi nt , t he d rive r turn s t he
stee ring whe el , effec tively inducing a slip
angle to th e fron t t ir es . T he fro nt t ires
develop a lateral force .
• Thi s front latera l force causes a yaw mom ent
aro un d th e vehicle 's center of g ravity. wh ich
in turn ind uce s a rear slip angle and , there -
fore, rear grip.
F igure 7.1 Dri ver activity pattern jo r a left -hand
('OT ne r
,."
"'"
1."!-- - ---h
~~_r /
100 %
t hr. ttl e

ing st raight.

Figure 7.1 illu strat es the different eve nts

"'. ..~. : I fii5t1Jii

takin g place d uri ng corn ering with the driver ac tiv-

ity channels (t h rott le, brake pe da l positi nn , and
steering wheel ), Th ese eve nts are disc ussed in mor e
det ail in Chapter 12 to an alyze the racin g line , For
now, it is sufficie nt to show what the d river expe ri- ~raklng . t I:c orn~r '~~i~ ~
ences when negoti ati ng a cor ne r, 100.0 . :. ~ ... .., Neutral throttle: ~ ;
:Tum- In :
For a ca r to get a ro und a cor ne r, a lat eral
for ce mus t exist to keep th e ca r on the tr ack. T hi s
0.0 .. ..• " . .. . ~ .•. ..-; ~ o! ~.~ .\ .: , i ; .

force (or gr ip) comes from th e ca r's ti res and is two- ·100.0 . .. .. . .. . ... .. ..
fold. The th read sur face of the tire gr ips with th e
- ~ . .~_
'; ....:
~'" . J
: :
;
surface irr egul arities of th e tr ack, but th ere is also a Steering release:
molecular adhesion between both surfaces. For this

COHi\'EniNG 59
 \Vhen the car develops the necessary lateral • Th e first is a linear, o r elas tic, range in
grip to get it through the corn er, all four tires assume wh ich th e developed lateral force is pro-
a certain degree of slip angle. Th e amount of slip portional to the amount of slip angle. Th e
ang le for ea ch whe el det ermines the lateral force lateral force comes from the deform ation
that each tire develops. Figure 7.2 is a plot showi ng in th e thread surface (l.e ., the tire's corner-
the lateral force versus the slip angle of a given tire ing stiffness).
exposed to a given vertical load. Three regions can • Th e second region is a tran sition range in
be distinguished from this gra ph: wh ich th e relationship bet we en th e slip
angle and lateral force is no longer linea r.
Here, the rear po rt ion of the tire footprint
hegin s to slide lateral ly along the grou nd.
Figure 7.2 Lateral torce • Third, after th e maxi m um lateral force is
Lateral f orce vcrsw;
Pe ak lateral torce reache d. an increase in slip angk- does not
";[ip angle
slip angle
! conti nue to re-sul t ill a lI igl ll ~ r lateral force.
j This a rea is the frictional range because-
! fro m thi s point t he l.u crul lorcc is nu-n-lv a

.
Linear range .
I Frictonal
result of frict ion bet ween th e tire an d the
road surface .
range
T he' vehicle's bulaucc is d et er mined hy how
milch lateral force O Il C c ud of the vchtclc d (' n~l ()p s
in compari son to tile ot he r e nd as well as whic-h end
of the ve h icle reaches the tires' maxi mum late ral
force first . A n investigatioll llsing inf orma tion fro m
the vehicle's da la acquisit ion sys te lll occurs in the-
following "e<:tions.

Slip argle Traction Circle

A racin g tire can de velop upprox imntelv
eq ual power in acceleration, braking , ami corne r-
Fign re 7.3 x- r plot uf lateral vers us hmgitlulilllli ing. Plotting th e m uxhuu m forces th at a tire ca n
acceleration illustrating tlu..' corne ring potential of
th e vehicle develop ill each din'ctiou gi\'('s the tra cti on circle
of the tire. Most data acquisition packages feature
Acceleration an X-)' graph of lateral ve rsus 10llgitudinal acceler-
at ion , which is essent ia lly th e tra cti on circle. or
Accelerating c-
"g-g" diagram, for the enti re veh icle (Fig u re 7.3 ).
out of l H
corner Thi s graph represent s th e cornering power of the
vehicle. For the tracti on ci rcle to be read as illus-
t rated in Figure 7,3, th e lat eral and longitud inal
acceleration cha n nels mu st be calib rate d as indi-
Tu rn left - Turn right
cated in Chapter 3 (in the Loggin g Steering Angle
sec tion).
A tire 's maximum g r ip in any direction
depends on t he vertical load to whic h it is bei ng
subjected. Th is implies that the size of the tr action
MQ,x . lo.+'<?I-,:\1 G Nc x. 1.0 ee-r-ct G circle is not con stant. In a high-dO\vnforce corner,
LH PH
t h e ci rcle's d iamete r is la rge r t han in a slow
Braking
corn er.

60 CHAPTER 7
 In reality, the g-g diagram is not a circle but
res embles a flattened he a rt shape, as maximum
braking de celeration is greater than accele rat io n
un der power. T he maximum longitu d inal acc elera-
tio n here is dictated by the traction potential of the
car; t his is wh y the upper two quadrants in the
traction circle ar e not circ ular. T he lower two
quadrant s take a circu lar form onl y if the driver
and car can stay o n t he ve ry limit of adhesion at
every stage through a cor ne r. T his is very rare, a nd
th e lo wer two quadrant s mo st ly are so me what
tr iangula r.
Fig ure 7.4 illustr ates acceleration dat a from
a Dod ge Vipe r GT ca r dur ing a lap 011 th e Circu it
Zolder racetrack. Th e most basic in fo r mat io n
deri ved from thi s plo t is th e maximum acc eleration
Th e d river achieves lim it late ral acceleration
whe n there is ve ry litt le longitud inal acce leration .
As soon as there is braking power, late ral C drops
Significantly, so t here is not much trail braking. On
th e corner exit, this e ffec t reduces. Here, th e d river
keeps close to peak lateral G until th e longitudinal
G closes to 0.4 G.
Conside r a random point in th e plot, indi -
cate d by the sma ll circle in th e lower le ft qu adrant.
At t hat pa rticular mom ent, the ca r reache d a late ral
deceleration of 1.10 G a nd a longit ud inal accel era-
tio n of 0.61 G . Th e vect o r slim oft hese two compo-
nents. th e combined acce lerat ion, can be calculated
usin,g Equa tion 7.1.
G combined = JG lat
2
+ G long
2 ( Eq. /-1)

in fo ur di rect ions, which can he read directly from For th e indi ca ted point , th is means that th e
the x- and y-axes. co mbined acceleratio n equals 1.2.5 G . T he re a rc a
l ongitudinal acce lerat ion 0.90 G couple of points out side the theoreticalmaxi mum
und e r power
border; one is indicat ed by the small circle in th e
l ong itud inal acce le rat ion 1.70 G
under br akin g lower righ t quadrant. T he co mbined accele rat io n
l ate ral acceleration 2.2 5 G at t his poi nt is 2 .22 G , whi ch is well w ith in re ach
corne ring left of th e maximum late ral corne rin g potential. He re .
lateral acce lerat io n 2.10 G for on e moment . the drive r is dri vi!lg 0 11 the t rac -
co rne ring rig ht
tio nlimit .
Combined acceleration can he calculated by
However, the region between t he axe s is
the so ftware and plotted on a t im e or di sta nce
mo re intere sting. T his re presents t he tran sient
g ra ph. This graph can be particularly use ful for
behavior of the ca r as lo ngit udi nal ac celeration
analyzing t he ca r's corneri ng pote ntial du rin g t run-
changes into late ral cornering acceleration. Th is is
when the d river is hraking an d turning into a cor-
ner at the sam e time (i.e., trail braking) or getting
Figure 7.4 Traction circle (or g-g di agram ) ofa lap
th e power down early upon exiting a corner. arou ud w ider in a Dodge Viper G TS ·/I
T he outside borderline indicates the vehicle's
theoretica l maxim um acceleration potential in any .....
direction, wh ile the insi de line shows how much
th e dri ver ut ilized this potential during that lap.
Some generalities beco me quite clear by st udying
.......
.,..

th e diagram. -e....
The area where the plot density is highest is
located in th e upper two q uadrants , showing for- .....
-41.iOOG

<,.. .
ward acceleration; more time was spent accelerat-
.,,...
ing tha n bra king. Th e scatter between 0.2 and .,,.,. .........: ..... .•.. :.
0.6 G in longitud inal direction represents the pa rts
of th e track where there we re no cornering or brake ·l.eooo - -.
forces . This cover s the straight- line accelerat ion
range of the vehicle.
·1 .8000

-t ... .,... -e.se .... .... ..

' ,... >."

COIC\E IU,"C 61

b
 Figure 7.5 Combined accereration sient ph a ses. It basically represents t he radius of
the ve h icle's inst antan eou s traction ci rcle. Th e
exa mple pict ure d in Figure 7.5 is take n fro m th e
sa me lap as the traction circle in Figu re 7.4.
T he acceleration data in Figure 7.4 COH' rs a
complete lap , but separate corners also can be ana-
lyzed . Figure 7.6 shows th e gog diag ra m of a
160 -krn/h sweeping cor ner. Th e arrows in th e x-r
...
,...
,
pl ot indicat e th e cornering ph ase s. Th e d ri ver
make s all the braking e ffort before tu rn ing in, and
..... mo st of th e cornering is achi eved w itho ut brak ing.
....
,"''''
...,
D ecelerati on forces deter mi ~e th e first pa rt of th e
..., combined G g raph on the rig ht. T he small cir cle
....·=L ---'_......."'-'="-- --'--'
iud icutcs a dip in t he co mbine d G graph as th e
driver removes hi s foot from the b ruke pedal. hu t
mom en tar ily t here is st ill no co rneri ng. T he gr aph
Figure 7.6 Traction circle, s peed, combined s t ar t s to r ise agai n as corner ing accele ra ti o n
accelerati on, and lateral and longit lldilwl G graphs increases. In fact , at this point the latera l and com-

,- ~ O«.olcl

O,ilOIlG ••••••••• • j
Siraightiine
f or one slJecific comer

, Corner exit
bi ned G traces mat ch .
As soo n a s acce le ra ti on becom es positive
again (perhaps too qut cklyi'), the late ral G graph
~. : . lmA takes a big d ip and th e ca r loses gr ip. In th e t rac-
,','. __ - - -, -~ , : -.~ ••---, ---j.'. ....:_....\.:'"J.\ . ,Steady-sl te
D.6DOC1

1l.2DOCI , " .. tion circl e, th e points scatter around a lat eral ucccl-
: : : ..: . / . corn ering D,.II~~=====~
.: '
.....
g:
,,
t ...
eratio n va lue of 1.5 G . The drive r co mes off the

.......
throttle and .s hifts up a gea r to settle th e car, after
--. ," ,
.... which tim e tl ie late ral G increa ses agai n. As til" ca r
-

"t ransmon phase;

......_. braki ng while
.... accele rat es a\\'ay and out of th e corner, the late ral G
.--e. , corne ring .
drops to ze ro , wh ile lon gi tudin al G de crea se s
slight ly w ith increasing speed.
Th e traction circle and co mbine d C an.' good
.,,,,
·1.1000 worki ng tool s for inves tigating t he cOfller iIlg puk ll-
~ .. 2,00....
-2.DOO~,~.~.-_;;';;;_-"';_-,.;,;_-"';_-'";_-_d
ase ,... , .~

0'.....·..-.,
ti al of a race car . Becau se th ese tools illust rat e tln-
t ra nsie nt phases of th e cOrTlPri ng S('q IH' lIe(' \"t'ry
Figure 7.7 Traction circle plot f OT vehicle speeds we ll, th ey a lso ca n be ap plied for d r-i ver pc- rfo r-

--
below 130 km /lI

-- 0.95 G
mance analysis.

Effe cts of Sp e ed
As mentioned in th e previou s paragraph . the
vehicle 's t ract ion circle radius is not consta nt. It
varies with th e total ver tical load acting on the ca r's
..,...
..... center of g ravity. The most imp ortant paramt't pr

--...
'
.. ........
here is aero dy na mic down load , whi ch is specd
dependent. Th erefore , a re lationship exists between
th e veh icle's speed and its accel eration potential.
;1,2llllII

".-
,'... , -1.45 G(" ,
bo th in a longit udinal and latera l sense.
Aerodynamic downfon:e Increa ses pro por-
..... : , t ion al to th e sq uare of sp eed. resulti ng in g reat e r
.....·w .". .... ... ... '.. u. cornering and braking potential. Drag has t he same

62 CHAPTER 7
 relationship to spee d. so the more speed increases Figure 7.8 Traction drcle plot fo r vehicle speeds
betwe en 130 and 180 kmJ11
the less power rema ins to accelerate the vehicle.
In the following illustrations. traction circles
-- m_

.-
0.82 G
for different speed intervals in a single lap are pic-
tured (Figures 7.7-7.1O). Speed effects also ca n be / :'.:':": :' :.....:.: ,:.c :'.(~.:.:-: ~? : .;...~ ..'
illustrated by plotting longitudin al and lateral acce l-
eration again st vehicl e speed. Figures 7.11 and
.-
'.-
-2 .0 G.:····
':t ·· : . . .'
. ..,
2,0 G
. ~. . ~
'. ":~;::

-
·- I-"""-"-Ii:.¢c:!.-_-'-~-----j--------";:-c-r='--j
7.12 show an example of th at for the sa me lap in .:.: '.~ ....
--
Figu res 7.8-7.10 . Figu re 7.13 shows lateral acceler-
ation versus vehicle spee d for a Formu la One car.
. , "

.,- : ,' . -
Throttle Histogram .' ...~.; ~~.
.",-
.'
',
,.
:;
A poor -han dling chassis do es no t accept
th rottle input as well as a balanced one. Perfor ming
".-
some statistical operations on the th rottle data can

_
help quantify tile strengtll of a certa in set up.
Average th rottle position and the percentage Figure 7.9 Traction circle plot f or vehicle speed:s
ofla p time spe nt at full throttle are statistical refer-
ence nu mbers for different setups. Th e th rott le ...,
bet uieen 180 and 230 k m/h

.-.-
posit ion is. however. a variable ove r which th e ..- =::::=
dr iver has input. Th erefore . any ana lysis or tile
0. 6 5 G

th rottle histogra m should be undert aken with care.

As dr ivers gain confi dence. the)' becom e eager to
get on the throttle earlier.
.-
~.:lOOlI -2 .2 G
, ,
2.2 G

The following two lap s were condu cted 0 11

the Circuit Zolder racet rack with the same car and -,
d river during the same session. .,-
"

Table 7.1 Average th rottle position and f ull th rottle

...
"'-
.,
percentage f or tU.iO d ifferent lap s aro u nd Zolder
.,-
.,- · 1.70 G
Average th rottle Full throttle
Lap t ime position percentage
I Lap 1 1'3 5"887 S1.4% 29 .8 %
I Lap 2 1'33"24 2 51 .8 % 3 0 .8 %

Between th e two laps. a setup change th at

_0_
F igure 7.10 Traction circle plot for vehi cle speeds
IJel ween 230 and 280 kllll1l

--
.--
'-"'OIl __", , -
improves the car and lap tim e occ urs . Average
thrott le position is improved by 0.4 %. Th e tim e 0.60 G

spent at full throttle goes up by 1%. Usually an 0-

..- -2. 25 G
increase in tim e spent at full th~ottle lead s to an
improved lap time. When this is not th e case, check , . '. '.,
. .
'

_-,... .... ..

---.-
for a problem in straigh t-lin e acceleratio n (e.g.• --_._ ; ,.

, . .' '
,
. ..-.-.•-.--1'....
engine power, drag) or braking. The throttle histo-
.:. , . t:
..' ' . ~.-

gram in Figu re 7.14 visually represents th e th rot- ,,- .. ..

tle activities. ;'.

The throttle histogram typically includes two

maximum values, at zero th rottle and full th rottl e.
-.-
" ' - ..-
" -r .:
.'" . ::; .
Closed throttle should be approximately eq ual to

, ('OH~E B I:'\(; 63

.•...
 the time spent brakin g , un less th e ca r is coas ting.
The ma ximum at fu ll th ro tt le ind icate s chass is or
driver imp rovements.
Steering
Ve hicle balance is co m m on ly in d icate d by
the te r ms nnd ersteer, neutral stee r, and ot.crsteer.
In a simple world, u ndcrstee r ca uses the veh icle to
"push" fro nt ti res to the out side of t he co rner, while
overste er causes the rear axle to brenk o ut. Xe ut ral
steer is th e sit uat ion where neith er uud ersteer nor
ove rstec r are p re sent. A more mat he mat ical an d
cor rect d efinition follows in the next sec tion.
T he most co m mo n way to ana lyze corneri ng
balance is to look at the inp ut the vehi cle acq ui res
from the driver as a reaction to a h and ling problem .
Stecring mo vement and pedal activit ies ca n reveal
much abo ut the handling of the ca r. Stee ring angle ,
th ro ttle position, and lat era l accelerati on are the
cha n ne ls to wat ch.
Ov ersteer
Th e driver cou nters oversteer U,\' reduci nu the ~

stc('r ing angle. If the ove rsteer is severe. th is even

may re su lt ill opposite lock, as de monst ru tcd in
F ig u re 7.11 Lat e ral accel erat iofl vers us vehicle
speed. Lat eral g rip l'o te lltilll increases ICitlt lIcrody- Figu re 7.1.5 . TI l(' ve h icle coucr-rucd was olivio u slv
'Willie dOWtlf orce. suH<' ring from d iabol ical overx teer th rou gh Hn- e-cru-
O fo. u·l.*Iol plett' co rn e ri ng se q ucllct'. Th e drive-r d esperate ly
'.00 t ries to c or re ct the rea r ste pping-Ol lt by .iNking the
'.. sh-'(' ri ng wheel ill the othe r di rec-tion . The gray li ne
.... in the steer ing g raph ind icates app roxima tely how
t ill' sh' l'r ing movement shou ld han ' [u-r-n add ressed .
.,.
Stc!-'r ing co rrect ions for oversteer \'e ry often

.. urc .u- co mp.uu cd by litt le dips in t he lat e ra l C

g raph. parallel to t he ste eri ng wlll't'l movemen t. In
..... g('neraJ. late ra l uccclc rntion leve ls are lowe r I jum
t'\ »ecled . O vc-rstcer creates a roll ~h lateral t ; grap h
·,00 as th,' ca r lo se-s and regain s g rip, Var iat ions s ma ller

.,.'-- •..= =
'00,0
= ,.- - ,..
=,,__ ...:."",-_...1
_ _, t _ lOlI
t han 0 .2.5 C an d o r a sho rte r d urat io n t ha n 0 ,:3 sec
a rc cuu s r-d hy irr eg u larit ie s ill the track su rfac-e.
Lute-ml (; vu riat irlIl S rh K' to ovcrst ccr a re CO il f rm cd
ill tlu' st('(' ri llg ang le g raph ,
Fig u re 7.12 Lo ngitu d inal aeee/nation rersu» cehich- A notln -r ovc-rs h -c-r ind icator is when t lu- vclu-
speed. l\.ccelerali011 po tentiu l un dcrpoicer d ecrease,,, ch- is 110 1 \\'ill illg to a("("ep t full th ro tt le . I n t his
(dtll sp eed du e to aero dy na mic dra g. J)('cclerat iotl
potential increases wit h speed d ue to aerodynamic r-x.uuph-, t ilt' d rive-r wa its unti ] the come r is CO Ill -

dra g and do umjorce. p h-h ·d h('lcm' apply illg full thrott le to uvoid t1l(' rear
stl'pping ( lil t .

Und e rst e e r
". Undorstecr is a little more difficu lt to d iag-
'.00 H OS( ' . C haructr -rist ic to u ud e rsteer is the excessive
stl'('r ing an gll'. Oltr-u. th e driver ant icipates corner
!-'nt r~' un ck-rsn -cr hy pitch ing th e ca r into th e corner.
An o\"('rst('pring mo ment is creat ed arou nd the ca r's
ce nter of gravity to co mpensate th e understeer by an

... aKgressin' stpe rillg inpu t. T his pitching movem ent is

, I ~
..•............. ~~ fClllow(,d by a small d ip wher e the d river catches th e
rea r hraking out (F ig u re 7.16) . Steady-state under-
~ -1.Oll L . .: .
....
"".- ""
...
...... ..:;;;?~.J
ste er is illustrated lu-re by an ever-increasing steer-
ing angle ami ten tati ve th ro ttle applicati on .

64 CHAPTER7
 Another indication of co rne r entry 1111de r·
ste er is wh en t he steering a ngle peaks before th e
lat eral Gs. As menti on ed previou sly, w hen tl u-
steering a ngle is more than see ms necessary. under-
steer is ofte n th e d iagnosis.
The Under st eer Angle
Figure 7.17 shows th e bicycle mo de l of
vehic le during corner ing. The bicycle model is it
math e mati ca l model of th e vehicle ill which th e
track widt h is co nsidered to be zero. It assumes a
ste ady-state cornering sit uation where the vehicle
takes a constant radiu s corner at \"(~rr low spe t"d .
Tlu- stt"eri n~ an~le is sma ll. and front a nd rear slip
angles an' zero. H is the corner's tu rning: rad ius and
' VB th e whee lbase of th e vehicle. whe n t nl\ t->Iill)!:
at low speed and influe nces due to uccelerations a rt"
negligihle >th o steering anp;le req uired to lIl'gotiatt-
Th e overa ll steering ratio is t he ratio between
steering wheel angle a nd th e a ngle of t he steere d
wlu-els.
Authors Milliken a nd Millike n 4 give th e fol-
lowing definit ions for neutra l steer, understeer, and
oversteer:
it
Neutral ste er : St eer ed a ng le Ackermann st eering
a ng le
Under stee r: St ee red a ng le > Ackermann steering
angle
Over stee r: Ste ered angle < Acke rma nn steering
angle
Fi;!,IIr(~ 1. 13 l aterul accde ratio ll cersus veh icle
sl'('('c/[or a late 1990... FI ca r. tu..
dat a IL'O S take n
from (I lal' a nJllIu! Silvers to ne Cir cuit .

t his corn er 0At-kt'r is defi ned by Equation 7.2 . pi

u ... _
\;A'i _ "8th
_. lti' it .. ._ Ii i1U ' .!"j-l
-.IlIJl!.I

WI3
°Ack cr == R ", m

Thi s ang le is ca lled th e kinematic steering angl,·. or ,. _~ --- )l: "

A ckermann steering a ngle (not to he con fused with
::~;:~::j~·i;:r~~:~~~....: ., .r;-,~ I
Ackerm ann steering ). o.
As speed increases, tile tires develop a slip i ll lg ll" om . . ". ·.. ~·;· ·; ·.:~:.·.~1:~~~~":.>i:~

~;~i~0i~ij;~;{;L~?::~~~t>~ .
and th e di ffe re nce betwee n the front amI rea r slip
angle det er mines the balance of the ear. Tlux an (,t:!s ,m
the reqni red steering angle fur steady-state eOfllerill)!:.
SA E j 6 70 2 defin es neutral steer. u nd c-rs u -c-r.
an d ovc rstcc r as follows:
.
'm '__ 't______

Neutral steer: A veh icle is neutral stee r at a giv en tri m

if th e ratio of th e stee ring wheel ang le gr ad ien t
to the ov erall st eering ratio equals the
Ackermann steering gradient.
J'"i;!,lIre 7.1-1 Thrott le hintogrum
Und ersteer: A veh icle is und ersteer at a given tr im if __ l _ _ PI
th e ratio of th e steering wheel angle grad ient u. .. uuu
t o t he overa ll steering ratio is gr eater th a n th e
Ackermann stee ring gr adi ent.

Ove rsteer: A vehicl e is oversteer at a given trim if th e

rat io of the st eering wheel angle gradient to Closed IhrotUe
the overall steering rat io is smaller than the
Ackermann steering g radient. /
By th is defin ition , th e steering wh eel a ngle· ,.- , . .,--:-., ...

g radient is th e rate of cha nge in th e steeri ng whe(>1

" .. '-. ,-- ;.-,- .;.;,..-,--.....;--.-,- .-.•.,- .
; ,._,_.;.~ ; -,

. --.- ... _.: .;--, .;.-: ..,..,.:

a ngle with resp ect to cha nge in ste ady-sta te late ral • . ..... :.-:._ .....
accele rat ion. T he Acke rmann steering grad ie llt is ._--'-__:_-.-- -- Part Ihrottli{. i::::;-::
th e ra te of cha nge in th e Ackermann steer :Ingle'
w it h res p e c t to c ha nge in ste ady -st a te la te ra l .,
acceleration.

CO It'\E IU:'\C 65

I
~
 An und erste er a ngle (0Il) ca n he defin ed as
th e devi ation from th e Acke rmann steering a ngle
°
In this eq uatio n. is th e actu al steering angle
of th e front outsid e whe eL Cornering rad ius is
need ed to follow th e vehi cle's in ten ded path. determined by Eq uat io n 7.4 .

(Eq. 7.3) y2
R=- (Eq. 7.4)
G 1at

Figure 7.15 In th is e quation . V is th e vehicle speed a nd

Thi s vehicle demml- ro.o
slr'ates th e stee ring 60.0 G 1at is t he ca r's lateral accele rat ion. Suh stituting
40.0
correc tions of seve re th is in th e e qua tion of Acker mann stee ring a ngle
20.0
crerstec r; During th e
co rne r exit phose, th e gives us E q ua t io n 7.5 .
dri ver tea.... unable to 200.0
01,,)ly full th rottl e. _ WB ·G 1"
(E q.7.S)
°Acker-
v2
Fin ally. thi s result s ill th e form ula to calc u-
late th e undcrstccr a ngle (Eq llatio n 7.6).

( Eq. 7.6)

SIeel'edArOe (d!ol: 20.1 A \'e ry important po int to rem emb er her e is

t he definit ions for neutra l stee r. uu dcrstccr , and
'.50 ove rsteer are vali d on ly in th e lin ea r operati ng
'.00
0.50 ra nge of th e tir es am i under steady-state conditions
0.00 If the e quutiuus are appli ed in the nonlinear oper-
~.5O
ating range of the tir es, their mathematical \'alid it)
., .00
., .50 is lost. Howeve r. graph ically represented . the y ca n
se rve quit e well for comparing differ ent veh icle
.1
configurations.
Th e relationship between the stee ring wheel
Fig ure 7.16 angle and th e front wheels of the car must he deter -
Urulers tee r i1Uli ca to rs 80.0 mined first to create th e necessa ry math em atical
60.0 c han ne ls in the a na lysis softwa re . This is best
40.0 achie ved with th e ca r on turnplates from which th e
20.0 wheel angle ca n be re ad . A table call he create d
with different steering wheel an gle values and th e
corresponding wheel a ngles. Always take th e read-
I_en..", ing from th e wheel on th e outside of th e corner.
"Hr., _",,,
100.0 . This table ca n he e nte re d int o a sp reads he e t to
determine a mathem atica l express ion of whe el
an gle as a fun ction of steering wheel angle (F ig u re
7.18), ' vh ich th en ca n be used as a math ematical
0.0 1-;'.;..0
' .;.;-vV'
channel to defin e o. D ep ending on the vehicle 's
stee ring geo metry. thi s can be a complex equation.
ta r .1 Plldl~
.100..0 . . . _;__. _. . _l!Dt:l COflttl' _> . -. . - --
~
F igu re 7.18 shows a steering angle meas ure-
ment perfor med on a Corvette C5 H. The plotted
cha rac te ristic is ne arly linear a nd can be ap proxi-
mated by Equation 7.7.

66 CHAPTER 7
 WB F igure 7.1 7
0 = 0SW ·0.4262 (Eq. 7.7) ... ...... -'- The relationship
betw een corne r radius,
In this equation , 0sw is th e logged stee ring ---... _~
wh eelbase, and
Ackennann
wheel angle in degrees. Th e next step is to create a
steering angle
math ch anne l for th e Acke rm an n steering angle .
Considering that t he wheelbase of th e Corvette is
2.65 m, lateral acce leration is expresse d in Gs, and
veh icle speed is in km/h , th e cha nnel looks like
Equation 7.8 . R

Gl ot · 9.8 1 )
1)Acker = · 2.65 ·57.3
( y 2 · 0 .077

In thi s e quation, C ia! is converted into Ill / 5 2

an d speed int o m /s . The 57.3 facto r converts rad i-

a ns int o de gre es. Now th e uud e rst eer a ngle (On)
ca n be cal culate d using Equat ion 7.9 .

(Etr 7.9 )
Figure 7.18
T he absol ute va lues of wheel angle a nd Steerin g wheel angle
" agai nst ou tside comer
Acker mann steering angle a rc tak en to remove the wh eel angle
sign convention between left- and right-hand cor -
ner s. Figure 7.19 shows the Ackermann steering Sln.lng .hnllngl,
an gle, whe el an gle , and under steer a ngle at th e ~ ." ." "
indi cated co rner on the Dubai Motodrom, logged
-s
on th e Corvette COSH. .
•
From th e definition of undcrsteer a ngle, it :
"
follows that a positive value means und er ste er and
a negati ve value ovcrxteer.
i
In th e exa mple proposed ill Figu re 7.19, thi s
car has diffi cult y 11<l\O
igatin g th e apex of th e corne r.
Fig ure 7.19
Spe cifically, th e uud er stecr an gle inc reases up 011 "'" Ackermann (kinematic)
corn er ent ry. Th e stt' eri ll~ wheel movem ent (in thi s kin • • Uc 5' • •Ing . gI.
steering angle, outside
case , illust rat ed by th e wlu-e l angle ) shows typical wheel angle, and
unde rsteer angle
under steer sympto ms. At m id-corner, th e driver
turn s t he steering wheel so far inward (u nde rsteer
v: womed in at the
indicated com er. Data
an gle kee ps incr easing) that th e umlersteer sud-
denly shifts to corner-exit overstee r. At this moment, Ou15! • • hM
In'''
1\ was taken from a
Corvette C5R during a
test session at the Duhai
the undcr steer a ngle turn s negative. Th e graph ~ \. Motodro m.
· V·'
"'v
sta rts fluctuating as the driver tri es to kee p th e car
,.., \
\ 'llfAr
.... \ U)~
in line by app lying opposite steering lock. ~

The aver age under steer angle over a lap can

,
,·~ .oc

" ....I.. ......... [Ii

be calculate d to get an idea of which di rection th e
balan ce of th e ca r is going afte r a se t up cha nge.
li nd.

.,.
..., .

v
I.

"
h)
tN - ""'!. A

This is a refer ence number t hat is track dep end en t

.......
-. -
f.J
as it is influenced hy th e numbe r of corners and the
lengths of the str utghts.
-
COH "\ E HI :'\G 67

-
 Attitude Velocity In a steady-state ma neuv er, a vehicle cha nges
heading at rate defin ed in E q ua tion 7.10.
The vehicle's an gular rate of rotation aroun d
a n axis perpendicular to the grou nd through th e
angular velocity = V (Eq. 7.10)
ce nter of gravity can he mea sured with a gy ro. This R
is hasicall y the rate of change in head ing or yaw
ang le (F ig u re 7.20). Substituting Eq uati on 7.4 for ea rn er radius H
In th e previou s section, methods fo r det e r- gives Eq uation 7.11.
mining if a car is understeenng or ovcrstee ring (t.c..
G
to d et ermine th e ba lan ce state of th e ca r) we re angular velocity = ---.!M. (Eq. 7 11)
V
reviewed. Yaw rat e measureme nts sho w how th is
balan ce state is chan ging.
Attitude velocit v IlO\\' ca n be de fined as th e
A vehicle that is hegi nning to ovcrstcer expe -
diffe rence b etwe en measu red yaw rate (r) a nd
rtcuccs an increase ill ~'i1\\' rate, ",I riIe understcc r-
ang ula r velocity {Eq un t io n 7.12).
ill~ causr-s a dec re-ase- il l yaw rat e . A c ha nge i ll
balance can he q ua ntified hy co mpar ing t he act ual G
attitude velocity = r - ---.1!!.. (E If - ';.12)
r aw rat e to a theorctu-al va lue, wh ich is a similar V
ca lcu lation (as cxpl.uued predollsly) to det ermine
t he nudcrstcer angle . I n F ig ure 7.2 1, a g ra ph illustrates attitude
veloci ty for th e ind icuted corner on the Bah rain
Gra nd Prix track. Eq uat io n i.l 1 is modifi ed in to a
math emat ical cha n nel to express a ng ula r velocit y
H gure 7.20 l eu r 1lIlgie
in deg/see (Eq uati oll 7.13) .

9.81. G )
angular velocity = 57 .3 . lal (D r ';.13)
. ( 0.077 . V 2

Th e re sult t hen is subtrac ted from t he mea-

sured yaw rate to gin~ the utt itud r- velocitv. A posi-
tive value (yaw rate > ;'lTIglllar \'c1odty) mea ns th at
th e ve h icl e tend s to nverxteer, while a ne gati n '
value (yaw rat e < angular vplocH)') indicates a vehi-
cle with an understee ring tendellc)'.
As with th e e q ua tio n for det ermining th e
understecr angle, th ts mat he matica l cha nne l doe s
Figure 7.21
Attitude n-/ocity not take into account slip an gles. Furthermore, to
"lI l1u. nlHlly
II, obtain an ac curate re sult , the gy ro mu st measure
, ,
the yaw rate at the vehicle's center of g ravity.

Front and Rear

Lateral Acceleration
......._,!"'. If late ral acceleration on the front and rear
axles can be measured se parately, t he assumption
v
." ca n be ma de th at th e axle on whic h th e h ig hest
•• f----1!---+- + - + - t-- j----,H
, ._ t
value is me asu red will deve lop the highest deg ree
of grip- Th e following app lies:

·v front acceleration > rear accele ration OVERSTEER

.~ - front acceleration < rea r acc e leration UNDERSTEER

68 CHA PTER 7
 In l?igure 7.22, front and rear lateral accel-
e ration t races arc pictured. A mat he mat ical chan -
nel is created in which fron t lateral acceleration is
s ubt racted from rea r late ral acce lera tion . Th is
mea ns th at understeer shows up as a positive value ,
wh ile ovcrstccr resu lts in a negati ve value .
Figure 7.22 Evaluation of oversteer and understeer
b y comparing lateral acceleration on the front and
rear axles
,[jt~ r:,~t; Ji~..._ l;r:Rir::lfiB~~o-- ~riT~" il,_f~~.,.~..
:;
II W"'.1I:l.. '. .. ·:J,~. _

1:.$_~.~ · I , ........ T z. G..o..,.. l l ~ I . .._ I§ _ IIis-._ 11·$uoom l .l,... _ lta-~_ !Q __ t_ 1

T he sensors must be placed at t he location
whe re th e vehicle cente rli ne inte rsect s w it h t he
....-.-
fro nt a nd rea r axle cente rli ne . Thi s is not always
ea sy. If me asured corr ec t ly, tile comparison of front
and rea r late ral acceleration can be very help ful in
·.-
·""""""
""'""""
-
.n
-" -
il '~ Go"' ~
,. ~

.{1'J'
CIill .
""""""'" '0'
_ s.- f\ ~
.,.
veh icle balance ana lysis.
In t he ulise nce of a gyro, yaw rat e can he
&F_ loI1lJ
~ -.......
1_
r ", lN_""1
... ..
~

.m
determin ed from fron t and rear late ral acc eleration r...._""1
t _'_f{:1

I_Poolll ..
n.
OJ.
.J
,."
..
• .. v... ADl. M
channe ls by first ca lcu lati ng t he yaw acceleration r",
W_ lNl __rt1 l'PoI
••
..
I

",,'I~'ir~ ~I11!t\n
~
(Eq UlIt ioll 7.14), J" rl ,.-u..t.. 1A 1II
" I I, ~(,
" ~ _Poo_ '"
v '1\ '1 \,1
VVV V~!,
v-,
J'dt "
. ~ " '!

G L at(rear) -
W I3
G L at( fro nt)
( Er/- 7.J.1 )
J \
.~
wit h G Lat(r('ar ) = rear axle lateral acceleration
...
GLat(fro nt) = front axle lateral
uccelerut ton
\\' R = whe elbase

Then i ntcgrah~ this to get yaw rate (Equation 7.15).

( J~q , 7.1.5)

Du rin g a longer tim e period , this integra tion

lose s mu ch of its accuracy becau se of noise in th e
signal and accelero meter d rift. For short duration s,
however, it ca n be usefu l.

CO H ;'I; E HI ~ G 69

I
.............
70 CHAPTER 7
 wit h h roll = the distance betwe en th e car's
center of gravity a nd the roll axis
co z
0
......
(the line connec ti ng front and E-
rear roll ce nters) 0:::: t>
i=O
......
WsF = static spru ng we ight front axle W ,.,.
......
E-
~
\ VsR = static spru ng weight rear axle
(J)
he ca r's oversteer/ unde rsteer balance dur- ......
Figure 8.1 illustrates the parameters. 0
ing corne ring is determined by t he load 0....
In Table 8.1. th e follow ing information is

«
(J)
di stribution bet ween th e front and re a r (J)
provided , ~
a xles . Suspe nsion tunin g is a ll about influe ncin g
\V,,,= 636 -61 = 575 kg z
t his balance by adju st ing th e vehicle's roll sti ffness
d istribution until the desired und erstecr /overstee r
W,,,
h rol1
= 739.5 -
=
98 = 641.5 kg
sprung C of G height above
I "'" "'E-......"
ba la nce is ach ieved . This chapte r shows how the
d ata ncquixitio u syste m can assist in determ inin g
roll axis = 3 23 .61 mm U (J)

......,
......
referen ce s lor the sus p ens io n se t up a nd how th e Entering t his in fo rm at ion into Equation 8. 2 ,...,
gives us E q ua tio n 8.3 . '-'
effect s of set up changes ca n be ana lyzed quickly. ~
Some set up referen ce numb er s are d iscu ssed
M roll = 32.36 1 em · 12 16 kg = 3935 1 kgem (Eq. 8.3)
o
th at can be easily ca lculate d wit h t he math emat i- Z
cal options in the da ta analysis software or, if possi- T he roll an glc th c n ca n be ex pres se d as a >-
......
bl e, hy export ing t he required ch a nnels into a
spre adsheet. Th ey hel p cha rac te rize the su spe n-
function of roll momen t (E q uatio n 8.4) . "'"
E-
Z
sion and serve as a futu re re ference for se tt ing up 0.
M
=-mlL (Eq. 8.4) <
roll K ~
th e ca r. rolltot
0'
Front and Rear Roll Gradient Krolltot is th e total roll stiffnes s of t he ca r,
which is 83166 kgem /d eg (Ta ble 8 .1) . Because th e
In vehicle dynamics. it is common to cha rac-
roll mom e nt is calculated at a lateral accel eration of
teri ze th e roll st iffness of a vehicle in no rmalized
1 G, Equation 8.3 equals the roll gradient (RG).
form as degrees of bo dy roll per unit of lateral
The data in Tabl e 8.1 is ca lcu lat ed for a lat-
accele ration . Thi s parameter is ca lled th e roil gra-
e ral acceleration of 1 G . The tota l ro ll angle of th e
dtcnt. He re is a pract ical example of how th e roll
vehicle in this tab le is 0.5 dog , which e quals th e roll
grad ie nt is related to the ca r's roll sti ffness. Table
grad ient calculated in Eq ua tion 8.5.
8.1 provides an overv iew of th e dyna mic parame -
te rs of a GT-typ e rncecar. Th is dat a was calculated
RG = 39351 kgem 0.473 deg/G (Eq. 8.5)
by SusPro g3D , a softwa re package used for suspe n- 83166 kgcm/deg
sion geometry analysis.
Equ at io n 8. 1 is the basic defi nit ion of roll Note t hat this calculation uses the total roll
grad ient with ~oll bein g th e vehicle roll an gle and stiffness, inclu di ng th e stiffne ss of the tires. The
G'at th e lateral acce leration act ing on the cente r of me thod explai ned later in t hi s section ca lculate s
gravity. roll gra d ients using the da ta from the suspension

RG = u roll (Eq. 8.1)

G 1at Figure 8.1
Distance between

"-
center ofgravity
From the data in Tab le 8.1. the roll moment and roll center
(M mll) at I-G lat er a l acceler ation is calc u lated .
hod'
M mll is defined by Equatio n 8.2 .

(Eq. 8.2)
"'-

() L \ YrIF\T\G ROLL ST I F F1\'E SS IJ ISTUIHUTION 71

Table 8.1 SusProg3D calcuw tion of vehicle paramet ers from a GT racecar d isplace me nt ch an nels , which do not measure
deflecti on of th e tires. If the elasticity of the tires is
SusProg3D GT2-2002.s3dDynamic i·~Jl .-. , not ta ken into acco un t in the calcu lation , HG
becomes as shown in Equation 8 .6 with K roll tot =
Roll ce nt er hei ght fro nt/rear 46.49 mm " "
51 .03 mm 64518 + 86568 = 151086 kgcm/deg (because a nti-
Tra ck front/rear 1 64 9.54 mm 1684.19 mm rollbur and suspe nsion spr ings are para llel spr ings,
th ese can be added together).
Wheelbase 2402.87 mm ('
Veh icle we igh t fro nt/rea r 636.00 kg 739.50 kg 3935 1 kgcm ('
0.260 deg/G (Eq. 8.6)
151086 kgcmldcg
Unsprun g weig ht front/rea r 61.00 kg 98 .00 kg

lat e ra l accelerat ion

Table 8.2 states typ ical numbe rs for roll
1.00 G
gradien t.
Vehicle C of G from g round 369.0 0 mm
Table 8.2 Ty/,ica! nJll gnulie nt....J
from front axle cI 1 29 1.84 mm
Very soft - Economy and ba sic fam ily 8. 5 deg/G
Sp ru ng C of G from ground 372.50 mm t ransp ort at ion, pre-1975

from front axle cl 1267.1 1 mm Soft-Basic family transp ortation, aft e r 7.5 deg/G
1975
above roll axis 323 .6 1 mm semisoft-Contemporary middle ma rket 7.0 deg/G
sedans
Ant iroll st iffness fron t t ire s 97368 .66 kgcm/deg Sem ifirm- Sp ort se da ns 6.0 deg/G
Firm-Sport seda ns 5.0 deg/G
sp ring 407 52.86 kgcm/deg
Very firm-High pe rfo rma nce (e.q ., 4 .2 deg/G
a nt iroll bar 64312 .73 kgcm /deg Ca mara Z~28, Firebird Trans Am)
Ext re mely firm- Con te mp or a ry very 3.0 de g/ G
total 50535.40 kgcm/deg high-performance sports (Corvette),
street car s extensive ly m odif ied to
Antiro lJ st iffness rear tires 112147.73 kgcm/deg increase ro ll st iffne ss
Hard - Raci ng car s on ly 1.5 deg/G
spring 2376 5.06 kgcm /d eg Active susp e nsio n, se rvo-cont rolle d roll
st iffne ss, roll-in, zero-roll, and roll out all
anti rolt ba r 22255.07 kgc m/de g po ssib le

t ot al 32630.23 kgcm / deg

Table 8 ..3 gives the experience- numbers for
Ant iroll stiffness car tire s 2095 16 .38 kgc m/ deg roll gnHlient.

spring 645 17 .92 kgc m/ deg

Ta b le 8.3 Typical roll g ra d iell ls 9, 10
a nt iroll bar 86567.80 kg cm/ d eg
Stiff hiqh -d own forc e racecar s 0.2-0.7 deg / G
total 83165.62 kgc m/ deg Low downf orce seda ns 1.0-1 .8 deg/ G

Roll angl e fron t tires 0.28 deg

Both re fe re nces state that racecars wit h a ny
suspension 0.22 d eg a mou nt of down force have a roll grad ient lowe r
than 1.5 deg/G. Ta ble 8.4 shows some measured
total 0 .5 0 d eg
exa mples of various racecar s. Keep in mind these
,~
rear t ires 0.19 d eg numbers were derived from suspension potentiom-
" eter data and that tire spring rates were not taken
suspe nsion 0.31 deg
-c.,
-- ,. total 0.50 deg
into account. Wh en t he roll angle of th e tires is
added to the mea sured suspension roll angle, t he
roll gradients in Table 8.4 are great er.

72 CHAPTER 8
 Table 8.4 Ty pical roll grad ie'lts f or vario us ty pes
of racecars
Dodge Viper GTS-R racecar 0 .44-{) .55 deg/G
Corvette C6R racecar 0 .25-0.35 deg/G
Corvette C5R rac ecar 0 .20-0.40 deg/G
2002 Formula On e ca r 0.03-0.10 d eg /G
2001 Indyca r 0.10-0.20 deg/G
200 5 Daytona prototype 0 .35-0.55 deg/G
By mea suring th e lateral acceleration and the
movem ent of ti le susp ension, th e da ta ana lysis soft-
ware can ca lculate th e roll g rad ient of the ca r. F ro m
the suspen sion dat a, th e overa ll roll angle of th e car
ca n he ca lcu late d by c re ati ng t he math ematical
chuuue l in Eq uation 8 .7. Th is eq uation resu lts in a
positive roll ang le whe n t he chassis rolls clockwise
a nd "i ce versa, faci ng forward alon g th e veh icle's
longitud ina l centerli ne . This is in accorda nce wit h
SAE 's Ve hicle Axis Syste m. 2
If th e ana lysis software package a llow s t he
use of X-Y graphs, a cha rt can be created illu strat-
ing t he roll a ng le versu s late ra l accel e rati on as
shown in ' ·' igu re 8.2 , Th e advantage of putting th is
information in a g raph is th at in one view shows the
veh icle's ma ximu m roll angle and th e acceleration
at which this an gle is re ached. It shows th is fo r le ft-
and rig ht-ha nd cornering. Th e relat ion sh ip bet ween
roll an gle and lateral accelerat ion is linear in mo st
cases (a ltho ug h not in t he case whe re progre ssive
sus pe nsion eleme nts are used), an d th e slope of th e
graph should equal the roll gradient. I n t he illustra-
tio n, th e e q uat ion for a linea r tren d lin e is ca lcu-
late d. Th e roll g rad ient, or th e slope of th e tren d
line, is 0.48 de g/ G in this case.
Note furt he r th at thi s c a lculati on is made
taki ng the roll a ngle of the suspension sp rings a nd
uuttroll ba rs into account . T his does 1I0t incl ude the
roll a ngle res ulting from tire deflect ion .
Th e X-Y plot in Fi gure 8 .2 shows a ce rta in
degree of scatte r in th e data points, which ca n b e
explained hy the follOWing:
• t he d a mp ing o r th e syst e m mo me nta ril y
chang ing the roll st iffness di st ribution of
the ca r;
• chassis to rsion , es pe ci a lly when driving
over big hum ps o r cu rbs. and
• accu racy of measu rin g tile suspension po si-
t ions and proper zeroing of sensors.

_ t . LF' - x suspension
x suspe nsIOn . RF) · MRF +( x suspcnslonLR
. -x susre nslOll
. RR ) ' MR R ) 57 3
a ro ll - a~ a n .. (f: 'r 8 .7 )
( TF + TR

Figu re 8.2 x-r graph of ol'emll roll angle vers us

fX.mll :::: total suspe nsion roll angle (deg )
Iate rul C , taken f ro m alaI' aroulld Niirburgring b y
xslISp('nsion LF = left-front suspension Bert /"'(m gi'l in a Dodge Vipe r G'f S-R
potentiomet er t ravel
(nu n) 0..,...... Of\QItn . co r... • U *... ·0 ," C6)· OJIOJj
C.,...,.-:lili.JS"
x.~IlSP(, 11 Siol 1 H F :::: right-front su spension _ l ·__ r-fl _.-
pote ntiom eter travel .SloPe 01 graph
~,

(m m) 1.200II equalsroll gradient , , ,..

x~mspension LR :::: left-rear suspe nsion ,.-

0.8000
potentiomet er travel
(m m)
xSlIspen sion RR :::: rigllt-rear suspension
potentiomet er travel
(mm)
.. -
' 0,:1000
~'IRF :::: fro nt suspe nsion motion ratio
-fI.4000
~HlR =rea r sus pe nsion motion rati o
-0,&000
T F = front track width (mm)
-0.1000

Tn = rear t rack wid th (mm) ';

',~ ... e,~ '... '.~

Of.. ... · ~

VlL \YI"I FYI' C HO I.! . ST IFF.' ESS DI ST HIB UTIOl'; 73

-
 Each axle also can be viewed separately and
roll gradients calculated for the front and rear sus-
pension. For thi s, th e overall roll angle in the x-r
graph is replaced by the roll angle of the front and
rear suspension, respectively. From the same session
covered hy Figure 8.2 , the front and rear roll gradi-
ents are shown in Figures 8.3 and 8.4.
In Eq uation 8.7, th e overa ll roll gradient is
calculated from the average roll angle between the
fron t and rear susp en sion. while th e lateral force
remains the same. T his mean s t hat the overall roll
grad ient is th e average bet ween th e front and rear
roll gradie nt.
Figure 8.3 Front mil gradie nt
Th e adva ntage of calculating front and rear
roll grad ients sepa rately is the informat ion obta ined
about th e roll stiffness distribution of t he vehicle .
Th e lower the roll gradient is on one side of th e
vehicle , th e higher th e resistance is to roll move-
ment on th at side, and vice versa.
From these roll gradients, the actual roll stiff-
ness of the front and rear suspension can be calcu-
lat ed . However, for ana lysis purposes, merely
observing roll gradients provides the engineer with a
good idea about the roll stiffness distrihution.
If th e driver is pleased with the ca r's han -
dlin g du ring a t rack session, the roll grad ients can
he reco rded as a future reference for that particu-
lar racetrack. If ill a following test or race on this
t rack the handli ng is not as good as before. the

,---- '_J._.-f_
. engi nee r can try to restore the same roll gradient s

•.-
~
with the proper setup cha nges.

Using Roll Gradients

as a Setup Too l
II ow useful roll gradients can he is illustrated
with an example. In Figures 8.3 and 8.4, the analy-
sis software calcu lated these number..:

0 .31 35 d eg /G
0.6477 deg/ G

Th is means that the overall roll gradient (HG)

is 0.4806 deg/G. The car in question has the follow-
ing properties:

front axle weight "" 636 kg

Fig u re 8.4 Rear roll gradi ent rear axle weight .. 739 kg
front unsp rung weight ... 61 kg
........ cr-l

,.-
" . '-"""
~.
rear unspru ng weight ~ 98 kg
front roll ce nter height (hRCf) 46 .5 mm
rea r roll ce nte r heig ht (hRCr) 51 mm
front spring rate (per wheel) (SRr) "" 320 kg/cm
t.- rear spring rat e (per wheeO (SRr) ~ 280 kg/ em
fron t suspension motion ratio (MRF) ... 1.373

-
.. i-· • ........ ;- .. .,.: .
_
rear suspension motion ratio (MRR)
front antiroll bar mo tion ratio (M~IlF)
1.725
... 1.495

-
rea r antiroll bar motion ratio (MRrollR) 1.550
front tra ck width rrF) C 1,65 0 mm
. rea r track width (T R) 1,685 mm
whe elbase (\'VB) 2,403 mm

.." ..... .... ... .... height sprung center of gravity

-frc m ground (hCoG )
372mm

74 CHAPTER8
 First h roll is calculated : KrollfARB = roll stiffness front axle due
front sprung weight (WsF) = 636 - 61 = 575 kg to antiro ll bar
rear sprung weight (WsR) = 739 - 98 = 641 kg KrollrSPRI NGS = r~ll stiffness rear axle
due to suspension
Using basic statics and trigonometry. the
springs
equation for h roll becomes Equations 8.8 and 8.9.
K rollrARB = roll stiffness rear axle due to
ant iroll bar
h =h - (h +(hRC,- hRC,) .WSR )
roll CoG RCf W +W The springs now on the car re sult in the fol-
sF sR
lowing wheel rates (Eq uations 8. 16-8.18) .
(Eq.8.8)

h =372-( 46.5+ (51- 46.5) .64 I)=323 mm

roll 575+64 1 (Eq. 8.16) .
(Eq. 8.9)

Entering this into Equation 8.2 gives the roll with \ VB = wheel rate
moment at I-G lateral acceleration (Eq uation 8.10). 5H = spring rate
,M B = suspe nsion motion ratio
M roll = 32.3 cm · 1216 kg = 39277 kgcm (Eq. S.lO)

320
WR = - - = 170 k g/em (Eq. 8. 17)
Th e to tal roll stiffness th en be c o me s f 1.3732
Equa tion 8.11 .
280
K = M roll = 39277 = 81725 k em/dec WR = - - = 95 kg/em (E,/. 8 18)
rolltot RG 0.4806 g g r 1.7252
(E'{. 8 11)
The roll sti ffness prod uced by these wheel
With the front and rear roll gradient , it can
rat es c a n be de te rm ine d u sing Eq u a ti o ns
be determined how this total roll stiffness is dis-
8. 19 -8.22.
tributed over the front and rear axles (Eq ua t io ns
8. 12 and 8 .13). TF2 . WR f n
KrolifSPRING = 4
180
(Eq. 8.19)
RG
K =K . R (Eq 8.12)
rollf rolltot RG + RG
F R n . 1652 · 170
K mlllSPR1NG = 720 = 20 194 kgcmldeg
(Eq. 8.13) (Eq. 8 20)

with K rollf roll stiffness front axle T 2 · WR n

= K - R , (Eq. 8.21)
rollrSPRING ~ 4 180
Krollr = roll stiffness rear axle

So , K rollf = 55083 kgcm /deg and K roll, = 2

K _ n ·168.5 · 95
26642 kgcm/deg . Th e roll sti ffness di st ribut ion is mll<SPRlNG - 720 11767 kgcmldeg
biased 67.4% to the front . (Eq. 8.22)
Because suspension springs and antiroll bars
Using Equatio ns 8 .14 a nd 8. 15, th e roll sti ff-
are parallel springs. Equations 8.14 and 8.15 apply.
ness (measur ed at tbe wheel ) produ ced by the an ti-
K rollr = KrollrSPRINGS + KrollrARB (Eq. 8.14) roll bars becomes as given in Equations 8 .23 and
8.24.
K rollr = KrollrSPRINGS + K rollrARB (Eq.8.15)
K rollfARB = K rollf - KrolllSPRINGS = 55083 - 20 194 = 34844 kgemldeg
(Eq. 8.23)
with K rollfSPRINGS = roll sti ffne ss front axle
due to suspe nsion Kroll'ARB = K ro1k - Kro1l<SPRINGS = 26642 -11 767 = 14875 kgemldeg
springs (Eq. 8.24)

() L'.-\:\'TIFYlXG BOLL STIFFXESS DI STRIB UT ION 75

L
 Equations 8. 25 and 8.26 show the actoa l
antiroll bar ra tes .
As an example. an att empt assumed ly is made
to resolve a stea dy-sta te understeer problem with
thi s c ar, but th e ove ra ll roll grad ie nt ne ed s to
remain th e same. To do this, tile fron t axle weight
transfer co uld be decreased (i.e., th e front roll stiff-
ness decrea sed ). T his requires a higher front roll
gra dient. Th e p roblem is solved by mounting differ-
e nt spri ngs w ith which t he eng ineer wou ld like to
obtai n a roll stiffne ss bias of 65 % on th e fro nt axle .
To maintain th e sa me overall roll g rad ient, the fron t
and rea r sp rings must be cha nged. What spring
rates must be pu t on th e car?
F irst , the re qu ired ro ll gradient s arc deter-
mined (Eq ua tion s 8 .27 and 8.28).
SR mlif = MR mllf 2 . K mllfARB = 1.495 2 · 34844 = 77877 kgem/ dcg
( Ell- 8.2.5)
2 2
SR mllR = MR mllR . K mll' AR B = 1.550 · 14 875 = 35375 kge m/deg
(Ell _8.2(;)
RG Ptrcquired) = 0.35 . 2 · 0.4806 = 0 .336 degfG
T ile total roll stiffness re mains th e same. T Ile
requ ire d distribution betwe en front and rear axle is
as show n in Equations 8 .29 and 8.30.
Assu ming th at no cha nges are made to th e
a nti roll bars, th e required spring rates can be cal-
culated (Equations 8.31- 8 .3 6).
In th is example . th e roll stiffness distr ibution
is shifte d forward by cha llging th e front and rear
spring ra tes, wh ich is re q uired to ac hi eve t h e
de sired roll grad ients. In add ition, th e stiffness of
th e a nti roll bu rs is mea .s u~ed . D if fe ren t se t up
c ha ng es requi re small variations in the previou s
ca lcu lations.
Front and Rear Roll Angle Ratio
Anothe r re fere nc e num ber t hat tells so me -
th ing abo ut th e roll sti ffness d ist ribution is the roll
ratio (s) be twe en th e rea r a nd fron t roll a ng le
{Equation 8.37) .
c; = a rollR (1-:'1 8.3'i)
a roll F
with amll H = rea r sus peu siou roll angle
a mllF = front suspens ion roll angle

(Elf. 8.27) This ratio al so ca n be ca lcu lated from th e

front an d rear roll gra die nts using Eq u at io n S ..38.
RG Rtrequired) = 0.6 5 . 2 · 0.4 806 = 0 .625 dcg/G
( Eq _8.28 )

0.625
Kmllf(ccqu;ccd) = 8 1725 · 0.96 12 = 53 140 kgcm/d eg
(Eq. 8.2 9) If th e softwa re a llows , th e relntion xhip
he tween th e fro nt and re a r roll a ngle also ca n he
K rollr(required ) = 28585 kgc m/deg (£,/ 8 30) illust rat ed in an x-r g rap h as shown in Figure 8 ..5.
Note that th is is usually a linear rela tionshi p (as the
K mllfSP RING(req.) = 53 140 - 348 44 = 18296 kgcm /deg roll rati o is cons ta nt), except for prog ressive sllspe ll-
(Eq. 8.31) sion syste ms. Th e gr aph shows th e same pattern of
scatte r as the roll g radient x-r graphs for th e same
WR f(req.j = 162.4 kg/em (Eq. 8.32) rea son s.
. 2 In Figure 8.5, th e ratio bet ween th e rear ami
SR f(req.) = 162 .4-1.373 ~ 306 kg/em (Eq. 8.33)
front roll angl e is 2.02 . Th is means that in thi s par-
ticular situation th e front roll angle is ab out half th e
KmllcSPRlNG (req.) = 28585 - 14875 = 12710 kgcm/deg rear roll an gle . Rem ember that suspens ion roll
(Eq. 8.34) angle is being addressed . The total vehicle roll angle
is the su m of the suspe nsion roll angle and the roll
WR,(req.) = 102.6 kg/em (Eq. 8.35) angle induced by the lire spring rates.
Assuming an infinitely stiffchass is, Equation
2
SR,(req.) = 102.6 · I. 72 5 = 30 5 kg/em (Eq. 8.36) 8 .39 is true , with aroll F and. aroll R bein g th e fro nt

76 CHAPTER 8
 and rear suspe nsion roll angle. resp ectively, and Now, the rear tire spr ing rate is increased by
<ImntiresF and CXroIltiresR th e roll angles indu ced by 10% so instead of 453 kg/e m, th is resul t becomes
th e front and rear pairs of tires, respectively. 498 kg/em. Running the calculation again using the
SusProg3D software offers the following results:
(Eq. 8.39)
Front Susp en sion 0.2 1 d e g
Expressing the rear suspe nsion roll angle as a Tires 0.28 d e g
func tion of t he front suspension roll ang le produces Total 0.49 d e g
Eq uation 8. 40. Rea r Susp en sion 0.32 d e g
Tires 0.17 d eg
( Eq . 840 ) Total 0 .49 deg

~ becomes 0.32 / 0.21 :::: 1.52 and has increased

From this anot her expression for ~ follows
IJ\'Hl% .
[Eq uu tio n 8 A l ).
To cor rect this back to the old roll rati o hy
modifying the sprill~ rate , t he rear wheel rate need s
r = ( cxrotlliresF - arolltircsR )
,
+I (E,, 8.41)
U rollF to he increased by 25% (to 120 kg/em) to approach
the old roll ratio.
Wit h t his expression, the effect of roll stiff- Fro nt Suspen sion 0.21 d e g
ness variations on one axle on ~ can be investigated. Tire s 0.28 d eg
The possihilities are summarized in Table 8 .5 . Total 0.49 d eg
Re ar Suspension 0.30 deg
Table 8 Ji Chmlging th e mll stiffilCss on one vehicle
axle, either on the suspension m' th e tires, and it ... Tires 0.20 deg
effec ts on ~ Total 0.49 d eg

INCREASE DECREASE
~ becomes 0.30 / 0.21 = 1.43.
Front roll st iffnes s
III th is particu lar example, a 10% cha ng(· to
Suspen sion ~ increa se s ~ decreases
t he ti re spr ing rat es equa ls a 2.5% cha nge to the
Tires ~ d ecrease s ~ incre ases
car 's spr in~ rate!
Rea r roll stiffnes s
Susp en sion ~ decreases ~ increase s
Tire s ~ increases ~ decrease s F ig ure 8 .S Front roll angle casus rear roll angle
_ _
e-_.,.....
_-_.......
_ _ I>-l .J....J:l• • •
.
-
~
(
R
>
I
I
~
From Equations 8.38 and 8.41, it can be con- ..
- ....·r·-'---'-- - - - - - - - --,l-'----- - - - - - - - -- - - -- - --:;:'"
eluded that when the tire spring rates change (due to
a differe nt construction or ru nning a different tire , .
pressure), the suspension roll gradients change also.

angles:
For example. Tahle 8.1 had the following roll
.- Slope of graph equals roU ratio

Front Suspension O.22 ·deg

Tires 0.28 deg
Total 0.50 d eg
-
•.
",' .:

Rear Suspen sion 0.32 deg

Tires 0 .19 deg
Total 0.50 deg

So ~ = 0.32 /0.22 = 1.45.

",' Ll.\VnFYIXG HO LL STIF F;\l-;SS DI STHIB UTIO:,\ 77

---
 Using the Roll Ratio
as a Setup Tool
The practica l application of th e roll angle
ratio is illu st rated u sing a real-world example .
Figures 8.6 and 8.7 give the roll ratio (1;) before
and after a change to t he front antiroll bar setti ng.
The first graph shows a lap done by Bert Longin in
a Dodge Viper on th e Circuit Zolder racetrack. In
t his sit ua tio n, the front antiroll bar was in full sort
po sition . In th e second graph, this antiroll har was
adjusted to full hard , chan ging the vehic le roll stiff-
ne ss di str ibution by quite a margin.
The roll gradien t.s a re not illu strated in a
graph , but Tabl e 8 .6 summarizes th e three calcu-
lated stiffness characteri stics.

Tab le 8.6 Meas ured roll grad ients and roll ratio
F ig ure 8.6 Front vers us rear- roll arlgle during a lap befo re and aft er the setup change
aroun d Zolde r in u Dodge Viper GTS-li , driv en by
Bert Lo ngitl;fr0111 antimll bar ill soft est positi o n FARB so ft FARB hard

Fro nt roll g radient (RGF) 0.2754 0 .2253

R<>II ~. ".,:."...,
=---,- ==:..::.:=:::::==,--- ..
.,.....~-;:_--,----==::::;;;,
'
Rear ro ll g ra d ie nt (RG R) 0.5386 0 .5 13 7

Roll ratio (1;;) 1 .8 44 1 2.1765

'.-
The char ts in Figu res H.6 an d 8./ also show
th at by changi ng the front a nliroll b ur s ti ffn ess
fro m its mini m u m to max imum the fro nt mnxin uuu
e,- roll angl e de creases approximutt-lv 0.1 d c~, while
t he rear maximum roll angle re mains th e same.
All the equation s in the p re vio us parag raphs
ar e va lid whe n chassis torxio u rate s a n ' not ta ken
-1,l1OOO •
int o co nsideration. In practic e, th e cha ssis sprill!J;
rate may not he h igh enough to he of no imp ort uuce
in these calcu lations. Chassis torsional sp ring rntr-s
»,
-O,I{KIO 0,0000
'.- influence th e roll stiffness d istrib ution Ill' t 11(' veh iclo
a nd . t he refore , the roll grad it'nts c1lallgl ' as well.
However, whe n co mparing se tups within om - vc-hi-
Figure 8.7 Sam e car, same dricer; an d samc set oj
tires. now with the fro nt ont iroll bar in it... hardest ell', the cha ssis spring ra te call be ignored hl '{';UIS('
pos itio n nor ma lly it is a pa ramctt'r i ll t Il{' ve-hicle- cOllfigur a-
tion t hat do es not change.

R.. ...,.. ...;:·"·,' "

, ' ' - - - _--,- :..::.:==-=====-_OT
T _ I ·A Ol ..... _ .......
-==:;;,, Suspension Troubleshooting
In th e p reviou s sectio ns . linear Iuuction s
'.- were created fro m some suspension pa ra nwle rs_ I II
th e case where a progressive suspension is applied .
th ese fu nct ions are not lin ear. Where a linea r S Il S-
pension is applied and roll gradient s o r roll a ngle
'.- ratio a re not cons tants, some thing is wro ng. Figure
8.8 shows an exam ple of this situat ion.
In th is example, there is oln -iollsly a pro blem
..... with the suspension. The rear roll angle re ma ins
zero until the fro nt a ngle reaches 0.1 deg. In t his
particular example, th e rea r ant iroll bur blade was

-
.. broken .

78 CHAPTER 8
 Pitch Gradient F igure 8.8 Roll angle ratio affected by a brok en rear onti roll bar blade

Similar to the roll gradi ent , it is p ossible to

calcu late a grad ient for the vehicle's pit ch move-
ment. Th e pit ch angle ca n be ca lculate d fro m the
---
_ ..._o:-t.,......._ .......
- - ·r·.....:.-'---- - - - - - - - - '-
T_
Z,I I." •

I ·
...-t
... _

- - - - - - - - - , - - - . , - -- - --;;;n ~.

suspe nsion position cha nnels and expressed as a

fun cti on of longit ud inal g-force with ~PHch bein g
th e vehicle's pitch angle measured at th e chassis
ce nte rline and C lang being th e longitud inal accel-
e rat ion ac t ing on th e ca r's ce nte r o f gravity
(Eq ua tion 8.42).

PG = ~pilch (Elf. 8.42)

Gia ng
'.
:
Unlike the roll grad ient. the pitch gradie nt is
no t dep endent on chassis tor sion (the pitch angle
bein g det ermined at the vehicle's longitudinal cen-
· U OOO'---_ _ =,--- =i-~ __=.___---
-
•. -
=•. =_- - _ =.___---J
0,'_

terline ). Pitch grad ient a lso is not commonly a lin-

ea r function whe n antl squ at and untidivc suspension Figure 8 .9 Pitch gradient
geom etry is app lied . It is, howeve r, a good way to
visua lize differ e nt se t ups graphically and cha rac- ;.
te rize a suspension. Figu re 8.9 shows an X-Y plot
" .; '~: ~~ f»;.. .
,~

..
:."'.!,~
0.3
of t he pitch angle agai nst longitud inal accel erat ion .. ..
, .\» ... :."
t hat clea rly illust rates thi s. ~~4~~ ~ '.

0,2
1",\ '~~':::~~~.
· w· .
_.

"
1
'\ ;~~':, ;
):~:..
~-'.

: ':. -; '. -,
~
!
~
0.'
I'\Y-, :
-. ' ~;.;
~~~, .' .
t
~ ~~ .. '~:.
;" "
. ' .
oP

-<I.'
'IIi
.
.,
': "':,';:.:,;
~.

.e:
' '.
. .~ '"

:\'.:.;
~. > ~:.:.

ft~.. K:".:.
~',
~
b~

TIt _ _
-, ., o
v » - O.ta95lJ711.O,D29lXtlt

C)l. .\"\T IFrI "\c; nOI .I. ';TI FF,r :l.i.' 1>ISTn I Bll TI O ,,\ 79
80 CHAPTER 8
 Eq ua t ion 9.2 indi ca te s th at the total lateral
\\"l' ig ht tra nsfer is p roport ional to the lateral accel- 0' -'" ~
~
eratio n and th e ce nter ofg ravity height and inve rse ly VJ
0::: z...
W E--
proportional to t he track w id th. T h is means t hat
~

\n~ight transfer increases with the weig ht of the ca r

and the he igh t of the ce nte r of gravity and decr ea ses
he loads on eac h wheel determine a vehicle's wit h a greater t rack width . l- t""

maximu m corne ring capability. Thi s chapter T he ce nter of grav ity he ight can be dete r- 0.... o
shows h ow to mea su re an d ca lcu late the
dynam ic wheel loads resultin g from these forces.

Lateral Weig ht Transfer

m ined by firs t we igh ing the car on a level surface
and t he n raising its rear end and weigh ing t he front
end agai n (F ig u r e 9 .2) . Th e follow ing p roced u re
s IIt ink! be observed:
«
I
~
;;...
..-
,..,
/:
<
Du rin g co rner ing , a car accelerates toward
t he cente r of th e co r ne r hy th e tire co ntact p;lk-1i
• Each shock ab sorber shou ld be repla ced by
a so lid li nk to elim ina te a llY su xpcux ion U J:
""
..-
forces. Th e vehicle mass resists this acceleration with travel. The lengt h of the se lin ks shou ld bo
""
~

a force act ing at its center of g ra\·ity. Th is ine rt ial (or
ce nt rifugal) fo rce ge nerates lateral weight tra nsfer.
Th is situation is illust rated ill Fig ure 9. 1 fc)r a right-
han d tum , where the co rneri ng forces (F L a nd r H)
resu lt in a late ral acce lerat ion ((; La,)' Th e read ing
inertia l force is ca lcu lated as Equat io n 9.1 .
dime nsioned ca refu lly to p ut th e car at its
exact sta tic r ide height. In accuracy h er e
' ..
can influen ce gre atly the sca le readings.
• Th e tires sho uld be overinflate d as much as
-
possihle to lim it sidewall llexing. ..-
..-
• All fluids sho uld be at th e rig ht level.
• :\ drivcr shou ld he ill the cat" (or at least ; \11

ohje ct thu t is eq ulvn lent to th e d r iver's

weig ht ).
By ta king th e mom ent s about o ne of t ill'
• T he tota l we ight Oil the front axle should be
wheel ce nte rs , th e we ight t ran sfe r d ue to corneri ng
me-as ure d w h ile th e ca r is on a le vel
is found (Eq uat io n 9 .2 ).
sur face.
W 'OL" - h • T he rear e nd of t he ca r sho u ld he raise d as
'"W L =- --''''''--
" T much as possible . The ca lcu lat ion is based

whe re \V = veh icle weig ht

on rln- change in weigllt O l\ th e fro nt wheels
~\V I. at = inc rease in left sid e load und
d ecrease in righ t side load Fi~lI n' 9 .2 IJl'll'n " itlillg Ihe ce nte r ofgradty
h = cente r of gr avity heigllt fro m g rou nd Jwight 1"('(/,, ;n-... th e rc u r end of the cur to be
raisl'tl l,y (/ . .II1>... /(lI1 tial atlIOWI I .
T = track w idt h
G Lat = late ra l acc elera tio n at ce nter 01"
gravity

Figure 9.1 Lat eral weight t ransf er (right-hand t llrn )

F+--

F,

iw,

\\ I IE I :I . I '( ) \1 ) '" A '\ J) W EI ( ; I IT T1u ,srE H 81

it
 in relati on to th e angle to wh ich the ca r is
raised . T he high er th e distance the ca r ca n
be raised , the bigger th e shift in fro nt whe el
weig ht and th e morc accurate th e he ight
ca lculation.
• The heigh t of th e center of gravity above
th e axle centerlines now can hc ca lcu lated
using Equation 9. 3 . (F ig u re 9 .3)
WB · ~ W
h (E' I 9.3 )
W · lan a
with \VB == wheelbase
\V == total vehic le weight
~\\' = \\'r2 - \l'f1
\V n =: front weigh t mea sured O J!
level su rface
\\'r~ = fron t weight measured wit h
raised rear axle
tan a = BfA
• To obta in th e heigh t ofthe ce nte r of g ra\'it)'
above th e g ro und plan t', t he ti rt- rad ius
should be added to the ca lculate d height
above axle cc uterli ucs (h).
• Often th e ce nter of grad ty is e1ost' to th e
wheel center height , a nd the c hange ill
front weigh t as the ear is jack('d lip is sma ll.
To get th e be st resu lts, 1II( ' <lS III"(' at differe nt
jacking heights and a\'l'ra~t ' the result s.
Equation 9 ,:2 defin es the total am ount or
latera l weig ht tra nsfe r of a ca r dllring cornering.
Figure 9.3 Center of gradt y height calculation
82 CHAPTER9
There a re thre e me cha n ism s t ha t d is t r ibu te
t he tota l late ral weig ht transfer over th e front a nd
rear a xle.
• un sprung weight tran sfer (.1\ Vu F a nd
~\\'uR )
• geo me t r ic weight tran sfer (.1\ VgF and
~\\'~R )
• sprung weight transfer (.1\\'sr and .1\V sR)
The suspe nsion splits th e total weight of th e
vehicle into spru ng weigllt (chassis, lxxlywork, and
drtveline ) and un sprung wcight (t ire s, wh eels,
brake s, and abo ut hulf of ti ll! suspe nsion link s and
drivesh aft s), Becau se th e wei ght tran sfer of th e
un sprung mass is not influenced hy f lu- roll st iff-
ne ss or the suspe nsion, it is calculated sepa rately.
Understand th at thi s portion of th e total lat-
eru l weig ht t ran sfer is not meas ured hy any slIspen -
sion load cel ls nur ca n it he calculate d from t he
suspe nsion po te ntio me te r readi ngs, It is, howe ver.
calcul able \Ising Equa tions 9 ,4 and 9. .5.
.1W = WuF · O Lat ' h F ( f~q. U..l )
uF T
F
wit h \\'IIF = front unsprun g weight
rear tl ll Spnlll~ weight
" 'II R =
h F = front 1I l1 SprU n~ wd~ht center of
gra"i1y iJei~h l
h R = rea r un sprung we ight cente r of
gr.wity height
T F = front track width
Tn = rear track width
Geometric weight tran sfer re sults from a
direct application or the tire forces to th e cha ssis
th rough th e fron t and rear roll centers. In addition ,
t his p art of the lat e ral weig ht tra nsfe r cannot he
measured with th e sus pe nsion load cel ls or pot ent i-
omete rs. However, it can be calculate d if th e front
an d rear roll ce nter locat ion s are known (Eq ua tions
9.6 and 9.7) .
(E'I. 9 6 )
 Fina lly. t he total lateral weight tran sfer is
det ermined by add ing all th e portions together
(E'I. 9 7)
(Eq ua tion 9.12) _

with \VsF = fron t sp ru ng weight ll W Lat ; ll WuF+ ll WuR + llWgF+ ll WgR + ll WsF+ ll WsR
W sR == rea r sp ru ng weigh t (Eq. 9.12)
h RCf == fron t roll ce nter height from
ground plane Lo ng it udinal Weig ht Transfer
h ne r = rear roll center height from Simila r to th e cen t rifuga l force th at occu rs
ground plane when cornering. an inertial rea cti on force develop s
WB = wheelbase at t he ce nte r of gravity whe n t he ca r is subjected
a = d istance between rear axle cent erl ine to longitu din al acceleration. Thi s ine rti al force cre-
and spru ng mass center of gravity a tes a lon gi tud ina l weig h t t ra n sfe r eq ua l to
E q ua tion 9 .13 .
Spru ng weight transfer makes th e cha ssis roll
d u ring corneri ng. It is derived fro m th e suspe nsion W ·G -h
6.\V = Long ( Eq. 9.1.3)
spri ngs, shock absor be rs, and antiroll ba rs. wherea s Long WB
th e geome t ric weight t ran sfe r is obtained from th e
sus pens ion lin ks. Spr ung we ight tran sfer ca n be 6.\ VL O ll g; is the dec re ase in front axle weight and th e
me asured with suspensi on load ce lls or ca lcu late d correspo nden t increas e in rea r axle weight.
fro m the suspension potentiometer Sig nals.
The tot al spr ung we ight t ra nsfe r c a n he Banking and Grade Effe cts
determ ined with Equa tion 9.8 . A s d iscu ssed e a rl ie r in t h is c hap te r, th e

W ·G -hroll e ffects of lat eral weight t ran sfer were investigat ed

t1W = s Lat
S T a flat track surface. The picture changes so me -
Oil

what whe n th e car negotiat es a banke d cor ne r, as

where \\rs = total spru ng weig h t = \ \'sF + \ VsH illus tr ated in Figure 9.4. T he g ravita tiona l for ce
!t roll == di stan ce bet we en roll axis and (\ V) can h e resolved into a forc e parallel to th e road
sprun v; cen ter of g ra\"ity su rface (\ V·sin « ) and perpend icu la r to it (\ V.cos
a ). TI.e ce nt rifuga l force (he re nam ed C Lata to
Th e di st ributi on IH't"'{'('n th e front a nd re a r
ind icate th e banking ang le ) that exists d uring co r-
axles depends 0 11 till' ro ll st tffuc-ss di strihutio n o f
neri ng on a banked co rne r is no diff ere nt than what
th e suspe nsio n . so fro nt a nd re-a r lat eral sp ru ng
occ urs whe n th e ca r is on a ho ri zon tal su rface.
weight tran sfer is as shown E(/IH"i() n~ 9.9-9. 11.
Howeve r. th is is not the lat eral accele ration me a-
W -G h Slued by th e acce lerome te r in the vehicle. Th ere is
!:J.W = s Lat" roll. q
sF T a lso a compone nt of th e ce ntrifuga l fo rce a long a n
I'
axis perpend icular to th e road surface (E q u ations
W ·G -h 9 .14 and 9 .15).
!:J.W = s Lat roll . ( I - q ) (1',, 9.10)
sR T
R
G LarMeasured = G Lata ' cos a (Eq 9.14)

(E" 9.1 J)
G Yert = G Lata -sin rz (Eq.9. 15)

with Krollf = roll sti ffness front axle (at th e whe re C Lat Measured = lateral acce leration mea-
wheels) sured by vehicle
K rollr = roll st iffness rear axle (at th e accelerometer
wheels) C Ver t = vertica l acceleration measured
RG F = front roll gradient by vehicle accele rom et er
RG R = rear roll ~radient a = ban king angle
 T hi s means th at the whee l load s a re influ- Figure 9 .5 shows a n exa mp le of a 2001
ence d in two ways. Fi rst, the weight force pe rpe n- Indyca r tak ing a lap around Phoeni x In ternational
d icula r to the road is Equation 9 .16. Haceway. Th e follow ing cha nne ls are ind icat ed :
• Speed
W . (G Lata -sin o +cos a ) (Eq. 9.16 ) • Banking- T hi s block-shap ed t race defines
t he ba nki ng of the track as a fun ct ion of
Second. the iner tia l force creating th e late ral weight d istan ce. The banking figure s were taken
t ran sfe r is Eq ua tio n 9.1 7. from Figu re 9.6.
• Accel Late ral- Th is is the measu red lateral
W .(G Lata -cos u r sin u ] (Eq. 9.17) accelerati on of tile ve hicle .
• Lat C Corrcctcd-c-T hts is a mathem atical
The ba nkin g an gle can he de term ined !J,. channel t hat defines t he re al late ral accel -
Eq uatio n 9. 18. e ration experienced hy th e vehi cle by di vid-
ing t lie mea sured acce-lera tion IlYthe co sine
a. = Arc tan GVert - I] of tile han king aJl ~l e.
[ G Lat • D iffereucc -c-T his mntl u-mntt cal cha nne l
ca lcu late s th e d iffere nce be tween act ual
und measured late ral accelerat ion .

Fig ur e 9.4 At the cursor point in Figu ,.e 9..5, the mea-
Th e effects oJ lnlfl killf!,
sured late ral acceleration is 3 .13 G . At this point 0 11

t he tr ack, th e ba nk ing an gle is II deg. Eq uatio n

9.19 shoe -s the real lateral accele ratio n experienced
bv the veh icle.

G _ G Latmeasured 3.13
3.19 G
Larc - cos (a) cos (IIO)
A simila r effi-ct takes place whe n the vehic le
run s li p or down a slope d road , as p icturer ] ill
Pigu ,.e 9 .7. D epe nd ing 0 11 t he s i z{ ~ of t he xlope
Fi~ lIn' 9 ..5 ,\ hi}' arou lld Phoenix l ntem ati onol
/l OCf'ICIlY (PI X ) by n 2()Ol Ind yca r (Co l/r te... y of Pi ang le 8. the totul nonuul force is reduced to w -cos
I k :w/l rd ,. Ellglt/lld)
8. III add ition. be cau se 01" u weig ht co mpo nen t pa r-

r=;:==+=~=:===~.""
.,, :0:.::.. . 1
ullcl to the- road surface, the slope a ngle creates a

" ::"-:'= I

Figu re 9.6 PIN t l/rn nomencla tu re lind ba nking

(lIlg1e,<;

,~ ,

n-
•• PHOENIX
INTERNATIONAL
RACEWAY

Front
straight
I Tum 1 T
lI'TI 2 Baell straight Tum3
I Tum4
I Front
straight
o .....•

84 CHA PTER 9
lon~itlldinal weight transfer. The front and rear axle Figure 9.7 The effects oft rack slope
weight.s (' VI" an d " 'n) are as given in Equat ion s
9 .2 0 and 9 .21 .

Wr = W . _ a_ ·cos e _ W . ~ . (G Lo +sine )
WB WB ng

(Eq. 9.20)

WR=\\r · -WB- - -b ·cose +w . --

h . (G . )
Long + sme
WB \VB
( Eq. 9.21)

with a = di st an ce bet ween rea r axle cente r-

line an d center of gravity
\\.B = wheelbase
G J.,.IIl It.!. = IOl lgitlld inal accek-rutiou

To calculate the slope illl~l e, Eo uut ion !J.22 Vehicl e weight W = 13 75 kg WI=636kg W, = 739 kg
applies. Unsp rung mass Wu= 159kg WuF = 61 kg W uR = 98 kg

[G -I]
Track wid th TF = 1.649 mm TR = 16 84 mm
e = Arc ta n ~'cn ( Eq. 9.22)
Wh eelb ase WB = 240 3 mm
Long
Ce nte r of g ravity h = 369 mm
height
Tot al VVheel Loads Roll ce nter height h RCf = 46. 5 mm h RCr = 51 .0 mm h ro1J = 323 .6 mm
To calc ulate tilt' ind ividu al load s 0 11 ea c h Roll g ra d ient RGF = 0 .313 d eg /G RGR = 0.647 d e g/G
wlu-r-l . t lu- e ffe-c t of' each followi ng situatio n mu st Ban king a ng le o deg
he- ck-tcrmim-d:
Track slope o d eg
• snulc wcight distribution.
• Ian-ral \\"('ight trun sler.
• Itmgitml ina l weigill lnt nslt>r.
• han king effects. Fi;!.ure $) .'" SI'('(·tI und luteml and longit udinal G.~
• tr ack slopt' e ffects, a nd
• .u-rodvn .uutc forct's.
Ti n' lotal load ou cach \ \ '!lPL,1 is th e slim of all
tllldll /.! fI co ,.,u.,. ex it

KG "'!.... ~."jf\I.""""'1
'-9">.''
..
,

tl n- ahovt--uu -utimu-d effects. To illustra te this,

c-onxirh-r a ve hicle wit h the prope r ties g ive ll ill
1,I1,'e 9. 1.
"'i~urc 9,8 shows the speed and th e lateral
itll(llollg: itlld inal acce lcratio n of th is ca r ex it ing a •
slow curlier. Th e wh eel load s for th e accel eratio n •
•
valu e-s at th e cursor point a re ca lculated . The aero- •
t1~ u.uut c forces are not conside red in this example. .• 3"

..
G Fotu la [C01 ·1.:116
• ·. f 'o#,e ,"' •• I<.l e ~)

More 011 uenxlvnumics follows in Chapter 11.

U S(~ Eou ntions 9.23 and 9.24 for un sprung
we ig:ht transfer. G eometric weight tra nsfer can he
.....
calcn luted wit h Equation s 9 .25-9.29. Spru ng
wdg:ht tran sfe r is show n in Eq uat ions 9,30-9.32.
...
...
I~qllll t ioll 9,.3.3 is longftudtnal weight transfer (pe r
wh e el = 55 .9.5 k~ ) . Tabl e 9,2 sum marizes th e
result s.
- • • R
• • • n
"

\\ 11 1:1 I. I () \ D "i \ ,,) \n:)( ;111' 'ru \'SFEn 85

 These equations can be used to create a math-
e matical cha nnel in th e dat a analysis softwa re for
each separate wheel load . To ensure sufficient acc u-
racy. have detailed knowled ge of th e necessa ry vehi-
cle parameters . For a more accurate pictu re of how
th e wheel loads are developed. some effects in Table
9 .2 sho uld h e me asured d ire ct I),. How thi s is
uclneved follows in th e next sec tions .
Determining Wheel Loads
with Modal Analysis
w it ho ut (·onsi deriug camber c1 1 ;:lII~e. toe
changt'. ant] ot her wheel movements, an individual
suspension corne r hasically lets t he wheel ~o up und
down . :\ -l-wheel suspe nsion system can have CO Ill-
bina tions of compre ssion a nd exte nsion at eit her
wheel cor ner. Any position of or motion in this sys-
tem can be described in millimet ers of one or mor e
of four fundamental modes-heave, roll. pitch. and
warpH Although closely related . th e suspension
syste m modes do not descr ibe th e motion s of th e
suspe nde d mass, which has six degrees of freedom
(heave, pit ch, roll, yaw, sides lip , and for ward a nd
rearward moti on ). I f the chass is is not conside red
infinitely st iff, warp is th e seve nth degree of free -
dom (chassis torsion ). Thi s ca n he envisione d as th e
tire con tac t patches moving in heave, roll, pitch , and
warp as th e vehicle moves over th e track. Th e chas-
sis also moves in th ese four modes. while suspension
motions make up the di ffe rence.

__\\--,'""F:..-·-;G"",La"t_·_hLF 6 1. (- 1.36) . 325

/!.WU F - - 16.35 kg (Eq. 9.23)
T 1649
F

98 . (- 1.36) .325
- -'--:\-:
6-:-
49:"-- = -26.27 kg (Eq. 9.24)

W SF = W f - w UF = 575 kg (l':q. ,9.25)

W
a =- \\' B _ r = 1292 mill
II'~(f- ;;J
...:",,-)
W

575 .(-1.36)-[~ } 46.5

11.85 kg (E q. 9.28)
1649

W.G .[W
sR
B-a]. h Lat 'A/B RCr
641 · (-1 .36) . [ ·240;4~~292 ] .51 .0
/!.W R = - ------'=:-- ----"-- - - 12.2 1 kg (FA/- 9.29)
g T 1684
R

q = -::-=,--
R_G-'R,-=-_ = 0.647 0.674 I Eq. 9.30)
RG F + RG R 0.313+0.647

W ·G L t ·h 1216 . (-1.36) . 323.6

/!.W,F = s T; II
ro . q = 1649 · 0.674 = - 2 18.7 kg (E'l 9.31)

W ·G -h 12 16 . (- 1.36) . 323.6
/!.W = ' Lat roll .( I_q) ~ . ( 1- 0.674) = - 103.6 kg (E'I. 9.32)
,R T 1684
R

W .G L ·h 1375 · 0.53 · 369

t!J.W =- ong 111.9 kg ( E'I 1I.3.3J
Long WB 2403

86 CHAPTER9
 Each mod e has a spring Tate and a damping
Table 9.2 Wheel load summary
rate. depending on the suspe nsion system's compo-
nents. The ca r springs provide the basic wheel rates
-
l eft-front Rig ht-front l e ft-rear Right -rea r
for the four modes. Hall bars. third springs, and th e
Static weight 318 318 369.5 369 .5
chassis add to th e wheel rate in some modes while
Unsprung weight .transfer 16 .3 -16.3 26 .3 -26.3
lea\'ing ot he rs una ffected . These rates are not nee-
essanlyl tnear. but for simplification rhev are consid- Geometric weight transfer 11. 9 -11 .9 12.21 - 12 .2 1

ered to he so in the rest of th is chapte r. The shock Sprung weight transfer 218 .7 - 21 8.7 103.6 -103.6
abso rbers provide th e damping rates for all fou r longitudinal weight transfer - 55 .9 -55.9 55.9 55 .9
modes. In the case of a co nventional suspensio n Banking '
~
0 0 0 0
wit h four shock absorbers. th e dam ping rate for all Track slope 0 0 0 0
four modes is eq ual.
Tota l 508.7 kg 15.1 kg 567 .5 kg 28 3.6 kg
Heave is the synchronous motion of all fou I'
wheels. all in the same direction (Fig ure 9.9). TIl(·
total [01'('(:' dc\'C. -lopcd by heave motion is the sum of
the vertical forces acting on each wheel as a result of
the slim of each wiled displacem ent. For this motion,
an elasticityconstant (K11) can he defined that relates
t he hea ve force to th e whe el di sp lac em ent s
(E q uat io n 9.34).
Pitch is a synchronous mot ion where front am i
rea r wheel pairs move in opposite direction (Figu re
9.10 ). I I I this case, t ile elasticity constant (Kp ) relate s
th e total pitc h force to th e pitch di spla cement
(Eq uat io n 9.3,,).
Holl is also a synchronous oppositional motion
but bet ween the left and right wheel pairs (Fig u re
.. Fig u re 9 .9
9.11 ). TIle roll rate (Kill is the rat io between the total
roll force und the mil displacement (Eq ua tion 9.36).
.. Heave

Finally, warp is t he synchronous mot ion of

d iagonal wiled pairs in opposite directi ons (Figu re
9.12). The war p rate ( Kw ) establishes th e relation-
ship as shown in Eq ua tio n 9 .3 7.
Illust ratin g how th e four modes ca n be co m-
posed from the ind ividu al wh eel movements, 'u ........ ....

Figu re 9 .13 features four recorde d wheel-t ravel ' Of

Signals of a veh icle goiog through a right-hand cor-
ner. In this case, com p ress ion is indi cat ed wit h a Figu re 9.10
Pitch
positive sign. whil e exte nsion is negative. Th e cu r-
sor is point ed at one particular point where th e
driver is sta rt ing to accelerate out of a corne r. Th e
ca r is simulta neously ru nning off a curb with t he
left-rear wheel. The wheel positions are as follows:

left front xl F 9 .12-mm comp ression

right front xRF 3.49 -mm extension
left rear xLR 37 .29 -mm compression
rig ht rea r xRR 6.46-mm compression
Rf

" IIEEI. J.( H» S .\.' 1> wrrc.ur T1UN S F ER 87

 Th e se a re gra ph ica lly indicated in Figure 9 .14, Figure 9 .15 shows the fou r suspe nsion sys-
The four-mod e d isplace me nts a re ca lc ula te d as tem modes, calculated from th e wheel-travel sig-
follows: nal s. At t he po int in di ca te d h)' t he cu rso r. th e
following va lues arc givcn:
Heave 9.12 + (-3 .49) + 37.29 + 6,46 "'" 49.38 mm
Pitch 9.12 + (-3.49) - 37 .29 - 6 .46 = -38.12 mm heave 9.52 mm
Roll 9.12 - (-3.49) + 37 .29 - 6 .46 - 43.44 mm pit ch -7.3 3 mrn
Warp 9.12 - (-3.49) - 37 .29 + 6 .46 = -18.12 mm roll 36 ,21 mm
warp -1 3.75 mm
Th e negative sign in front of t he a mou nt of
To calculate the co rres po ndi ng wheel p OSi-
pitch ind icates th at t he hod)' is movin g rea rward
tion s, Eq uations 9. 38-~J.41. ;'l pply.
(i.c.. suspension compressio n is greater on the fea r
axle ), Th e "";'\f p is a lso negat h'c . whic h indicat e s
that the cumulative..· wlu -c-l truvr-l 011 t ln- rigllt fron t! Heave + Pitch + Roll + Warp
X LF = - -- --___,--- - - ' - = 6,16 nu u
le ft rear diagolla l is higlH'r t han that 011 t ilt' le ft 4
fro nt/right rear,
T he plan e- f(n'Hlt'd ill Fig nrt· 9 ,14 h~' tlu- four Heave + Pitch - RolI- W:up
X RF = - 5,06 mm
SlIS P<.-"IISioll co rn ers doe s not indicate t he cha ssis 4
att itude , If t he track s u rface is co m ple te ly fla t
(which ill thi s exa mp le it c1('a rl~' is IIOt ), t he sprung
Heav e - Pitch + Roll - Warp
muss exper ie nc..-cs 12.:3 lIl lll or hea ve (total sus pe ll- 16.70 tum
4
sion h eave divide-d over I'0 111' corne rs). It pit ch e s (D r .1)" f(J )
W. l 111111 down ward O il t he rear axle a lld t he sa llie
a mou n t upward 0 11 th e fron t a xle . The Sp l"l1 l1g ma ss
rolls 21.7 Ill III . and the- chassis twi sts u.l nun. Figu re 9.1.3 WJwd lrtlnd .o; i~/I(l1.o; of a n ·hil"il' ill
steadq -ntate CO r!lc "; llg lIml r Ulllli,lg ooeru curb

Fi~",.{' ~) . J 1 '" • r-
noll "
'"•
•, -~

, ~ "

-s

'"•

.~ ~~ L.f~vl~\-JVAI
. 'tIItleeI u .welLA {trtn - -( § )
Figure 9 . 12
\\ ;111'

M
.
'"
" '"•
,
..
-20

M
• •

88 CHAPTER 9
 Heave - Pitch - Roll + Warp
X RR =
4
8.27 mm
KR = Kw =~ '(WRSPringF ;2 ' WRROIIF)+~ '(WR SPringR +2 . W R ROII R)
(~;'1' 9.41)
(Eq. 9.43)
Th e values of the four mod es can be used to
es timate how loads ar e hein g tr an sferred bet ween
t he four wheel corners. Th erefore. th e wheel rate of
each mode mn st be det ermined . For a conventional (Eq. 9,-I-I)

sus pensio n s),stem with fonr springs and two a nti- with a = front-to -rear asy mmetry between
roll bars, th e wh eel rat es fo r hea ve and pit ch a re front and rear axle for roll
equal (E q ua tio n 9.42) . b = front-to-rear asymmetry between
front an d rear axle for pitch

F ig nre fJ. l.J

wit h \ VH SpriIlI4F = wheel rate o f front " ·hed I JO .~ i! icJII '" at th e
snSI}('11Si()11sprillgs " iur/k Cl!er/ c u rsor p oin t
in Figu re 9.13
\\ ' HSprill~H = wheel rate of rear
snspens ton springs

Similarl y, if a chassis of infinite stiffness is

"
assumed , th e wh eel rat e s for ro ll a nd warp an: "
eq ua l as well. In Eq u at ion 9.4.3, \\'H noIlF = wheel
rate orfront anliro ll har an d \ VH Holl H = wlH.'d rat e
of rear uutiroll bar.
Oft en the xuspe nsiou St~t llP feat ures d iffere nt
"
spring rates and anti roll bar rate s on the fro nt and
rear axle s. a nd the mot ion ratio for t hese co mpo-
Ben ts ca n \'a ry from one axle to another. To calc u-
.
00
. ...;

lat e the dvnanuc load di stribution over th e IC:HtT "

20
suspe nsion co rners. the uxvm nu-trie -s between ax il'S o
must he con sidered because there is it di fference in ·20 Figure f). I .S
. 0 s lathem uticul chu nnels
load tran sfer bet ween th e m whe n roll and wa rp of tile [our .~ u,~/}(, " sion
6(1 Pltc.h [miT']
whee l rat es at the front a nd rea r ax les are not equal. sys tem ",or/('.~
Th is effe ct is one' of th e most imp or ta nt ways to "
influence the vehicle's un derstee r/over stecr balance
{Eq ua t io n 9.4 -1).
U sin~ eit her Equations 9.45 and 9..16 or
the sus pe nsion roll gradients mentioned curlier in 00

t his chap te r ( Eq uat ion 9.1 1), the Weight tran sfe r
"
20
bia s for roll an d warp bet ween t he fro nt ilnd rea r
o
ax les now ca n be det er min ed . ·20

As previou sly Indtcutcd. on a con ve nti onal .0

·00
suspension system , c/ always equals W as long as th e
WNP[In'Tl] · 13.75
chassis stiffne ss is co nside red in finite. There are .
however . suspension syste ms prO\·iding wa rp rates
"
20

that are softer th an the roll ratc .

As au exc-n -ise-, plll~ in ti lt" values from Table
9.3a a nd follow tilt" pro gn'ssion th rough Equations
9.47-9.5-1.

"'II E EI. l.o.\I)S .\ "\ 1> W EI G HT T1tAXSFEB 89

 Fro m Eq u ation s 9.34-9.37, the defi nition acco unt and the modal spring forces added to the
of the wheel load on each suspe nsion corner can be static wheel load (E q u ation s 9. 75 -9.78).
derived as Eq ua tio ns 9. 55-9.58. These equations can be e ntered as mat he-
The right-hand side of t hese equat ions can be matical cha nnels into the da ta anal ysis software.
conside red as a con stant. The mo da l displacements The result of t his is given in Figure 9 .16, whe re a
can be measured an d th e wheel rate of each mode lap arou nd Nu rbu rgr ing is illust rated . For case , lise
calculate d following th e meth od covered previo usly an interactive set up shee t ill a sp readshee t t hat is
(E q u a t i a us 9 .59-9.62) . Fro m t his follows linked to the da ta ana lysis software (Chapte r 2). In
Equation s 9.63 -9.66. t his spreadshee t, the moda l wheel rate s can be ca l-
Solving th ese e quat ions for F LF' F nv, F LU ' cu lated and used by the ana lysis soft wa re as sess ion
and Fun gives Eq u a ti o ns 9 .67-9.70. con stants. Thi s software optio.11 is pro vided in most
when Equat ion s 9.59 - 9.62 are subst ituted popular data acquisitio n packages . Because set up
in the above. th e exp ress ions for ea ch wheel load ch anges ca n he stored in the se tup she et, th e anal y-
becom e Eq no t io n w 9.71-9 .74 . sis so ftwa re ca ll link the right consta nts to e ach
Finally, the as yn uuc tr ics be twe e n the front data file . Ket>p in m ind tha t the wheel load s cu lcn-
and rea r axles for roll and wa rp must he taken into luted in F igure 9.1G re prese nt only portions of th e
load t he whee l actua lly experi ences. O nIy the forces
acting on th e wheel s t hat are di st ributed to th e
c hassis t hrough t he springs are de te rmined with
KR +a W RSprin gF + 2· W R RoliF
q ~-- _ 1= =-=='----==-'-"''''- the previou s e quations. Geometric an d unsp run g
KR - a WRSpringR + 2 · W R RoliR weig ht t ransfer are not take n into accou nt by th is
ca lculation , but th ey can be calcu late d and ad de d
to the tot a l whccllouds separately using th e mc th -
w (Eq. 9 46 ) ods outli ned earlier in this chap ter. Tab le 9.4 SU Ill -
mar izes the load s taken into acco un t in th e whee l
load traces in Figure 9.16.
SR F
WRSpringF = - - - = 14.9 kg/mm (L I- 9.4 7) Anot her way to figure the Indiv idua l wheel
MR 2
F loads using th e suspe nsion potentiome ter sigllals is
to calculate the forces deve loped by t he suspension
S RR sp rings and antiroll ba rs and resolve th e m wit h
W Rs . R =-MR- -2 = 10.8 kg/mm ( Eq. 9.48)
pnn g thei r resp e cti ve moti on ratios to force s at the
R
whee ls. Th e advan tage of ana lyzing t he vehicl e's
moda l respon ses is th at the four suspe nsion corners
S RR oliF
WR RoliF = 2 26 .8 kg/mm (Eq. 9A 9) are see n as one systc m and the cffect of each sus-
M R RoliF
p en sion p aram ete r on th e complete system ca n be
investigated.
SR
WR - RoliR 16.3 kg/mm (Eq. 9.50)
RoliR - MR 2
RoliR

Table 9.3a

Fro nt sp ring rat e SRF = 28 kg/ mm
Front a nt iro ll ba r ra t e SRroll F = 60 kg /mm
Front spring motion rat io MRF = 1.373
Fro nt a nt iro ll ba r mo tio n rati o MRrollF = 1.495
left-front corner we ight W l F = 318 kg
Right-f ro nt corner weig ht W RF = 318 kg
Rear spring rate SRR = 32 kg/m m
Rear a nt iroll bar rate SRrollR = 40 kg/m m
Rear spring motion rat io MRR = 1.725
Rear a ntiroll bar motion ratio MRroliR = 1.566
left-rear corne r we ight W l R = 369 kg
Right- rear corner weight W RR = 369 kg

90 CHAPTER9

J
-- "
KH = Kp = ~'(WRSPringF + WRsPringR) = 12.85 kglmm (Eq. 9.51)

(Eq. 9.52)

a= b= ~ ' (WRSrringF + 2 ·WR RoIlF) - ~ . (WRSrringF + 2 . WR RoIlF) = 12.58 kglmm (Eq. 9.53)

K +a
q =w ~ -R- - I=O.58 (Eq. 9.54)
KR - a

(Eq. 9.55)

(Eq. 9.56)

(Eq. 9 57)

I Eq. 9.58)

IE q.9.59)

(Eq. 9.60)

(Eq. 9.61) Figure 9. 16 Calculated whee/ lomb;from modal

d isplacemen ts and wh eel rates

(Eq. ~Hj2 )

x+y
FLF + FRF = - 2- ( Eq. 9.63 )

x-v
FLR + FRR = -2- (Eq. 9.64)

(Eq. 9 65)

Z-T
FLR - FRR = - 2- (Eq. 9.66)

(Eq. 9.67)

(Eq.9.68)

(Eq. 9.69)

I Eq. 9.70)

W HEEL LOAD S '-\:\"1) WEl GII T TJl.\,,-,\;SFER 91

 _ K H . ( XLF + XRF + XLR +XRR)+ Kp .(XLF +XRF-XLR -xRR) +K R '(XLF -XRF+XLR -X RR ) +K W ' ( XLF- XRF - XLR +X RR)
F - --"'---'---"'---=--""~--""'-'--------'---'---"'---=---""'-------"''-'-4-----'~~'-------''''-----''''-----'''''-L_-''--l..'''-----'''--------''''--------'~
LF
( Eq 9~J )

K H ' ( XLF +X RF + XLR + XRR )+ K p , ( x U: +X RF - x LR - 'X RR)- K R ' ( XLF - x RF + XLR - XRR)- K w ' ( XLF - XRF - XLR + XRR)
FRF = --"'---'---"'---=--""~--""'-'--------'---'---"'---=---""'-------"''-'-4-----'~~'-------''''-----''''-----'''''-L_-''--l..'''-----'''--------''''--------'~

(Eq. 9.72)

( Eq. 9.';·I)

( Eq . 9. ';fi)

K if ' (x LF + x RF + x LR + x RR ) - K p . ( x LF + XRF - XLR - x RR ) + K R . (x LF - XRF + XLR - x RR ) . ( I - q )

FLR = W I.R + 4

K W . ( x LF - x RF - x LR + x RR ) · \\ '
4

• Kif . ( x LF+ x RF+ x LR +xRR)-Kp .(xU:+XRF -xLR - XRR )- K R . ( x LF- x RF + x LR -xRR) · ( I-q)
r<RR = W RR + 4 +
K w .( XLF - XRF - x LR + x RR ) . w
4
with \\' LI: = left-front static corner weight force
\\'HF = right-front stati c corner weight force
\VLR = left-rear static corner weight force
\Vnn = right-rear stat ic corner weight force

92 CHAPTER 9
Table 9.4 Break down ofthe individ ual wheel loads Lateral spru ng weig ht t ransfer can be det er-
as min ed by creating the following math cha nnels:
Included in
Change in wheel load due"t o': modal analysis?
. front we ight t ransfe r « load LF- loa d RF
Static weight .
Ye s
rear we ig ht trensfer « load LR - load RR
Unsprung weight transfer''I'" ;~ No
Geometric Weight tra"nsfer" No T he bias between front and rear axle is as given in
~
Sprung weight transfer
Longitudinal weight transfer
. Yes
Ye s
Eq ua t io n 9. 79 . T hese cha n ne ls a re shown in
Figu re 9.19.
Banking ~ Yes Th e channel showing the latera l weight trans-
Track slope " Ye s fer bias hetween the front and rea r axles is particu-
Aerodynamic forces -", Yes larly usefu l to investigate transient effects at corn er
Bumps, road surface irregularities Yes r-utry a nd exit. Th e shock ab sorbers temporarily
<-,I lange t he lat eral weight transfer di stribu tion to a
Measuring Wheel Loads va lue d i ffercut th an th at of ste ad v-state corne ri ng.
with Suspension Load Cells
T he accuracy of the wheel load calculation s
ca n he imp roved g reatly by mea suring th e strain ill __ _ _ --.:fc:·r.:::o~n:.
t \~v.:::e~igo::h:.:t.::tra
=ns:::r.e:.r---~
::: . I 00"'-
Weight transfer bias = I I.
the suspe nsio n mem bers w ith load cells and cull- Front weight transfer + Rear weight transfer
hrat ing t hese so that they out put the vertica l loads (Ell- .9.1!))
acti ng on th e w he el s. T he greate st acc uracy
improvement is t he se nso r re solut ion . By me asu r-
Figure 9.1 7
I•.
ing th e load direc tly, the wheelloads do not need
calculation thro ugh spring a nd wheel rates; tho se
.. ,... ."', IV ,,""'" "\ .
4 1""'"
Wh ee/lolld.'i de term ined
with etruln gage
mca Sllre mcnt
v..uiables do not co me into play. Re mem be r that
Table 9.2 also ap plies he re. Suspension load ce lls do
. . (Courtesy oj n
Research . J~ tl gl(// l(l)
V Nt ~ V
no t measure un spr u ng or geo metr ic wei gh t
tra nsfer.
Fig u re 9.1 7 s hows th e four dyn a m ic (i.c.,
.
~ "'V
li.Ol kt
I.\!
.,....
IV
~lo.\
"
I " ,. " J. '"
)f"
I
IJ'"
lu•

stat ic we ight 1I0t inclu ded ) wheel loads mea sured

"
. ~ 01.
lo.....
lid ],
. I \J V ,I;X
.. ji\ 1iJI ,';'
on an ea rly 19905 Fo rmul a One car du ring a lap Il' V V
aroun d I luckenh eim lUng. T he se fou r traces clea rly
show the cha nge in load at each whe el a s the ca r
. , - ,
/
_.
,/ - \./\ / ,
-'
/

accelerate s, bra kes, a nd uegot tat es corners. Th e

increase in down force as sp ee d increase s is also
apparent. By manipulat ing these signa ls and usin g
,
.
,
=
- - - -
Figure 9 .1 8
them in mat hematica l cha nnels, the different CO Ill- I- Total download
po nents ma king up the total wheel load s ca n he \I 1/ 7 \--;j , 7 (Courtesy of Pi

-
/
Research, Englan d)
investigated.
,f II \ II
Adding the four wheel loads creates a channel
\ ,
V
tha t gives th e tota l downl oad on the car. Illu st rated
in Figure 9 .1 8 , t his cha nnel clearly shows t he ,
a mo unt of downforce t ha t develop s-the t race is h.-
a lmost identica l to th e speed tr ace . This is not th e I 1/ W j ~ I
cas e w ith a Iow-d ownforce car. Th is cha nnel also
W f IJf 1'1 I~ 1/
ca n be used to investigate th e e ffect of banked cor- 1 f
ners and track slope s. T hese t rack prop erties change
.•
the measured vert ical load . a .= .a
-----
WII E E I. I J HD S A:"\D WEI G H T TRo\ ~SFE R 93
 For a quick a na lysis of steady-state weight also influence th e lat e ral weig ht t ransfer di stribu-
t ran sfer (e.g., after a spring or antiroll bar change), ti on . The proposed me t ho d for calculati ng th e
th e X-Y chart in Figure 9.20 is helpfu l. Th e slope wheel load s fro m th e sus pension mod es did not
of this g raph gives th e rati o betwe en rear and front take the tire sp ring rate s int o ac coun t. Howeve r,
lat eral weight transfer. whe n the wheel loads are measured direc tly by sus-
Simila rly. th e longitudinal weight transfer can pension load ce lls, th e measured load d istribu t ion
be determi ned using Equation 9.80 as a math incorporates t he late ral ,..'e ight transfer bias through
chan nel (Figure 9,21 ). In addition, the pe rcentage the t ire spring rates.
of load on the front axle is given ill Equa ti on 9. 81. Each tire spring works in ser ies with th e co r-
Th e longitud inal weight bias graph clea rly responding suspension sp ring a nd parallel to th e
shows how weight is shifted forward during braking anti roll bar o n that axle. T herefore, the roll rate bias
and rearward d uring accelerat ion . On tile straigllts, (q) (E q uat ion 9.45 ) c an he rew ritt en to tak e int o
it is possible to determine th e sh ift in ae rodvna m!c account the tir e spring rates [Eq uatio n !).8 2).
center of pressure with increa sing speed . This equation c.\II he used onl y if th e tire
spring: rates arc known , which ofte n is not th e case.
Tire Spring Rates T he best way to asse ss th e latvr.rl \\'ei~ht tran sfe r
Until now th e suspens ion syste m was consul- bia s is to measure th e wlleel loads di rectlv.
ered as havin g fou r spr ings and two a ntiroll bars,
Chassis Torsion
but th e tires re present four m ore spring rate s th at
\ Vhen ca lculating lateral weigllt tran sfer d is-
t ribut ion 011 th e front and w ar axles. it ha s hc t-'II
Longitnd inal weight transfer = Load LR + Load RR - Load LF - Load RF always assumed that t he chassis stiffne ss is 01" such
mag nitude t hat it can he ign o red . T his may not be
, Er/- 9.80 )
nec e ssarily t he casc o A flex ible chass is C Ol lid he
Load LF + Load RF . 100% co nside red us an ext ra (torsional) spring in the sus-
Longitudina l weight bias =
Load LF + Load RF + Load LR + Load RR pension sys te m. C alcu lated weigh t t ra nsfers Illily
not repre sent th e re al situat io n when ig no rin g the
chassis stiffness .
WR s pnng
. ,.
r
· SR T ·Ire F ] + 2 . \\'R C has sis st iffness docs not o nly i lll pJ~· the rig;-
[ WR Springf +SR Tiref RoliF idness of t he fra me bu t a lso th e com p]i..nn-e ill t ilt'
q= ~--'--=-----~----
suspension pick-tip poi nt s, Ilodywor k at tachmen ts
. R · SR TIre
WR s pnng · R ] 2 . WR
to t he chassis, a nd e ngine a nd dnvclin e suppo rt
[ WR SpringR + SR TireR + Roli R
poi nts o n th e chas sis.
Eq. 982 ) The no nli nea r behavio r of t he rucecar tire
provides the mean s of tu nin g t he veh icle's han d ling
Figure 9.19 ba lance by changing th e amount of weight t ra nsfe r
Lateral (sl' n m g ) weight I A 1'1. I" on one axle . For an understeertng car, th e engineer
tr ansf er (Courtesy of Pi
Ik search, Englanel)
.""'J _. normally tri es to decrease the weight tra nsfer on th e
front axle or increase it at th e rea r, and vice versa for
. ~:' 1-:--t--r- t---t- +-t---1- +l-t--1
11'1 · "'I
an ove rst eering ca r. However, th e car hand ling can
II I
IV !111, -•.\ I
"/I I,··v I be influenced only in this way if the chassis serves as
a platform to feed th e involved torqu es through .
Ilil l ' II . In th e followi ng di scussion , di stingu ish
I iii between the different compone nts that make up
the overall vehicle roll a ngle-suspension roll, tire
roll , and chassis tor sion . As an example, th e follow-
ing sus pens io n roll an gle s were measured on a
racecar:

94 CHAPTER 9
 front suspension roll angle z:::: 16 .61 mm affec ts th e late ral we ight tran sfer d ist ribution
rear suspension roll angle z:::: 30.71 mm bet ween the fro nt and rear axles . In thi s case, do
not ignore th e torsional sti ffnes s of th e chassis.
This vehi cle 's respe cti ve fron t and rear roll
(wheel ) rat es ar e 78.54 kg/m m a nd 23 .38 kg/ m ill
Th e tire spr ing rat es ar e 50 kg/mm (front) and 5.5
kg/mrn (rea r).
Figure 9.20 X~l' cha rt of rear vers us front lateral
If a chassis with a finite tor sional stiffness is weight transfer (Co fl rte...y of Pi Research, England)
conside re d, Equa tion 9.83 applies with uroJlF ::

_.
[T.uk 1) · XIYCtMrI 4 t
front suspe nsion roll angle, u rolhiresF :: front ti res
~-
ro ll an gle , lXroll H :: rear sus pe ns ion roll a ng le, DIU ?'" I
D l m a! I
~nlltircsn :: rea r ti res roll angle, and ~ursion :: cha s- I ~
sis torsion angle. ~
.....-
~
I, ;...:
,'d'<f::: .~
~
lXrollF + lXrolltircsF = u rollR + urol1tiresR + Utorsion I
(E q..9.83) .' j •~v;t
',':
"..
.. : ' ';

~,
This eq uatio n d iffer s fro m the defini tion ~' I," .
given in th e previous cha pte r by th e add ition of a ~ ; <}~O-.
.. . .

tor sion compo nent (~orsi(J)' ~ :~' : "' . .

,
Mult iplyin g fro nt a nd rea r roll a ngles wit h .' ,,:~
',:" ..•... ,~~.,. ~.

th e corresponding roll rat es gives th e late ral weight .'

'/ ' ~/
. '.
transfer on eac h a xle (E quations 9 .84 a nd 9 .85).
./
L;.W,F = 16.61 · 78.54 = 1304.5 kg

L;.WsR = 30 .71 · 23.38 = 7 18.0 kg ( Elf- 9.S.5 )

I
Tit !t'"'_S<oOodoool
¥ • O,61W1a. • 3,81s:n

Th e tire roll angles ( lXrolltir('sF a nd lXrol ltiresHl

are given in Equa tions 9 .86 and 9.87. Figure 9 .21 Lon gitudillClllc eight tro nsjer {Cou rt emj
of Pi Research, En glalld )
1304 .5
lXrolhiresF = T5Q =13.0 mm
BrakL g

7 18.0
= - - = 6.5 mm ( Eq. 9.S;')
tyy _J
if'-- <r vi'
urolltiresR
2 ·55 V. If '--t.:
Act! ~tion

Ent ering th ese va lues in Equation 9.82 finally

Lon itlldinal ,,,,
gives th e chassis torsion a ngle Ut o rsio n = 7.6 mm. JI. d ami
\Vhen this is related to the overa ll late ral we ight
pr ~ sure """
t ra ns fer, the torsion al st iffness. of th e ch ass is
1 Rwh'" ets 001 ct

/it ~
mum!
(SRCh"" 's) is known (Eq uation 9,88). ~ ~
i"T 1 I
fV

I r'¥ f" f 11 r
:
133.4 kg/rum
UTo rsion
i, W
(Eq. 9.88) "
I
Compared to the front roll stiffness, the mag- \,
-uazs
nitude of ch assis tor sion in th is example certainly

\HI EE L l. O ADS .-\1\1) WEI c rrr TR-\.XS}<'EH 95

 ---,

96 CHAPTER 9
 apply to d ifferen t veloc ity ranges . By ide ntifying sr:
th e speed of th e sho ck absorbe r in problem areas, 0 :::::
~
set up adjust ments m ay be assessed better. ~ :::l
:::::
Figure 10.1 illu st rat es shock veloc ity an d
n::::
~

'-
spring trave l for a sin gle wheel t ravelin g over a n ir:
:::::
irregularity in tile road surface. The shock absorber
W -::
,:.::,

~C
ars are equipped with shock absorbers to speed cha nne l was created by differe ntiating t he
m in imize va riation in co ntact betwee n shock tra vel Signal. ~ v
~
~
tires ' con tact patches und the track surfa ce The shock travel tra ce shows th e s ho ck
0-
an d to control tran sien t chassis movem ents du e to
lateral, longitud inal, and ver tical acceleratio n. T he
influ ence of shock ab sorbers on racccur dyna mics is
investigated ill th e first hal f of this chapter.
absorbe r re ma ini ng in exte nsion (o r reb ou nd ) ini-
tially, at which point the sha ft spee d of the shock is
ze- ro. As the sha ft cha nges direction from extensi on '
into co mpressio n (o r hump ), t h e shock speed
«
I
...
ir:
,...,
/:
z
TIle second half introduces fre quency nuul.. ·-
' ..
sis, a met hod used to optimize th e inte rface between
the vehicle and t he road surface. This part of th e
increase s to its max imum at the point hal fway
th rough the comp ression motion. At t his point, t he
shock uhsorbcr develops a force proportiona l to th is
U '-
.../.
chapter is wr itten by [oscp Fontdccab a I. Buj. eng i-
neeri ng di rec tor at C reuat S.L. , a Spa nish compa ny
m nxirnum slwed and th e applie d dampi ng co effi-
cicnt. Shoc k spee d re ach es ze ro again, wh ere the
-
,.
r -,
~

~
specializing in interconnect ed sus pension syst ems. spring comp ression is at its maxim um (a nd spring ~

Given h is expertis e in sus pe nsion op ti m ization, it is forc e subseq uently reaches a local maximu m). "
more appropriate that he write th is pa rt. Also wort h no tin g ill Figu re 10.1 is the di ffer-
encc in du ration be twee-n exten sion uud (,olllpres-
Damping Analysis sion . Th e exte nsio n moveme nt takes longe r than
Th e force develop ed by it spri ng is propor- th e subseq ue nt co mpre sxion movem ent for twu
tional to its comp ressio n (Eq u atio n 10.1 ). re-asons :
• T he lltllllping coeffi cie nt for re bo und is
Fspring = SR . s (Eq 10 ,1) g reate r than that of luuup.

wit h Fspring :::: spring fo rce (N) Figure 10.1 The shock ab sorber vd ocit y und tru cel
[ora ,..ingle uheel g Oillg ocer a bu mp
SH :::: spr ing rate ( N/ m m)
s :::: sp ring com pression (II1I1l) /'. Maximum shock speed
( '\
Shock ab sorbers a re speed se nsit ive . Th ey
develop a force proporti onal to th e speed at which I \
th ey comp ress or exte nd (Eq u ation 10.2).
Zeroshock speed Zero shockspeed
Fshock =C · v (Eq HJ.2)

.~

with shock absorber force (N)

F shock ::::
C = damping coefficient (Ns/ mm)
v = shock absorber velocity (mm/ s)

Basically thi s means that a spr ing develops its

highest force at maximum deflection , whe reas a
shock abso rber rea che s ma ximum for ce at ma xi-

Extens~
mum sha ft velocity. Shoc k absorbe r speed is an
im po rtant pa ram et er to measu re t o underst an d ;

-- --
shock absorber performance. Mod ern race car shock
absorbers are often adj us ta ble, and adjustments

FHEQtTE:"C IES .-\ :\"1) Sl l oe :K .\ BSC)H B E HS 97

 • T he road irre gu larity it self introd uces a out t he pr esen ce of this kinet ic e nergy (the
co nside rable amou nt of kine tic energy into bump a lready has been tran smitted into
th e sus p ensio n during t he co mp re ssion th e chassis).
ph ase. During th e extension ph ase , th e sus- Shock abso rbe rs deal w it h roa d irregulari ties
pension returns to its normal position with- at high er sha ft velociti e s. Tran sien t e ffect s du e to

--........
Figure 10.2
The roll angle mid spee d
ofa cor negotiatin g a
corner
lateral ami long itudi na l load transfer occu r at low
fnrtrd(!tI'I\]
speeds, hut also here th e shock absorbe r develops
~ral[1I'fIl]
...... its maximum force th e re where it reach es its high-
est speed. I;'igure 10 .2 indicates wh at happens
... when a ca r goes th rough a co rner. T he uppe r por-

-
......
t ion sho ws t he front and rear roll angle (expressed
in millimetc rx), whic h was calculated hy subt ract-

-- _...-
.-
iu g the left a nd righ t shock t ra ve-l sig na ls fro m on r-
a not her. The lower g raph shows the [rou l and rear
roll spee ds , whic h were calcul ated by difl t.'rl'llti at-
....
.-

...... .. IrCl't .ci~

ing th e roll an gle cha nnel s. T hese roll spt·('d chan-
nel s indicate that th e shock ab sorbers add foro- to

... th e wheels at the mom ent th e roll moveuu -nt is ini-

tiated (at tilt' corner e nt ry) a nd it is at t hat poin t

-
...
...
th at th e roll angle re tu rn s to ze ro again (at tilt" cor-
ner exit). TIlt' area in bet ween measu re-s a roll spt·('d
of near ly ze ro. This is ca lled ste ady-state l'() nlt'ri ll~,

_.
--'
-- M M
whe re the vehicle ba lan ce is in fluenced muinl v bv
sp rings a nd a nt iro ll bar s.
Most l'ilcing sho ck absorbers can [x- adj llsted
se pa rately. in hu mp an d rebo und. T he position ill
Figure 10 .3 ---- »->
' the corner wh ere the shoc ks influence th e corne-r-
The firs t Iejth ander : ./ " iug ba lan ce of the ear ha s been idcnt tfic-d . hut to
after the sta rtlji " i..,h on :
the Zolder: Di.'I,Jlay cd ~
··
. '. tune t hi s balance wit h shock sett ings ti lt' phase of
chunneis are icheel ..., .. -2 - -~
···· ,_... .. - s- -4 tilt' come r ill which ti ll' ha ndlin g prohlt'1l 1tll'l'lll'S
:
speed, late ral G, .'i/IOCk
tmrel, and velocity. I) ,
.; ., " :. needs det ermining. Next , th e whee ) ill hll lllp or

--··
\.
re bound mo tion mu st 1)(' idt'ntified , Fi~ lIn' I O.,'J

. shows whe el speed , lat e ral accek-rat lou . a nd ti lt'

·· --"- four shoc k displacement ami veloc itv CI I,t II IH · ls lilr it
. ........ .... ' J'-. ~'-- ...
-
.r~ "'\" .~ ......-v'_,.\_. car negot iating t he first lefthander after th e start /
· -_. l,
- .\ . .. ........

• n' -t
finish line on th e Ci rcuit Zcld er. TIll' co rn e r is
divided into fou r se parate sec tions:

_......,- Section I : Straight-Hne Braking

The speed trace shows wh ere hraking bt'~ill s .
, r Mr..,.Jt.N~_
.,
r""" 11 HI,flr,......lV1'''" ~ Bot h front wheels s ud de nly go into luuu p .un l
·
· ---
'~ "\.. , ~./.~",v-
"
remain re lative ly const ant u ntil co r ne ri ng C O Il1 -
I\ !. , ."u, mences. Both rear wh eel s exte nd marc p; radually
I
_ -
: =::'==
......
-... . .. " ,
-- --- --- ...
III Dbl' " r-:-t, ..rr ,
-
into rebound.
Section 2 : I nit ia l Cornering " 'h ile Continuing to
Brake
: 'f -j " "
'j' "" '1' 1fT" He re the le ft-front (on th e inside of the cor-
ner) shock abso rbe r exte nds again (re bound], while

98 CHAPTER 10
on th e right fro nt wheel it cont inues to fluctu ate
a round a stable average. The le ft-rea r whe el goes
even more into rebound as th e right rear decreases
its compression (or goes into rebound movem ent).
Section 3 : Steady-state Corner ing Phase, Followe d
by Thrott le Application (While Still Co rnering)
During t his phase, th e fro nt wheels remain
in constant compre ssion , whil~ the rear wheels go
into bump upon th rottle app lication . No te th at
despite t he two rea r wheels being in bump move -
ment, the left-rear shock absorbe r is still in exte n-
sion (l.e., longer th an its static lengt h .) The right -re ar
shock ab sorber already was co mp res se d and now
comp resses even furt her.
Sect ion 4: Co rne r Exit, Ste eri ng " 'heel Unwind s
As th e ve hicle 's roll angle dec re ases, t he
right-ha nd wheels go int o re bo und an d t he left-
ha nd wheels into bump.
These obse rvations are summarized in Table
10 .1 a nd can be used to suggest changes in shock
abso rbe r se tt ings . Fo r in st an ce, in t he case of
unde rsteer during init ial cornering, front rebound
co uld b e de cr eased to improve th e co mplia nce
bet we en the le ft-front tire and the track su rface .
Fu rthe rmo re, a low-speed da mping cha nge on t he
front axle would have no in fluen ce on hand ling dur-
ing a steady-state eornering pha se. Apart from t he
h igh-spe ed movement ca used by track irregu lari-
ties, there is no substantia l movem ent in th e low-
speed re gion of th e fro nt shock absorbers in thi s
co rne r sect ion. Tabl es like th is te nd to suggest
asym me tric shock absorber setti ngs, beca use often
duri ng cornering th e whee ls on the oppos ite side
on an ax le experience an opposite move men t.
Asym met ry, however , creates differ e nt ha nd lin g
charac terist ics in le ft- an d rig ht -hand cor ners .
Although in some isolated cases asymmetric dam p -
ing ca n improve the car's balance, conce ntrate on
th e wheel creating the least amount of grip (which
is usually the wheel on th e inside of th e corne r) and
. keep th e cha nges in clamping the same on th e left-
and right-hand sides.
The shoc k abso rber spe ed traces in Figu re .
10.3 provide a good ind icat ion of t he high-speed
(lamping characteristics of th e vehicle. O ne conclu-
sion d raw n from thi s data is that t he rea r axle has
too little high-speed da mping in bump uud reb ou nd.
Du ring th e steady-state co m ering phase in thi s
left -ha nd corn e r, t he right-rear sho ck ab sorb er
exp eriences speeds far greate r th an t hose of t he
ot her th ree whee ls. Thi s is confi rmed in th e next
(right-hand) corn er where th e sa me occ urs on the
le ft-rea r shock absorber. The rear axle does not
hand le road irregularitie s as well as th e front axle,
the reby increasing the rea r t ires' contact patch load
va riat ion and th e refor e dec reasing t he maximum
grip level in th e tires.
Shock Speed Histogram
As men tioned parlier in th is chapter, damp -
ing adjustments in the hm·-speed range i uf hu-n ce
th e tran sien t ha ndli ng of the ca r. while the high -
speed ra nge takes care of road input. To put some
figures on it, the shock abs orbe r spe ed ran ge is
divided into th e sectio ns in Tab le ]0. 2 .

Table 10 .1 Shock movement and wheel position

su mman) f or traces in Fig u re 10.3

-, ~ Section 1 " ~'l Section 2 Section 3 Section 4

"','!#tj~~,
Stra ight~line Braking
"' "".' Initial cozering +
Braking Steady-state Cornering Corner Exit Acceleration
Wh eel Shock Wh eel Shock Wheel Shock Wheel Shock
Po sition Movement Po sition Movement Position Movem ent Position Move me nt

LF Com pression Bump Compre ssion Rebound Extension -- Exten sion Bump

RF Compression Bump Compression -- Compre ssion -- Compression Rebound

LR Exten sion Re bound Extension Reb ound Extensi on Bump Co mpressio n Bump

RR Ext en sion Rebound Com pression Bump Com pression Bump Compression Rebound

FHE<J CE~CII-: .' \ "\ 1) \oIl O C": .\ B "O o HIi E n s 99

 T he first speed inte rval (below 5 m m /s) is
d om inated pr im ar ily by fri ction in the sus pensio n
sys te m. Most racecurs have a considerable amou nt
o f slid ing co ntact p ivot s (sp her ical bearings), hu t
alsu t he conta ct su r face betwe en the shock absorbe r
sh a ft an d the seals in its housing ca n acco un t for a
sig n ificant portio n of t he total sus pension fri ction .
O ther than mechan icall y tryin g to m in im ize fric-
tio n, not much d amping tuning occurs in this speed
ra nge . Howeve r, th is d oe s not me an t ha t suspen-
sion friction sho u ld be ign ored.
Generally called the low-sp eed area , the sec -
ond speed interval (5- 25 m illis) is where the shock
absorbe r res po nd s to chass is motion s n'sll i t i ll~ from
hraki ng , accc lcra t mu . ami cOl"llc r illg. T h is is a lso
t he a re a wi th th e greatest i n fluence 0 11 how th e
drive r feels th e car.
Tabl e 10.2 SIw ek abs orb er speed m ll ~c
Sp e ed range Influen ce
Below 5 mm/s Friction (d a mp e r sha ft and se als,
and suspe nsion jo int s)
5-25 mm/ s Ine rtial chassis mo t ion (roll, p itch ,
and he ave)
25-200 mm/s Road input (b umps)
Plus 200 mm/s Curbs
Figure 10..1 SIw ek abso rber slJced rtlllg,C." i1111...tmtcd
ill a shoek speed histog ram
Hoad inpu t re sult s in shock abso rber speeds
above 2.5 mm /s. D a mp ing in t h is area should he
opt im ize d to min im ize t ire contact patch load var i-
at ion. Th e ah ility or a suspension to cu pe wit h road
input ra rely is assessed rcltubly by a d river. However.
so me tcclunqucs arc uvuilublc to ana lyze th is using
a data acquisiti on sys tem . This topi c is di scu sse d
lat e r in t his chap ter. Finall y, cu rbs typically resul t
in shock absorber speeds ~rl'ate r th an 200 m m/s.
To visua lize how 1II11eh ttm c a shock absorber
is spelUJil1g ill eac h time int e rval . one ca ll p rl'pa rc a
histogram o f its shock specd channel (Figu re lOA ).
Depend ing on tl u- cu lilnutiou or the linear poh' llt i-
OIlH'ters 11 le ;\ Sll r i ll ).!; shoc k truvc-], tile lll'gatin ' values
ill the h isto gralll n-pn-scn l n-bounc l traw l am i poxi-
five lnuup , () I' vice \' (' rs;1. Tl n- SI H ICk spc('( l llistl l).!:ra lll
of the ve h icle's sho ck ubsorlx-rs ca n he used as a
tlilling tool. a Illd luKI pio lJe'('[et! hy Claude Houclk-
ill his data acquisition seJllinars. 1O
Th e shock speed llistog ra m is essentia lly a
cliaruc te rixntknt of tjn- sho ck ab sorber while it is O il
th e ca r. To ma vimi zr- the per! t)f"mall('(' of the shoc k
uhsorlx-r. s<'l up adj ust lll<' llts should hl' implcmcntt-d
to make the shoc k spel'd h istogra m as syn uuc tnca l as
po ssible. Ideally. th e histogram resembles a Gaussian
di stribution (a lso kllOWII as no rma l d istriluu ion or
hell curve) . Tl u- goa l he n: is to umiut uiu a tire ('1J11tad
patch load that is as const.mt as possihle.
\\ '111' 11 looking at a w] wei passing OW l' a single
lunnp. ill it iall~v t lu-rc- is a po silin ' shock speed whe-n
II I(:" bump is hit ;l lI d I III' ll a Ill'ga tin ' speed as the

- wheel pass('s ove-r it. To nuuntuiu the ha lan ce of tile

chass is, poxitive - uud 1I1·.~al i\( · \'l'!oeit il's shou ld he as
d ose a s }lo ssih l(· to t·ael. utln -r ill Iliag n it udt' a nd
du rat io n. ~ow. l'\ trapola l(' rh!s picture to a com-
plete lap around the tr ack. wlu-n - each shock move-
ment applie s to th is cond ition ami t he res u lt is a
"1-- - +-- - +-- - +-- - +--l:::: pe rfectly sym nu-t r ical shock speed hi st og ram . In
ot her word s. an ideal shock ab sor ber set up d issi-
pates equ al .u no u u ts o f l' nt' rg~' into th e shock
" 1-- - + - - -+- - -j- - - j- absorber ill hum p and re ho lilld movements. Figu re
10.5 shows Ilist( )grall ls ()f tlw fou r corner s of a race -
ca r. Th e dat a wa s tak e n from the sa me lap as i n
High s ed High peed
Figure 10.3. The darke r co lor hal'S repr esent the
low-speed mngl' of the shock ahso rhe r (Lo% 0- 25
mm /s). wh ile t hl' lig hh·r color burs ind icat e how
mu ch time is sp e llt ill the h i~h-specd ( <lnge (Il i%
--~ >25 mm/s). Til e total pl'rl'l'ntagl' of time spent in

100 CHAPTER 10
 each of th ese ranges is indicated in each histogram
for bump and reb ound t ravel. Add it iona lly, the
ave rage speed in bu mp and re bound is indicated in
the gra phs.
Table 10.3 summarizes the percentage of
ti me spe nt in each speed range. Th e th ird colum n
il lustrates t he d ifference be tween th e bu mp and
reb oun d durat ions. Th e fou rt h colum n shows th e
ave rage bet ween bu mp and re bo u nd to offer a n
ind ica tion of how mu ch time is spen t at low and
high speed, rega rd less of th e direct ion of dam per
travel . From this, one can conclude that in the high -
speed ra nge there is not a g reat deal of asym metr y
betwee n bump and rehou ud , the maxi mum differ-
cuce be ing 1.6% for t he righ t-rear corner. T he low-
speed ra nge can usc some tweak ing. T he le ft-front
T ilt.. first sit uation illustrates th e re actio n of
an unda mped mass-spring-shock absorber system
(damping facto r = 0 ). Here , the histog rams shows
two peaks on th e le ft a nd rig ht side equal to th e
syste m's maximu m spe ed in b um p a nd rehou nd.
Th e values ill between are less freq uent.
In the second situat ion. the syste m dampi ng
factor is increa sed to 0.1. The effec t of this is a his-
tog ram showi ng th at the shock absorber spends
more time at lower speeds.
Fig ure 10 ..5 SIwek speed histograms fo r the fo II I"
corners of (/ mcecar
. ~~~-==~-=~---~
(-.,.'IJ

shock ab sor be r spends 3.5% more ti me in rebOlIIHI,

wh ile th e rig ht rea r is 5 .1 % mo re in [n unp . • •
T herefore , th e left-front shock absorber cou ld lise a !.
bit more rebound da mp ing and th e right rear more •
bu mp dalnp illg.
Alt hough th e re is re ason able sym me t ry in
the high-sp eed range , Figure 10.3 shows that th ere _!C' ..
. ...
!IO' -IIIIlO MlO 1IIIl0 !IO O ZOO O

is no t enoug h rea r hig h-sp eed dam ping. T hi s is

"'"'V_lO"llo~_A"9
con fir me d in th e shock speed histog rams. T here is n c-.'V" ~ .. ~ n.c 2 1~ lO.~ r.~ ;'07 329

a d iffere nce of approx imate ly 6% bet ween th e front

and rear high -speed ranges. To obta in a more even
•
distri bution bet ween th e fro nt a nd re ar, th e rcur ! e

high-sp eed damping should he incre ase d in blim p •

and rebound .
T Ile shock sp eed lJistog ra ms in F igure 1O..S
we re created fro m d ata cove ring a n e ntire lap. .150-0 -1000 -50.0 0.lI MI.O 1000

Particu lar corners t-an he magn ified . H oweve r, ill

t his case , attent ion sho uld he paid to the beginllillg
Table 10 .:1 .';llllCk s/ I/'I,d asymmet rie.,; between b ump
a nd e nd ing point of th e ma gni fied area . The se (lml ,.f'1JO IIIIlI
points sho u ld have ap p roxim ately t he sa me shock
pote nti om eter va lue . If this is not t he case, on e Bump Rebound Differen-~ e Average
shock ab sorber spe nt more t ime in th e bump or Left Front Lo% 33 .6 37 .1 3.5 35.4
rebound ph ase, which creates an offset in the shock
Hi% 14 .2 15.1 0.9 14.7
speed histogra ms.
T he general tende nc ies of th e shock spee d Right Front lo% 3 5.1 37.1 2.0 36 .1
histogra m ca n be determined by invest igating the Hi% 13 .2 14.6 1.4 13.9
behavior of a simple ma ss-spri ng-shock abso rbe r
Left Rear l o% 27.9 30 .0 2.1 28.9
syste m. Fig ure 10.6 shows t hree d ifferent situa-
tions. T he upper graphs are the ti me histories of th e Hi% 20 .7 21.3 0.6 21.0

shoc k ab sorb er speeds crea ted by a sing le ste pped Right Rear l o% 33.2 28.1 - 5.1 30 .7
input, and the lower grap hs are the frequen cy distr i-
20 .1 1.6 19 .3
buti on s of the respective shock speeds. .- Hi°,4 18 .5

1" 11 1"<,11 1 ' ("11 ' \ '\1) ,1I0e,", .\ USO IW E HS 101

--
 Fina lly. whe n th e damping factor is fur t he r
in cre ased to 1 (c rit ica l d am pi ng>, t he his togra m
shows one pronounced peak at zero shoc k speed .
Th ese result s indi cate th e follOWing:
• Th e more d amping is presen t in t he shock
ab sor b er , th e narrower the shock spee d
hist ogra ms becom e.
• T he t ime a shock ab sorhe r spe nds in one
speed interval ca n b e d e cre ased or
increas ed by inc reas ing or decreas ing th e
damping in that resp ect ive inte rval.
Except for t he average shock speed per cent-
ages ill bump an d rebound in th e high - or low-speed
Figure 10.6 Slw ck sIJ(wJ hist ogram tcndCI lcicx fo r
diffcre'lt c/al1lp inf!. l; ll ! IICX
ranges as ca lculated in t he previous example. other
stat ist ical parameters ca n be e mp loyed to p rovide
more in form ation about th e histogram shape. Th ese
pa ram ete rs a lso make it easier to compa re different
hi sto gram s. Often th e sta t ist ica l fun ctions d is-
cussed below a re not available in th e d ata acquisi-
t ion a nalysis softwa re. The refore, the data in th e
next example is imported into a sprea dsheet. This
sp rea ds hee t, inclu ding t he sa mple d ata, can be
downl oad ed from http://jor ge.seger s.googlepagcs.
co m/ techn ica l. Figure 10.7 shows t he output of
thi s spreads hee t. As ind icated p reviously, th e ide al
shoc k spe ed histogram resembles a normal distri-
hu uon curve. Th ere fore , a measu re d h istogra m is
par a met eri zed by det e rm ining how much it devi-
ates from u normal d istributio n.

--,,-- s - ..... _ _
- -- Init ially. th e average shoc k spe ed sho uld be

",-- - -- - - - ,
"~
I ====:J
....... zero. If th is is IIOt the case, the re is probably some-

"II
" "., ., thing; wrong wit h t he suspensio n t ravel se nsors or
•
I It I-----,/-\---f-+~ I u'.' th e math cha nnel that ca lculates th e shoc k spee d .
I .\-----Jf---\,---f--\----' L.~ Om' property of a nor mal di st rihut ion is th at th e
I ..I\-f- \-I--Iri I" . ..•• "
...'--
t-- -- - - ----1
media n va lue )11/ 2 (t he middle value or an array)

_._ equals th e ave rage va lue of tha t di strib ut ion. For

--.J
.", ' - -- - - -- - '

---
• •
....-.-
r - I· j

--- ' .... (· 1

instance . ill th e ar ray 5, 7.8, 10, 15, th e average is 9
a nd t he me d ian S. In th e case of th e shock speed
• I ~ histogram, th e medi an should be as d ose to zero as
• I • I possihle.
• • •
• 1 I I •
I
I A med ian greater t han zero indica tes t hat
'\
·· ..J . ... >
L,...._••
• there arc more measured samples in the !1I111 1p ranp;c.
."
--_I
.. .. .

Damping factor 0
U

=
." _ _ """ I

Damping factor = 0.1

"
Damping factor = 1
while u negative med ian signifies a greater num ber
of sa mples in th e re bound range. In oth er words,
(no damping) Criticallydamped
11 1/2 is a first measure of tlte as;'lllmetry of till' shock
speed histogram bet ween bump and rebo und.
Variance an d sta nda rd dev iat ion arc two sta-
Fig ure 10 .7 Slw ck speed hist ogram stat istics

==.. :0.: .:' ox

- .' .- j -----
E" - - 4
ti stical mea sures wit h th e sa me me an ing: t hey
measure di spersion {i.e. , the scatte ring of measured
values arou nd t heir average ). Varia nce 0 1 is th e
~:- BIll , ,
•

.
an'rage di sta nce of each data point from th e aver-

pER , i I
age value of a ll th e sa mples . For a d iscr ete co llec -
tion of samples. it can be exp ressed muth e mattcallv
as E q ua tio n 10.3 .

Mill I
1,
(F.'1 lO.J )

fiTlIII ~:
- - - - .---. . . . . \ when - N = total num ber of sa mples
p = average v~lue ?[ a ll samples

102 CHAPTER 10
 Standard deviation 0" is simply the square
root of the vari an ce (E q ua tio n 10.4).
IE". 10.4)
Stan dard deviat ion is expressed in th e sa me
uni ts as th e measurem ent; in th e case of thi s exam-
ple, it is in mm/s. A small (j ind icates that the data
point s are clustered closely to the histogram 's aver -
age (which indica tes a lot of damping ). Mea nwh ile,
a large a indicates that they arc distribu ted a si~n i f­
icant d istance from th e average. Essentially thi s is a
measu re of th e widt h of th e shock speed lustognuu .
A large sta nda rd di strihuti on indica tes that t he
shoc k ab sorber sees more h igh -speed movem ent ,
a nd vice versa. Th e rear shock absorbe rs in Figlln.~
10.7 have a g reate r sta nda rd deviation t han th e
front one s, so hy compa rison they experience 1II0re
high-speed movem ent.
Pay attenti on to t he fact t hat th e sta nd a rd
deviation does not ta ke into acco unt a ny asy mme-
t ry be twee n t he bu mp a nd reb ou nd side of t he
histogram .
Skewness is a mea sure of the asymmetry of
t he shock spee d histogram . A histogra m hia sed to
t he bump side has negative skew. A po sitive skew
means th e hi stogram is bia sed to the rebound side
(Fig u re 10.8). Matlle matically. skewness A loan 1)(,
expressed as Eq ua t io n 10.•5.
where N total nu mber of samples
==
II average value of a ll samples
==
o == sta ndard deviation of all sa mples
A nor mal di stribution has a skewness eq ual to zero.
If th e shock speed average and media n a rt' not
equal, skewness is not zero.
Kurtosis is the degree of pea kedness of a drs-
trihution. A higher kurtos is histogram has a sharpe-r
peak an d fatter tails, while a lower ku rt osis histo-
gram has a more ro unded pe ak with wider shouI·
der s (Fig u r e 10. 9 ). E q u a t io n 10.6 det er mines
the kurtosis of a d istributi on .
Kurtosis ind icates that the collection of sam-
ples is spread in a wider fashion than the normal
di stribution e ntails. A normal distribut ion has a
kurtosis of zero (mesoku rtic). A d istribution wit h
positive kurtosis is called leptokurtic an d one with
a negative kurtosis platykurtic. In Figure 10.7, all
h istogra ms are lept okurt ic, but th e fro nt shock
absor be rs have a higher kurtosis th an th e rear ones.
This means th at more move ment on t he front shoc k
absorbe rs is concentra ted in th e low-speed range.
If a histogram has a higher ku rtosis, this does
not mean necessaril y that it has a lower sta ndard
deviation. The di stributi ons pictured in Figure 10.9
may haw till' same standard dev iation.
Often. shock absor ber s ar c not used onI\' to
luuull c the tra nsient chaructcr tsttcs of th e ve!;icle
and th e irregularities in the t rack surface , In some
cases. tile; ' arc used to cont rol th e attitude of th e
chassis. An example of t his is a race car po ssessing
considerable aerodynamic down forc e wit h exces-
sive front rebound da mping applied to jack the car's
nose down to improve the ai rflow under the car. In
t his cast' . the front dow nforce pushes th e front of
th e ca r down . crea ting a grea te r rake a ngle (t he
longitudi nal angl e of inclination of t he vehicle
floor ). A Iligh rebo und da lnping helps keep it th ere.
(E". 10.6 )
Figure 10,8
Skew ness
Fig ure 10.9
Kurt osis
~ ~
lower Highet'
Kln osls Kurtosis
l · n H) l"I·: ~ CII ; S .\ '-. 1> S Il() C:~ .\ B.'\ O Il UE HS 103
 By doing thi s, some mechanical grip is sac rificed to
im p ro ve aerodyna m ic pe r formance . A deliberate
asy mmetry is created in t he s hoc k spee d h isto -
grams, an d there is an offset to t he rebound side .
Shock speed h istograms ar e not affected only
by changes in t he da mping cha rac te ris t ics of t he
veh icle . Springs, an ti roll hal's , aerody na mics, tires ,
ti re p ressu res, a nd mu uy ot her factors influence the
hi stogra m shape . The shoc k absorbers always should
be matched h i tile rest of t ile sus pension to obtai n
t heir best performance . Tile shock spe ed hi stogram
is a pro\'('ll tool to extract the umxiu n un mechanic..il
g rip fro m a tin >.
Introd ucing
Frequency Analysis
Ana l~ 'zing vehicle sns pcnsto » is un de rtake»
to understan d and opti mize the inte rface bet ween
the veh icle an d tile mad . In th is se ction , some anal -
ys is tools and co ncepts urc proposed that may Iw
usefu l for t his pllrposl'. These uu-thod s iJllpl.'· some
co mplex calcu lation s t hat possih l: ' a re not within
the scope of a use r's d at a acq u isit ion ana lysis soft-
ware. Therefore, th is type or analysis is conduc ted
p rim ar ily hy expo rting t he logged d ata into a ma t h-
e ma tica l packa ge (e ,/-!:" {\ la tla b, {\ lat h CA IJ. o r a
s pre uds hcc t ) or iu t o cus t omi zr-d softwa re
pa ek'lge s.
T he suspensio n ora [our-wlu -c-h -r] \'(,llide call
be d efined as a co mhinutiou 01' rig id and e lasti c
co urpo neu ts t hat link l,;t('h \\·lwl,1 to t he \"{' hkh>
bod y" In e frect , t ln- SIlSpt 'IlSio ll is d t'sig lled to
be-have as r igid l~' as po ssil,lt' ill n 'spOllSI ' 10 late ral
a nd long itud in al for c(' s \\·I.ilt· a IlO\" illg a so fte r
re sponse to vcrt icul tuovc-nu-uts to ('OPI' with road
i rrcgularttics.
Alth ough sp ri llgs uud ILlllljlns d e fine the
ma in p ro perties o r t he vehick- su spc-nxion. OIl(' must
cons ider t he SllSpt 'lIS illll'S gl'llllll't r ica l propertie s.
th e d istributiou of ti ll' \"{,hie!<,'s ruaxx, a nd t he ti re
properties to p repare a lIw l"lI l l1 ltlt!I'1.
In ad d itio n to tln- Illlllll,1 complc-xitv, t he sus-
pen sion analysis must take into acc-ount the- random
natu re of the input . which is a coml unnti on of road
irregu la r ities an d dy na lllic load s indu ced hy th e
d riving cond ition s.
T he natu re of th is prohlclIl is \"ery c-omplex .
This text focu ses O il th e l'flt·t'! of sp rings uud d amp-
104 CHAPTER 10
e rs because they are responsible for th e vertical
movemen ts of the whe els (f.e ., the ve r tica l move-
ments of th e veh icle body with respect to th e road ).
T he frequ en cy a nalysi s is one of th e be st
an alysis tools because it can ha ndl e efficient ly the
road inp ut , cove r the enti re ra nge of body move -
me nts, an d cha rac te rize suspension behavior.
In terms of functionality, th e p urpose of the
sus pe nsion is two fold . F irst , one need s it to isolate
the veh icle bod y m ovem e n ts from the dy na m ic'
forces gene ra te d by the veh icle drivin g co ndi tion s
and t he irre g u la rit ies or t he roa d . Se co nd , on e
need s it to help th e ti res [ollow the terrain to ma xi-
mize t hei r grip l'apacit~'.
From t h is, it follows tha t the suspenslo» Blust
mini m ize til e ftlilow ing:
• th e h ody m ovem en t s indu ced by dri ving
and the road inp ut. an d
• th e t ire load fluctuation s ind uced b v driv-
ing am i th e road input .
T he first rcquirenu- ut represe nt s a co ntra d ic-
tion . Body move-ment s ge llerated by (lri"i llg dyn am -
ics are mini m ize d wit h stifTsllSlw lISioll cOlllpo npnts,
whtk- road in p ut is isolat ed la-t ter wit h so ft sptt ings.
T he seco nd rt-qui re uu-nt is ea sie r to fulfil l
wit h so rt set ti ngs" xcvert hc less. the xuxpenx iou
needs to d ist ribute tire load s ill a pa r ticul ar \\'a." to
krt-p the d esired car balance , so in t h is case thoro
un- other cous idcrat ioux.
G ive n t hese - req ui rem e nt s, it is JIO! e as~' to
opt imize the suspe nsion, Any cOJlfig lira tioll is pa r-
tiall.'·op tima ]. Illakillg a c-ompromixc Ill'c(·ssary. Th is
cre-ate-s th e nee d fo r powerful a na lysis tools th at
ma ke it eas ier to se-lec t t he co rrect compnn uist-s.
Those tryi n~ to im p rove th e resp onse to \"( '1'-
tica l roa d input could ea sily achieve t hi s wit h so ft
sp rings am i d am pe rs. Soft se ttings also g ua rantee
minimu m tire load fluc tuat io ns as t he tire s follow
the road w it h sma ller cha nges in suspension forces"
Howe ve r, soft se tt ings can not hand le th e
dyn a mic force s in d uced by driving. The suspen sion
influ ences ot her ve h icle p rope rt tes suc h as steering
re sponse t im e , bal an ce , t ran sien t lateral stability,
d river feel , tract ion , a nd (i ll some ca st's ) aerody-
namic issues. The pi tch movcn u-nt at b ra kin g a nd
the roll move m e nt in corncrtng sho u ld be co n-
trolled becau se t hese negatin ·ly illrltwn ct' t he sus-
pe nsion geom etry and th e optimal tire con tact • The sus pens ion ca n di stribute t h e tot a l
patch. Thes e move ments ca n he re duced w it h t he a mou n t o f weig h t tran sfer over four
app ro pr iat e geomet ry a dj ust me nt s, hut t hi s wheels.
app ro ach h as many side e ffec ts . Mo st r ucecnrs • The suspen sion ca n minimize we ight tran s-
make very limited use of th em . fer fluctuation s to avoid the lower tire load
Basica lly. the suspension needs to be as so ft values that cause the sta r t of b re ak away
as possible for th e vertica l movement (a nd th e warp u nder lim ited man euve r co nd itio ns.
move m ent as well) but s tiffe r for p itch a nd ro ll
The refore, if load fluctu at ion s are the key issu e to
movem ents.
eonside r wh e n op t imiz ing t he sus pe ns io n. fre -
Pit ch ami ro ll movemen ts are in fl ue nced
quency analysis is th e tool of choke.
~reat ly by th e drivin g cond it ions, m eanin g the
One ca n att em pt to me as ure sus pe ns io n
inpu t frequ l'llcies indicate a d iffe rent spect r u lIl
1l100T'Il1en ts and load s with the aim of cha rac teriz-
th an th e road input. This iss ue' alone j usti fies p er~
i Il ~ vehicle response to road input . Vitimatd)', j udg-
for mi ng ti lt, frt'<p lcIl Cy a na lysis.
nu-uts mu st he made base d on the res u lts ob tuiue d .
Grip h a co ncept re late d 10 how th e t ire
\ tallY ruceca rs install posit ion an d load se nsors ill
ad he res to t ln- ro ad. S uc h ad he re nce can ln-
souu- key s uspens ion eleme nts. In so me cases.
incre ase d with the- uppropriun- mate ria l [i.e. . ruh-
accelerometers arc installed not only on the car
lx-r compouuds l am i with t he load on the tire. Once
hod)' h ut also in th e wheel hubs.
th e ti re s are selccn-d. th e suspension mu st nta iu -
Measu re me nts are required becau se not all
tain th e load on th e tire and kee-p it as h ig h as possi-
d at a is known . Norm all y appropriat e laboratory
ble. Jnt ui tlvclv. tln- ti re should follow t he terra in , so
Illt'a sur ing d evices call cha ract e rize sp r ing rat e s
til l' irr egu la rit ips d o not t ruuslan- into rtn- dellec-
a nd d ampe r rai l' S q uit e accuru n-lj-. Howe ve r, the
tions. Th is iutnitivc' reaso nin g is ca lled lIli l/ i lll i: .i" g
e nti re sus pension syste m incl udes ma ny unknown
tire {Oful .lI/l('1 nat ions.
paralllete rs, and non linea r clements and so me ti mes
In add ition, t he nou liucu r hehuvior of g rip
becomes too co mplex. Th e refo re , measuremen ts
force s H~rSIlS li n ' load s (Fig u re 10.10 ) is ulti mately
1IIIIst be taken limie r operattug cond itions.
respoll sible for th e ea r's halauce. Th e suspensio n is
Nevert he less. there arc impo rtant [im itat ion s
d psig ned usn allv to ta ke ;I<kantage of bal ance hy
to IIlcasuri ng d at a on truck. Competi tio n ve hi cles
t ransfemug \\'t'ig ht d iffc-n-u t ly on th e Fron t a nd rea r
Ila\"(~ uoncon stunt and nonlinear cha racteristics th at
a xles du ri ng roll. Tlux lI onlla ll ~· is uclncvcd llsi ng
an.' n'ry di fficult to mod el. A real ci rcu it is the o n ly
di fferent se tt ings 1(11· roll stilf llt'sS Oil t he front uud
plac e to record data for opt illlizi ng th e sus pe nsion
re ar. so till' SllSpt' llS iOli s(,tl i ll ~s call ma ke th e ear
st' tti llgs. but cru cia l da ta ite-ms suc h as tire co ntact
o ve rst eer or u ndc-rstc-c-r. dqlt' lId in).! Oil t he nonli n-
patch load arc impossihle to nu-axure because t here
ear churacn-rist it's of t lit' Ii n 'S .
is no se nso r fix a rolling ti re. O th er inputs, suc h as
Fo r racecarx, t in-s pla ya sig n ifica n t role in
th e suspe ns io n a n al y s is a n d opti m iza ti on.
Compo u nd ch uructc ris t ics art' important when Figure 10 .10 I\·on/i,lear tire cllOl'Oct eriMi cs
co mb ined with th e vehicl e's suspe nsion because of
th e low-d a mpin g ('apa l)i1ili('s of th e t ire s. There is
a lso th e (w ed to wor k tln- t tre s so they qu ickly reach N nna loa ~~N
operating tempt'ratlln's. It is fu ndam ental 10 co n-
sider th e ti re paramet ers ca rt' fu lly to ana lyze th ei r "j' lo~ 2j N
influence on gri p.
N rme load1500N
" 'eight transfe rs are induced in the sus pen-
sion because of lat e ra l a nd lo ngihulina l accelera-
tion . Although till' tota l lllagllitlldC' of th e se weight
transfers ca n not he alte red hy tile su spension , they 1'3 14 15 16 17 19 19 20
ca n be Influenced by it in th e follOWing ways:
ro ad ac tua l positi on , are also diffi cult to measure
accurately. In gen eral. th e following ar e limitations
for an appropriate a nalysis:
• Logged data is limited to th e availahle (and
poss ible) se nsors,
• Logged d ata is limited to th e loggin g eapa-
biliti es [i.e., resolution and frequency),
• Log ged d at a is lap- , c irc u it-, and
weather-d ep e ndent .
• On-ci rcuit te sts are expensive , part icul arly
whe n conside ring tile previously ment ioned
[imitations.
The four -post rig is a n alt e rnative to SCHI lt'
limita tions of on-t rack logged data. This approach
offers a more structured tes t bed t hat ca n address
t he specific meas urements a nd test co ndit ions .
th e re fore provid ing more concise ans wers to th e
cha racterization of th e suspension syste m.
Th e fou r-p ost rig: positi on s th e vehicle on
four posts under eac h wheel , with eac h post actin g
as all act uato r that simulates th e road input. Ea ch
act uato r is controlled ultimately by a compute r th at
dict at es t he gen erated road input and records th e
me asurements to lat e r co rrelate th e two se ts of
data. Th ese tests norm ally are co nd ucted by gene r-
ating movem ents withi n a range of freq uen cies, so
it becomes relat ively cas)' to det ermine th e response
based on a frequcn cy.
Th e four-p ost rig can provid e info rmati on
t hat avoid s some li mitations of circu it-logged data
fro m se-nsors. This poses seve ral ad vantages:
• It provid e s se nsors for tire co ntact pat ch
load (not possible to record on tr ack).
• It provides sensors for tire deflection (input
road knO\\11and wheel position measurable).
• There is no lap/circuit dependen cy.
• It is cost -effective.
Nevert heless , the four-post rig also has limitations:
• Static t ire behavior is quite different from a
rolling tire.
• Ca r balance assessment is unreliable.
• Aerodynami c load sim u la t ion require s
additional ac t ua tors and ca nno t gene rate
the interaction of ae rodynamic forces with
th e suspen sion .
106 CHAPTER 10
In ge ne ral. th e information recorded during
a rig test is useful for comparing th e performan ce
of different sus pe nsion configu ra tions q uantita-
tively and for detecti ng anoma lies or major devia-
t ions from the expected beh avior. This information
is used norma lly to provide t he best damper set-
tin gs for th e spring co nfigurat ions chosen after tests
on th e circuit track.
The te st rig dat a analysis reli e s he avily on
freq ue ncy ana lysis. The road inp ut is ge ne rated by
sweeping a known range of relatively pu re frequen-
cies. Thi s makes th e a na lysis simp ler and more
reliable.
Te st rig e ng ine e rs lise rig test data in th e
form of th e followi ng:
• main frequency trans fer functions
body move men t a mpli t ude versus road
inpu t amplit ude
co nt ac t pat ch load fl uc t ua tio ns vers us
road input amplitude
• Sca le pa ram eters (e xt rac te d from fre -
qu ency analysis)
• sus pe n sio n e las t ic ity rat e s ve rs us
frequency
• s us pe ns io n dampin g ra tes versu s
Freq uency
• moda l compon en ts
Measured param et ers of a suspe nsion. tak en
on the cir cuit or at the four-pe st rig. ge ne ra lly are
used to find the optimal con figuration and make
decisions about cha nges to he mad e.
To se t 111' a snspensto n. th e e ngineer ideally
see ks tu do th e following:
• minimize the energy absorbed by the vehicle,
• minimi ze th e e ne rgy absorbe d by th e sus-
pen sion compon ent s (d iss ip ate d in the
dampers),
• ma intain t he bod y movement re spon se
wit hi n acceptable limits for race driving
parame te rs (const ra ints re late d to camber
and castor an gle change s),
• maintain th e vehicle height within accept-
able limit s (under ae rodyna mic co nd itions),
and
• avoid tire load fluctuation to prevent tire
contac t breakaway,
 Such de cision s are easier to make wit h a
proper u nde rst a nd ing of th e ve hicle dynamics'
dependency upon the suspe nsion.
Frequency Analysis Versus
Time-Space Analysis
An analysis of the actual movem ent as a fun c-
tion of tim e is often diffi cu lt to use because it is
linked too often to the event und er analysis. Tim e-
space analysis is used for simu lation s that attempt
to pre dict the exact response of the syste m to a very
spec ific event. Th is ca n Oldy he use ful in the con-
text of a n extre me ly powerful simulat ion e ffort ,
which ot herwise can lie \'c ry expensive a nd not use -
ful for understan d ing th e basics of th e p roble m to
gpneral ize conclusions.
Although not t he most intuiti ve method, Ire-
(lll(,ll C~' an alysis is
used effectively to und er stan d tile
beh avior and ide ntitv of a suspen sion configuration.
A studv of d iscr ete inp ut s offers a la rge
amou nt of information about a suspension syste m.
The two graphs in Fig u re 10. 11 illustrate the one -
formation from th e input signal to th e frequency
spectrum is known as the Fouri er transform.
Na med after Joseph Fourier, the Fourier
transform is one of many mat hematical ways used
to understand th e world better through complex
trick s. Fourier tran sform s have ma ny scie nt ific
applica tions in signal pro cessing. acoustics, optics,
physics, and ma ny other areas. I n signal pro cessing,
it is used syste matica lly to deconst ruct a signal into
its component freq uencies and amplitudes.
Th e Fourier transform acts as a filter. It com-
bines t he input signa l wit h each harmonic fun ction
for eve ry frequ en cy to de te rmin e how th at sign al
matches wit h th at freque ncy. Ci vcn the input signal
[x(t)], the Four ier transfonnartou is calculated with
t he square integral of Eq uation 10 .7.
" r--~---~---~--~---., Figu re 10 .11
,. Response of suspended
,~~ ~-- --~~-~~~----j
nUlSS to II d iscrete in/HIt
'"' ... _ 1----.1 {stepped input aud
bump)

dimen sional movement of suspe nde d body (mxy) as

a time response to th e input movement (xy). Th is ~ ., ..
<.---to----,:,---t:;-- -to- - --.J
.' ..
coul d he the oversimplifi cat ion ofthe vehicl e move - "r--~---,_--~---~--____,
ment induced by road input , a step in he ight (first
graph). or a hump (t he second graph ).
'"" ,'
The se two graphs reveal much abou t the sus- ·,,"~· +-·I
pe nsion beh avior but are too speci fic to the selec ted
input. The graphs lIlay change significa ntly if th e
a mplitude or th e stee pness of th e input ramp s is
..
• !c.- - ---,,,----.:-,------:.-- ---,, , -- -'
" " ..
l" h a n~l' d. Th erefore. they a re not very useful for
" r---~---,_---·;,-----~---., Figure 10 .1 2
II llde l"sta llding if the suspen sion re spon se will be Ovc rdam ped
adequ ate under ot her input conditions. config ura tion
"
Xevert he less, the se te st s make it ea s), to ./ / '"
olituiu an intuit ive sense of damper effectiveness.
Figu re s 10.12 and 10.13 show an overdamped 0 -
. i/
"

a nd a ll uuderdamped con figu ration, re spectively.

that are obvious from t he graph. bu t a good mea-
., F ..
o- --T,-- - --,iT-- - -;!, - --+', -- ...J
" ..
sun' of damper effective ness is comp lex to achieve.
" r---~---~---r----,_--____, F igure 10 .13
A much mere refined method is required that pro-
Underdam ped
vides the measurable effectiveness of the suspen- config uration
"
siou and characterizes th e respon se to any inpu t.
The freque ncy ana lysis generates th e spect rum
of frequencies that a signal contains. Road input is
basit'all~' a noise signal and is und erstood as a comhi-
o _.~.
/\'. ...- '
.. -- - ..
"-

nation of many differe nt pure frequencies. Th e trans- o ---+.---+.- - -+.- - - -t.--- - -'
·'!c
" " " .
l'- II U .>l E,\ C1 L ' _\ ' I ) !'lIIO Ch: .\ BSO IW E HS 107

-

(Eq. /0 .7)
Th e result is anot her fun cti on [X(roJ] th at
contains th e a mplitud e and ph ase of ea ch freque ncy
co mpone nt. I n ot her words, t his t ran sfo rmation
sho ws th e conte nt of eac h pure freq ue ncy in th e
input signal [x(ll].
As all exa mple, Figure 10 .14 shows the fou r
Fourier t ran sforms of th e sus pe ns ion moveme nt
cha nne ls. measured hy sus pe nsion pot entiomet ers.
The se se ns o rs ac t ua lly me asure th e di ffe rence
bet ween th e whe el and body movement . It can be
argued th at lI1 inilllizillg tile pe aks in these gra phs
optimize the suspe nsion se tt ings.
Theoretical Analysis
In any th eore tical ana lysis. one hegins wit h it
model of wha t needs to be a na lyn·d . Four-whee l
vehicles und race-ca rs are qui te complex systt' ms, so
choose an adequate I1H){! e ! that clraruct c-nzes th e
syste m w it h the <leccptablc d q .!;H'(· of deta il.
Most su speuxiou a nalyses hegin wit h a Simple
model of a sus pe nde d mass (Fig u re 10 ,1.5) t hat is
held hy an elastic a nd damped link . T his model is
Fi~ lI re10.1 .J The Fourier transjorms ojW -'i l U' tU ;Oll
pot entiometer ." ;~fl aJ.., ll ml"ic!t· t!l'llIi!t,t! ;"jOnlWf ;o tl
abou t cehlcle su...pension clsuructori stics.
rJ.MoTecDtmpe rAN~n1J Bl, YlperCt1 .ZoldH, 17JOJ12OO5,l4p" ••\ ~ .1·· :~.,.~ oJ g~
Fin,.
I .
~ --
; .. -- ...
, ,- , ,..,"'1
0--'_ _ "IiI ~. -"."_ - - - '- "1-- 4- '-,-, . , "--. "........
_ ' _ _ l'ol
108 CHAPTER 10
ade quate for the first approach but soon is found to
be over simp lified .
In a vehicle , two im po rtant issues th at requir e
extra ele ments:
• Th e ve hicle ac tua lly is suspended over four
wheels (four suspe nsion link s). T hese links
provid e th ree degrees of freedo m that may
requi re se pa rate a na lysis. I n addition , th e
hyperstatic co nfigurat ion (one more li nk
t ha n deg ree s of free do m ) in troduce s a
fourth c o m po ne nt. re lated to we ig h t
d istrib ut ion.
• Becau se sus pc ustou lin ks are far mort> com-
ple x. th ev require consideration of udd i-
ti oual ma sscs (e.g., tlu - wheel huh) and an
add itio na l spri ng and d amping to accoun t
for tire dofh-cttou .
Th e first issue requ ires a mod al ana lysis th at
sepa rates each wh eel TJ1()VClI leJlt co m bi na tion:
• ve r tica l mo vement (a ll wheel s mo vin g in
t he same direct ion ),
• p itch movem en t (fro nt a nd rear wh eel s
moving in opposite directio ns),
• ro ll movemen t (rig ht ami le ft whe-el s 1110\'-
iug iii oppos ite tlirc ctious). and
• wa rp (u n rel a te d lo hody m ovcm cut x b ut
n -sp ou xible for weight d ixtribution changes
when th e ve h icle is o ver a no np lu na r
surface ).
T Il(' modal anal~'si s is d iscu ssed late r i ll th is chapter.
D iscu ssion co utinuex hen- :11)I Ult tile fn-qucn cv anal-
ysis of a singlc sUSpt' Tu ll'd 1II:t.'iS th at SlIhSl'C pWlltly
~
ca n he t ranslated to eac h modul tuovement.
Th e second issue co nce rni ng t he co mplexitv
is cove red in most qu art er- vehicle mod els a nd at a
minim um must add ress t he fact t hat th e whee l
ma ss ca nnot be negle ct e d a nd t he ti re de flect s
under load . Thi s model (Figu r e 10.16) takes into
acco unt th at the wh eel mass is a seconda ry sus-
pended mass w it h a link to th e g rou nd , th e tire,
an d th e suspension link to the vehicle body.
No rma lly, the wh eel mass is mu ch smalle r
th an th e body mass. Th erefore , it is associat ed with
hi gher frequencie s a nd the act ua l conta c t patch
load fluctuation s.
T he Sing le su spended ma ss system is eas y to
characteri ze mathematically. In th is system, CO I1-
sider the position , velocity, and acc elerat io n of the
suspende d mass and th e road sur face (the inpu t sig- with MM =(-m~ro2 _mOro2)
nal). Position (E q u ation 10 .8), velocity (Eq u a t ion
10.9), and acceleratio n (Equation 10 .10) are
de rived as time fu nc tions .
M KC -- ( -c.ro
K -'ic co )

x=x (t) IEq. 10.8 )

T h is solution is ver~' interesti ng because it produces
a q u ick wa y to calcu late the reaction of the syste m
to a particular inpu t fre quency. Later in this chap-
v=..'!-x(t)
dt
(Eq 10 9) te r, h ow this transl ates into a sys tem frequ ency
analysis is covered .
d d2 T h is met hod app lies to mo re co mpl ex sys- .
a=- v(t) =-x(t)
2
(Eq. lO.W )
tern s to obta in not on ly the su spended mass indu ce d
dt dt
movement hu t also the m ovements of ot her compo-

To so h-e thi s systelll. find how the suspended
mass react s when the road inpu t is exc ited wi th a
pure harmoni c signal.
In t hi s s....ste m. thc physics of the sp ring and
damper veriJ~· Equu t iow~ 10.11 and 10.12.
Fm = m ·a m (£11- HJ.Jl )
Fm is the force ap plied to the sus pe nded mas s
n 'sldt ing fro m th e sp r ing's compressio n am i th e
damper 's rcuctiou. The constant weigh t of the ma ss
is i ~ll()red for the dvn .nnic unulvsis. I f thi s system is
linea r (not true in reali ty hilt a usefu l ap proxima-
tion ), a pure harmonic signal ill the road ind uces a
ncn ts of tile suspe nsion (wheel}and the fIuct nation s
01" t he forces involved.
O nce the soluti on to th e previous eq uation is
de-termined , one cnu represent t ilt, suspended ma ss
respon se to di ffe re nt freq uencies. F igu re 10 .17
illu st rate s t he amplit ud e ratio between inpu t and
ind uced movement. while Figure 10 .18 give s the
pha se angle bet ween inp ut an d induced mo vem en t.
TIH:' se g rap hs are logarithmic-sca led repre -
sentutions of the suspended muss osci llatio n ampli-
tude ami pha se angl e g iven a un itnrv inp ut Signal
amplitude. TIle gra ph in Fig ure 10.17 is ca lled th e
Figure 10.15
Simple suspen ded IIIl1 S S
Suspended ,m . .ystem with c ue ... prin g

_l
mass
p llre harmon ic move ment ill the ma ss. Eq llClt io Jls V
and one dumper
m
10.13 nu d 10 .1.J d e scr-ibe th e pu re h a r m o n ic
•m

~ ~~--
1110\ t-rncn ts. Spling K Damper C ,,

771/1777
l V

•,
,

X
m = Xa m ,s in(w. t) + Xbm· cos(w . t) (Eq. 1O.1·1)
Fig ure 10 .16
l/ehicle body
suspendedmllSS
Mass-spring sy stem
If t he previous d if fere nt ia l e quations a rc takin g in to accoun t the
"" nonsuspended wh eel

"" e, " -
solved assuming th e time fun cti ons, o ne ca n find a mass and ti re sp ring
solution that calc ulates th e mass movement param-
eters (Xa rn a nd Xb m) from th e roa d input movem ent
.....
"" ......r
and damping rate

par ameter s (Xa, and Xb r) as Eq uat io n 10.15.

ne
~.~

(EI!- J(}.J .5)

n t U,l n~ :'\CII-: s . \ \"1) ,S IH) O \ A BSO H UEH S 109

 transfer fun ct ion. This grap h is part icularly com-
preh ensive as it covers an imp ort ant range of fre -
qu encies. For very low frequencies. th e suspended
mass copies the input signal (t ransfer function value
near 1). For very high frequencies. the suspended
mass remain s isolated from th e inp ut signa l; the
tran sfer function value is near O. Th ere is. however.
a particul ar Frequency in whic h the transfer func-
tion value is at a maximu m. T his is t he resonant fre-
qu ency. and if th ere is no dam ping. th e fu nction
ten ds toward the infi nite .
This graph calculates t he rat io between the
in put signal mag n itude and t he suspended mass
move me nt a mpli t ud e . Th e tra nsfer fun cti on
(E q u a t io n 10. 16 ) is calcu lated fro m Equatio n
10.1.5.
(Eq. 10.16)
This function in t he fre qu ency domain per-
mits ide nti fying t he critical point s of t he vehicle
suspe nsion relative to human perceptions:
• resonant fre que ncy,
• resonant am plitud e. nnd
• noise level.
l:ig u n~ 10.1 7 0
Normally. th e Simplified mod el is a fir st
approximation th at is on ly valid when th e whe el
mass is sma ll (relative to th e body mass) and th e
tire stiff (relative to th e suspe nsion stiffness). Th e
main problem is th e ti re has too little dampin g, and
most of th e suspe nsion damping relays only in the
suspe nsion dam per itself. Thi s. in addi tion to other
conside rations. requires th at the model include the
wheel and tire.
Th e effect of the wheel is multiple. Since the
tire h as little d amping, it must be supplied with
slight ly st iffer da mping in th e su spension. Th e
wheel mass hel ps isolate the vehicle lxx ly from the
noise of t he road input at t he expense of more con -
tact patch load fluctnu tious. All in all. beyolld com-
fort issues, redu ce t he whee l weight prim aril y to
avoi d the und esired effects of the lack of a dampin g
com ponent for the tire.
In the transfer functi on, the presen ce of the
whee l creates some modifi cati ons in t he range of
Freque ncie s associated wit h the wheel muss and the
added spring rates that link it to till' system.
In thi s model, t he th ree useful transfer func-
tions are as indi cated in Figure 10.19.
• T he road -to -bod y tra nsfer function shows
the e ffect of road input on the vehicle body
movemen t.

Suspended muss • Th e road-to-wheel tr an sfer fu nction help s

.-/ r-, to show how th e whee l movement follows
response to differ ent
frequ encies I
th e road.

o , \ \
• Th e ro ad -t o -wh eel d eflection t ran sfer
fu nction ind icat es t he suspension's ca pa -
bility to mai ntai n th e conta ct pat ch load
,
0.00.1
\ and th e refore guara ntee grip on irregul ar
10 100
surfaces .
•
,. As an example. a qu art er-vehi cle with the fol-
lowing configu ration is considered :
Figure 10.18
suspend ed mass = 300 kg
Phase difference
between input sigrlal
, .__ .
spring rate = 20 N/mm
and induced suspended tire spring rate • 300 kN/mm
mass movem ent for ..
different frequencies , d amping rate " 3800 N/ms- 1
I'--.. tire damp ing rate = 300 NI ms- 1
., .- - .
The effect of the whee l mass is observed in
., I
" ' 00
Figure 10.20. T he plots illustrate two clear effects
,.• of the whee l mass increase :

110 CHA PTER 10

 • The transfer fu nct ion increases near t he T he transfer function provides a useful tool
wheel n at u ra l re son an t frequency to for cha racteriz ing an d eventually eval ua ti ng t he
approximately 10 Hz, alt hough it quickly suspension performance. Th e t ra nsfer fu nc ti on s
decreases at higher fre qu enci es (noise). provide two ratios import ant for eva lua t ing t he
• Road-t ire deflection inc reas es sig nificantly movement isolation (stability) of th e veh icle body
nea r the wheel nat ural re sonant frequency a nd the tire load fluct uations (g rip) sepa rately.
of approximately 10 liz. T hese ratios are the following:
• trans fer function be tween the road input
Th ese plots clea rly show the negat ive effects
and body movements, and
of wheel mass, there for e just ifying th e pursuit of
• transfe r function between t he road input
light whee l huhs, result ing in tighter regu lati ons in
and tire deflect ion.
many raceca r com pe titio ns.
Wh en th e wheel and ti re e ffects are taken
Fig ure 10.1 9 Suspensio n . .ystem transj erjun ctions
into acco unt , ident ifyi ng th e prob le ms a ssociat ed 10 , -- -- - , . - - - - - ,,.-- -- -,
wit h ina dequate da mpi ng rat e s is ea sier. The plots
in F ig u re 10.21 sho w t he e ffec t no t on ly 0 11 body
Road-ta-body
cont rol but also on t ire contact patch load fluctua-
transfer function
ti o n s w he n th e damp er ra t e d e via te s fr om
norma l. - ---f--- Road-to-wheel
transfer function
Th e effects of un dc rclampcd co nfiguration s
ar e obvious, and the body fre qu ency response fun c-
O.l II------I-j~=~I==:ji===t_-- Transfer function
between road and
t ion (F RF) pe ak is considerably high er. Nevert he -
tire deflection
le ss, ovc rdamp ed configu ratio ns produ ce la rge r
FHF values in the range of frequ encies between 1
an d 10 Hz, whic h have a negative imp act 011 g rip O.oJO~
. I------';--'-----7;;--'------''-~
IOO
10
and co m fo r t. Simila r co nsiderations s hou ld be
take n into acco unt whe n increasing th e suspension
Fig ure 10 .20 The effec t 011 the t ransf er fu nctions of
stiffness or using softer t ire spr ing rates . nonsuspended mass
I n re ality, the suspe nsion link between the
,
road and th e vehicle bod y inco rporates man)' more
,
elemen ts that contr ibute to th e resp onse to the road ,
input . In ge neral, pa rasitical springs such as non-
rigid links or un derdam pe d hu shes gene rate prob -
y '\ "f-- + ,'-'It--\--1
"
le ms at ce rta in freq uencies . Th ese probl em s can be
iden tified with rigoro us study of all sus pe nsion coni- ." , I ,
\
•
ponents. A comp lete suspe nsion mod el can include No wheel mass ' Light" wheel (30 kg) 'Heavy" wheel (60 kg)
a ll th ese elements plus th e ae rody namic damping in considered

th e scheme in Figure 10.22, which produces trans-

fer fun ction s illustrated in Fig llre 10. 23 . Figure 10.21 Effect of different da mping rate s on
th e tra nsfer fun ctions

Suspension Optimization Using ",-;= ::-r= = = = =

Frequency Analysis ~~1!:
To opt imi ze su sp ension p erforma nce , t he
para met er s that best reduce th e bo dy movem en ts "1-- + - *-1--\-.,-1
and tire load fluctu ations mu st be foun d. Th ese two
goa ls may not respond to th e sa me sus p ens ion - - \'---7''--'-1,
•.,1;-, •
param et ers. so finding the ideal solutio n requires a Soft damping Nannai' damping Hard damping
compro mise. (2500Hs/m) (3800 Ns/m) (4800Hs/m)

FHEQU E:\C IE S A:\D SI IO CK ABsonUERS 111

 Figu re 10. 22 Fig u re 10.2 4 ill ust rat es th ese two tra nsfer
Detail ed sus pe ns ion
model Aefodynamic functions. Sta bility is associate d inve rse ly to eit her
damplig
the ma ximum value body movem ent transfer func-
tion o r th e ar ea between the curve a nd th e unitary
va lue (1). Grip ca n he associate d inve rsely to eithe r
""" the ma ximu m va lue of t he ti re defle cti on t ra nsfe r
Chassis elasticity func t ion or t he area bet we en th e cu rve a nd the
un ita ry value (1).
T he criter ia ba sed Oil th e above-me nt ione d

Suspension spring
areas ca n be mor e pr e cise . Neve rt heless , t his can
and damper he qu ite de pen de nt on t he input signa l (road) spec-
trum. Therefo re , the simple r criteria based 0 11 mux-

Suspension elasticity
imu m valu es ort he c urves is used norma lly. Usin g
th e mu ximum val ue of each curve, the op ti mal va l-
II<' S of d amp e rs th at miuitui ze these va h.cs call h e
Tire spring and
calculated . Fig u re 10. 2 .5 shows th e opum tz.u ton
damping
curves for hoth criteria ill th e sa llie plot.
T his gra!lh illust rat es t hat t be opt!Illal d ump er
values e mployed to opti mize stabi lity and gri p a rc
di fferent. In fac t. th is situa t ion coincides with th e
Figure 10 .2.3 0 0 , - - - - - , - - - - - - - , - -- - - - - , popular ide a tha t a soft suspens ion provides better
Trallsji.'r f flllcti o/ls of II g rip, a lthoug h the opti mal values a re for rela tively
detailed ,"'l.'ipCIUiulI
sti ff sett ings,
model us pict ured ill
Figu I'e lO.22
Modal Analysis
"'f------+----,I---\--\--+~;_----1
T he q uar ter-vehic le mod el ut ilized th us fi l l' is
a vcry useful mod el for a llalyzillg th e vcrt ic ul movc-
'" f-------f-----\-f--t\--'(~-----1 nn-nt of t he ca r and , to a ce r ta in exte nt , th e pitc h
m ovemen t . Th ese two movements have more to do
with the inertia of tile vehicle a nd invoke t he g reat -
/J-I /J,~,----'--+__-----___i;,L-----'L.!
'00 es t dvu am ic load s on th e suspe nsion. However, roll
moveme nt involves ini tia lly a IIHH.:h sma lle r inertia
Figure 10 .2-1 Gri p alul stab ility quuntijicution "."illg, and then a much st iffe r olasticit v wh en th e a nt iroll
th e t ra nsf er [unct ions burs a re added to t he suspe nsion springs, \Vitlt t his
10 , - - - - ----,--------,---------, in mind, a different analysis must be pe rfor med for
Transfer function each body movement .
between road and
bodymovement
Modal a nalysis ll co m bines th e fou r in de -
pe nde nt whee l moveme nt s in to so me t h ing th at
Transfer function
between road and co r re spo nd s mor e pre ci sel y to the body move -
tire deflection ment s kn own as hea ve , roll , a nd p itch . Sin ce the se
0.1
" t hree mo veme nt s imply co mb inat io ns of wheel
movem ents, it ma ke s sense that th ese co mbin a-
OOl O,~,---t-'----_1+_L_----__;\;-"------_.!
10 '00 tion s a re used.
this area quantifies body
T he four whe el move ments defin e a system
movement stability with four deg ree s of fre edom . When t ransfor mi ng
this area quantifies suspension the move ments int o mo dal com binations,' the fou r
lP1l potential modal movements are obtai ne d , th ree th at corre -

112 CHA PTER 10

spond to t he body movem ents a nd a fourth associ-
ated with additional movement among th e wheels
(Figure 10.26).
Co ns id eri ng eac h w he e l mo ve ment
(Equations 10.17-10.20), mod al move ments can
be calcu late d as the average of the appropr iat e
wheel movement combinations (Figu re 10.27).
\Vhen force s and movement s a re combined ,
defining modal elasticities and modal damping ratios
becom es possible. For heave movement , the modal
elasticity can be defined as Equation 10.26.
(Eq. 10.26 )

( Eq. 10.17)
Figu re 10.25 Op timization curt-CS f or body move-
ment anel tir e deJlectioll tran sfer l ime/ion s

(Eq. HUH) 100

\ Ifunction
Maximum of transfer .1
bodymovement
(E,,_ 10./.9 ) 10
(1COIk_TXL I

pcal.:_TXT I .l
~~/
= ~ - (XLF-XRF-XLR +X RR) ( fA,. JO.20 )

I , I1
Xx
Maximumof transfec
function tire deflection

Th e move ment combination s a re ex pressed 0.1

o 2000 4000 6000 8000
easilywi th a linear tra nsform ation represented by a Ollmp,ng r.ue

mat rix shown in Eq uat ion 10.21 .

[ :~]=r: : ~I ~'l'[:~:]
Figure 10. 26 1'I1C [our suspens ion modes (Cow 1e...y
( f: q. 10.21)
of Cre uat S.L)
xR I - I I - I xLR
x, I -I -I I x RR

\ \ 'ith thi s nota tion, the fou r modal movements

art' defined in the simplest way (E q uat io n 10. 22).
Heave Roll

l
M = I
I
I1
- I
-I I
I
-I I
-I
1 (l':q. 10.22 )

I r - I -I I

It is possible to usc different coefficients that

define off-cente red pivot point s for eac h movement, Warp
but thi s adds un necessa ry complexity at thi s point.
This modal analysis is exte nded easily not
on ly to movement s but also to velocities , accelera- F ig u re 10 .27
tions, and forces th at are comlunedi n a mod al fash- Indi vidu al wheel
movements (Courtes y of
ion as Equations 10.23-10.25 clearly show. Creu at S.l....)

( Eq. 10.23)

(Eq. 10.24 )

FM =M · Fw (F.q. 1025)

FHEQUE:\C IES ,\ .' 1) SII O C I« AUS() HBE HS 113

 The vert ical sp ring rate (Kv) relates the moda l The sa me tra nsforma tion ca n be ap plie d to
ve rt ica l moveme nt to th e mod al vert ical force. This damper rates (Eq ua tio n 10.30).
is generalized to all movemen ts as Eq ua tio n 10.27.
CH
F ~K ·X (Eq. IO.27)
C-- 0b (Eq. IO.30)
[ o
where

'o[~iHi
1
1
-I
-I
1

1
- I
,
1
1
][",]
- I :: 1 . FRF
Fl R
FRR
This matri x tool is use fu l for nonconven-
t ion a] suspens ion systems as well as for easy inte -
gration o f th e di ffe re nt chassis co mpo ne nts th at
and interact wit h th e suspens ion (e. g.• tires or chassis
rigid ity).

xolJ[i
1 1
1
-I 1
-I -I
-I
'][,u]
- 1 .
- I
1
x RF
xl R
x RR
In a co nve nt iona l suspe nsion , t ilt>elasticit ies
a rt' defined primaril y hy ti le sprillgs, a nt i roll ba rs,
tires, and chass is. These co mponents ar e co mlnne d
either in ser ies or parallel. Th e lolluwing te xt shows
The elas tic it ies matri x (K) ill ti le mod al space how to port ray t he m together ea sily witII the matr ix
a nd the e last icities on the whe el movem e nt space notat ion .
a re related with Equations 10.2 8 and 10 .29. Wh en two ele me nts arc in parallel, the ne t
result is th e addition of elasticities. 1n othe r words,
K ~ M - 1· R · M th e spri ngs a nd anti roll bar s a re add ed to p rovide
th e antiroll elasticity (Eq uatio n 10.31 ).

['"
a 0

JJ
K- b Kp 0
- 0 KR I Eq 10.29 ) K roll = K rollSP RINGS + K rollARB (Eq. 10.31)
0
0 0 c
As a n exa mple , c o ns ide r t he fo llowi ng
configuration:
The mat ri x K offer s th e ad va ntage t hat it
shows more intuit ive va lues wh e n add re ssing th e sp ring rat e fron t "" 24 N/mm
veh icle move men t a na lysis. T he ma in moda l ela s- sp ring ra t e rea r = 18 N/mm
ticitie s a re in the ma tri x diagon al : a nt iroll bar rate fro nt = 22 N/mm
a ntiro ll bar ra t e re a r = 10 N/mm
KH ve rt ical elasticity
t ire sp ring rate fro nt = 3 50 N/mm
Kp p itch ela st icity
t ire sp ring ra t e re ar = 300 N/m m
KR roll elasticity
KX warp el asticity With th ese spring an d roll bar rates, th e elas-
ticities ma trix sho wn in Eq u at io n 10 .32 a re
In addi tio n, the ofT-d iagona l coefficients a, b, obt ain ed .
e, an d d represent t he di fferences in e lasticit ies \ Vhe n two eleme nts are in series , such as th e
between t he front and rea r wheel sp rings . In a con- suspens ion sp ring a nd t he tire sp ring, the total
ven t ion al sus pens ion , a and b re late to t he front l sprin g rat e ca n be ca lculated as Equation 10.33.
rear differen ces in spring rat es a nd c a nd d to the In fact , if th is is done wit h mat rices, t he express ion
di ffe re nces of a an d b plu s th e fron t/re a r antiroll is slightly di ffe re nt (E qu ati o n 10.34). W ith th e
bar stiffness. These pa rameters a re qu ite important previous exa mple, one has Equation 10.35. This
because they define the ca r's ba la nce. Specifically, calcu latio n me thod is ver y usefu l for un derstand -
d is related to th e overstee r or understeer tend en cy ing th e influen ce of tires and chass is rigid ity on th e
of th e car. car balance.

114 CHAPTER 10
 Modal Frequency Issues
Wh en following th e qu arter-vehicle model,
some assu mptions are made that are par tially valid.
However. as stated previously, th e dynamics of ver-
tical movement ca n not be applied always to th e
oth er body movements such as pitch and roll.
Th e d ifferen ces of inertias and spr ing rates
(t he sti ffe r roll sp ring rat e res ulting fro m t he
ant i ro ll b ars) mu st be taken into acco unt to ana -
lyze the dyna mics of such movements.
Add itio na lly, th e wa rp move me nt re qu ires a
di ffe ren t an alysis becau se it does not in volve any
vehicle body movements. In this case. the dynamic
analysis ta ke s into accou nt t he on ly mo vin g ele -
ment s, whic h are the whe els .
The vehicle body norm ally is considered to
be a rigid solid and is ana lyzed as suc h. This is a
good a ssumption for all dyn a mic co nsiderat ions
except for car balance, which is a nalyzed later. Th e
vehicle body, as wit h any solid , has six degre e s of
freedom , hu t th e suspe nsion has on ly th ree : heave ,
equivalent mass is a fracti on of th e qu arter-vehicle
mass used for th e ver tica l movement ca lculation.
Th e pitch movement indi cat es a similar prob -
lem . Du e to the small overhangin g ma sses in a car,
d istan ce L p is less th an th e wheel ba se (L ) distan ce
(Fig u re 10.29) . Th e res ults from th e previous
paragraph also apply here .
G iven th e previous conside rations , it is ne c-
essary to ca lculate th e wheel eq uiva lent mass for
roll an d pitch movement s. Consideri ng th at these
two movements have an in sta ntane ou s cen te r of
rotat ion above th e ground a nd not factori ng in
ot her conside rat ions, a first ap proxi mation of th e
mass red uction is Equa tio ns 10.36 and 10.37.
M .( W~ +4 .(CM H -CMR))
M R = _--'-_ _ ---'--;:- :1. (Eq. 1O.36')
W2
(Eq. 10.37)

pitch, a nd roll. For th is ana lysis, th e other degree s

of freedom are conside red solid.
wit h M n = whee l eq uivalent mass for roll
Th e ver tical inertia is th e vehicle ma ss and its
~'1 p = whee l eq uivalent mass fo r pitc h
di stribution . There can be di fferent fr on t/rear
M = total vehicle mass
weights, and this has othe r implication s. However,
for roll and pit ch , the ma ss distribution is im por- On many st reet cars, the mass reduct ion fo r
tant . T hese movemen ts do not direct th e same mass ro ll is less th an 70 % of the vehicle mass. with much
on each wheel becau se no rmally th e mass is con- lower va lues for race-cars (e .g., bet ween 40 % and
ce ntra te d in the ce nte r of th e veh icle. th e rehy 20 %). The ma ss redu cti on for pitch ca n be occa-
reducing th e inertia to roll and pitch . sio nally more than 100 % of th e vehicle mass but is
\Vhen calculating th e effect of th e ma ss con-
centration, it is useful to ide ntify th e distance where
th e cen tra l mass should be sepa rated to obtain th e
vehicle inerti a, as ind icat ed in Figure 10.2 8 .

[~1 ~ ]=[Y
3 0 0 3 0
Nor mally, this di stan ce (\ Vr) is smaller than
th e wh eel track (\V) di stance . In thi s sit u at ion ,
whe n conside ring th e roll movem ent, the mo ve -
21 0 o
0] + [ 0 0 0
0 21 3
0 3 21
0 0 16
0 0 6 16 0
21 0
0 37
0 9 l] (Eq . W .:J2)

ment of the two a nalogous masse s is less than if

th ey a re act in g on th e vertical of the whee ls. K Total = K SPRlNG . K T1RE . (K SPRING + KTlREt [ Eq. 10..1.1)

The refore , th ey effecti vely behave as if th e wheel

K Total = K SPRING . (K SPRING + KT1RE )-I . K TIRE I Eq. IO.34)

2~5 ]]-1.[3~
o o
3
21
o
o o
37
09 ]+ [ 325
0
25
25 325
o
o
325
25
325
o
o
o
325
o0]_ [1
25 -
9.7 12.7
2.7
0
9 .7 o
o
o 33.1 7.5
o] (Eq. 10.35.'
o 9 37 0 o 25 325 0 o 25 325 0 o 7.5 33.1

F HE QUEl"C IES A..' \;I) SHOCK AHSOHBERS 11 5

 normally close to 90 %; wit h lower values for race -
ca rs, it can be between 60 % and 80%.
Th e fact th at th e wheel equivalent mass is
less th an th e quarter-vehi cle mass ha s importa nt
implications for calcu lating th e dynamics of every
specific movement. Taking into account th e effe ct
of mass redu ction and d ifferent sp ring rates (Figu re
10 .3 0 ), the a na lysis of mod al movem en ts yields
quite inter estin g re sults.
The grap hs in Figure 10. 31 ar e from a street
ca r. The t ran sfer funct ions for roll indicate a rela-
t ively important in cre ase ill body m ove m ent s
because th e damper sett ings can not cope wit h th e
antiroll bur stiffness added to that movemen t.
Ra cc ca rs b e h ave- ill a mu ch 1110r(' radi ca l
ma nn e r to roll. Holl inertia is reduced hy des ign
Fig ure 10 .28 WR (roillnerlia nodes )
Holl inerti a calculation
(Cou ltesyof
Creua t S.L.)
,,
, reasons:
-0--~
~
, load s re duce grip.
T eM
, ReH
and roll stiffness incre ased because of race-specific
requirem ents. In th ese circ u msta nces, t he wheel
mass relative to th e wheel-equivalent body mass is
much more imp ortant, th e tire spring compared to
th e roll stiffness is comparable, and th e syste m gets
tr apped wit h th e low damping rat e from th e tire
(Figu re 10.32).
Th e fourth movem ent associa ted with wheels
usually is re ferred lo as warp or axle c rossing, This
is not associa te d to any body movemen t and is only
responsible for the d ist ribu tio n of load among t he
whe els.
Th is III ovetn en t is u suullv ig n o red.
Co nven tio na l suspens ions cannot nH)d i l~\' tlu- warp
re ststun ce . \\"h ich involve-s all sus pe ns ion ('OIIlPO -
nentx. Fou r-po st ri~ tests lI SC th e warp move men t
to perform mcu sun-mcntx for the roll stiffness. as
th e two arc relativc ly similar if th e lx xly r ig idi t~- is
gn>at enough.
Wheel load distribution is importan t for two
• It influen ces gr ip as the flu ctuation s 01"
• Later al load tran sfers de fine the car hal-

4- I

W{track)
I
,I
un ce a nd arc therefore funda me ntal ill the
car se tup. The difference of wcig ht tran s-
fers [rout/re ar is th e di rec-t result of ('011-
\'e rlin g th e roll movem ent into wa rp
force s.
Figu re 10 .2 9 I.p(p1tct1lnertlll nodes)
Pitch inerti a calculatioll
The ca r balan ce ca n be ca lculated wit h thc llIodal
(Courtesy of
Creu at S.L ) matri x in the feJllowin g \\'a~·. Given the sus pe-nsion
- ~--- 0, -- --0 - - - --+--,. moda lmalr ix K (E quatio n 10.:3J ), t he car hala lll'('
,, (weight t ran sfer di xtrtlmt ion ) is din-ctlv propor·
tional to Eq u ation 10.38.

llwlleel basel
(Eq. 1O.3\ )

Fig ure 10 .30

Mass-spri ng system Wheel-equivalenl If the suspe nsion modal matrix for t he suspe nsion.
with uiheel-equicalen t body mess
body muss tires, and chassis is known , t he syste m matr ix can
Suspension spring and
damperfor body be calcu lated and th e car balance found.
movement
As an exa mple, wit h th e follOWing suspension
elasticities matrix (E q u at io n 10. 39), the apparent
bal anc e ratio is shown in E q ua ti on l OAD. Th en
Tk,
factor in the tires and chassis st iffness (E q ua t ions
10,41 and 10.42). Then th e tota l suspe nsion matrix
is calcu lated as E quation 10 .43.

116 CHAPTER 10
Therefore. one can assu me E q ua tio n 10.44. Th e
matri x in Eq ua tio n 10 .45 yields a much lower
weight t ransfer factor. The mat rix dem onstrates
t hat t he finite chassis stiffness softe ns th e warp
mod e .
The dynamic analysis of the warp movement
must consider that a pure warp movem ent involves
no body movement, so the tra nsfer func tion is only
be tween the road input and wheel movement. T ire
deflection is ca lculat ed easily from the d ifference
between t he wheel movement and road input
itself.
TIlt' first graph ill Fi gure 10. 3 3 illust rates
the transfer function s of the wheel movement and
tire deflect ion of a str ee t car. Th e comfo rt consider-
ations in a st reet car explain the insufficient damp-
ing rates t hat cause some loss of grip at ce rta in
wheel-tire resonant Fre q ue ncies. The peak in the
black curve indicates a h igh load fluctuation linked
to the tire deflections.
In a racecar (bottom graph in Figu re lO.33),
t he lower whee l relat ive mass and the much higher
damping rates reduce th e grip problems at th e
wheel reson ant freque ncy. Never theless. the higher
warp stiffness ind icates a fixed transfer fu nction
value for lower frequen cies that can become impor-
taut if t he road input contains a low-frequen cy
spectrum such as undul ations of the road surfa ce.
Nonlinear Considerations
Bearing in mind that linear model s arc use-
ful as a simple approximation of reality, suspe nsion
noul inc anr ies that limit suspens ion travel afTed any
analysis. Damp ers normally arc neither linear nor
svn unet ric. Nonlin earity implie s that t h l~ Syste lll
Fig ure 10.31 Trm uf erf,m cliolls [orheave , 11Ud "
and mll f or a Mreet car
" " "

, ~

, , /'
~

)\ \ .
/\1\ . ( \i\
1~5]
o '" , " '" , '" , •
o " "
(Efr 10.3.9)
300 Heave Pitch Roll
135 300

Figu re 10 .32 Tmn~fer [unctions fo r hea ve, Ilit C".

300+ 135 ami roll fo r a raceca r
1=1 63.6% ( Eq. ]()..J())
300- 135
"r-- ---.-- - -,---- --, "r-- --r- - -,---- --,
"
360 20 0
_ 20
~
360 0 o] , ~
M Tin: - o 360 20

/~
[ o 20 360

inf 0 0 t Ill , •
_ 0 inf 0
"
MChassis - 0 0 inf ( Eq . 10.42)
Heave Pitch RoD
[
000

62 11 o
II 62 o oo ]
~ ~
(Eq. 1O. 44)
M Total = [ 156 44
44 149

156 + 44
1 = 78.6% (Eq 10.45)
156-44

FHEQl'E ' C1ES :\ '1) SH Oe 1\. .\ HSo n UEHs 117

 reacts differently d ep ending on th e amplitude of
the signal. Different high - and low-speed damping
also affects th e way th e veh icle jacks in response to
road inputs.
In general, more linear d amper characteris-
tics imply that a veh icle respo nds in a more consis-
tent way to road inputs. Linear dampers ca n make
the vehicle faste r, but the dr iver typi cally has a
mo re difficult ti me ta king advantage of t he
increased spe ed . Spr ing progressivity affec ts veht-
de roll and pitch angles d u ri ng ma neuvers and can
change the lateral balance of t he "c hide along the
corner.
Figure 10. 33 Tran sfer [unctions [ or u.'urp mode. The
"ppe.- graph is taken [rom a Ntn'el car, thelo wer (mc
from a racccar:
10
, ..
-,
I
Tire deflection
transferfunction
Assuming lin e ar com po ne nts ge ne ra lly is
acceptable as long as th e mea sured circumstances
are valid within a predet ermined wi ndow. This ca n
still be use ful for analyzing th e e nt ire syste m in
operat ion.
Frequency Analysis
from Sensor Data
Cu rrent ly, various post- rig layou ts pe rfo rm a
frequency analysis by ind ucing movements th rough
th e sus pension and analyzing the outcome. Th e se
tests are relativelv Simple and are routine for many
teams.
Because post· rig tests do not le st tho actua l
car on th e track. th e re arc a few issue s not easily
resolved such as aerodynam ics or wheel beh avior.
In add ition, cha nces arc th at the car on the t rack is
not nece ssa rily ide nt ica l to th e ca r tested mon th s
ago on the rig.
Th e alt ernati ve is using the senso rs on th e
car to perform the rig test 0 11 the t rack. ~ lall Y cars
have load an d posit ion seusors for eac h wl u-el .

/ ~ Wheel movement
Unfort unatel y, cha ssis uccclcrouu-tc-rs pr inlari ly a re
limited to one 3·'lXial accelerometer, which for this

)1
0 1 10
\ 100
transfer function
purpos~results in useful data for on ly thr- ve rt ica l
modal movements.
Using on-veh icle se nsors . nn -usureuu -uts of
10 th e wheel position and wheelloud (not t he tire 10<1(1)
are ob tai ned eaSily. For vertk-nl tuoveuu-nt . t ilt, sus-

-
pe nsion input is t he an'rage of tlu- \\1.(,('1 posit ion
a nd load . In ud dltto n. t hen- is tilt' hod~ ' vc-rttcal
Tire deflection
tr ansfer functi on acce lera tion measured I,,· t lu- ' l<· n ·It'w lllt·le f.
..:- Figure 10.3 4 shows the !illlowillg si~lI als as a fnnc-

~
. - Wheelmovement tion of time :
transfer function
• average load ,
10 100
• average ride heigh t.
• body ve rt ical ucce lerution (C w rt)' and
Figure 10.34 Test data illustrated ill the time • re fe rence speed .
domain
The sa m ple in Fi gu n- 10.34 was o btui ue-d
from an ac t ua l racecar at a IOO·ll z sampling rat e.

-:
Average vertical load The g raph indicat es 20 see from a lap . This dat a is
included to demon st rat e th at raw data doe s not
_~ [ Speed provid e much me aningfu l information fl 'garding
actual car behavior.
The freque ncy an a lysis wor ks with the sec-
Body vertical
acceleration ond deri vatives of th e load and t he position of tlU'
' Ride he' ht

118 CHAPTER 10
wheels. To perform this analysis. th e following val- FCp ~ Fs uspenslon
. + rn w hce 1· (0 vert + a suspension
. )
ues are taken into acco unt:
(q. 10.49)
the Y4 body mass (Mv.) 220 kg
t he whee l mass (m ..,_) 35 kg (Eq. 10.50)

-
the tir e sp ring ra te (K ) 480 N/ mm

These values a re necessary to relate th e mea sure -

wit h xc r = contact patch m ovem ent
xlm b = huh movement
ments of wheel m ovement and force wit h th e body
F rom th e last e quation follows Equation 10.51.
movement to in fe r the actua l tire load . These a re
c on side re d w it h th e e q ua t ion s o f d yn a m ics
(Eq. 10,51)
(Equatio ns 10.46-10.48).

~ m
FCp -FSuspen sion
. wheel -a hub (Eq , HU G)
Th at provide s the tire's cont act pa tch ucccle r-
ation (E q u at io n 10..52).
(Eq. 10.-1"1)
d2
- 2 Fc p
= G vert + 3suspension
3 hub
<l e I' = dlK ,
+a
hub
(Eq, 10.52)
tore

with Fer = tire co ntact patch force

F Suspcns tou = suspe nsion force
ahlll, = hub verti cal acceleration
Gw rt = body verti cal accelerat ion
aSIISpl'nsion = suspe nsion accelerat ion
Th ese dynamic equations relate forces and acceler -
ations with th e releva nt masses of th e car body and
th e whee l hub.
Hub accele rat ion (3Imh) also can be obtained
directly wit h a specific se nsor moun ted 0 11 th e
whe el upright. In thi s example, it is calculated from
t he su m of hod)' accele ration and the sus pe nsion
movem ent acce leration deri ved fro m th e position
se nsors. This process impai rs high-frequen cy data
because of th e low sampling rates in time a nd space
(sensor resolution) of th e position se nsors. Figu re
10.35 shows 3 hub a nd G vert in th e time dom ain. a
graph th at does not p rovide indication of vehi cle
beh avior. To draw any Significant conclusions. th ese
measurements must be illustrated in the frequency
doma in.
The contac t pat ch load ca n be ca lculated
fm m th e wheel hub dynamics. O nce th e tire load is
known . assu ming the tire beh aves as a sp ring. it is
possible to det e rmine th e co ntact patch posit ion
(Eq ua tions 10.49 and 10 .50).
Armed wit h t he contact patch accelerat ion
l ~~ :1')' the hub accelerat ion (ahllh ), uud the Ixxly acccl-
e tu t ion (alllxh-)' ti ll' 1"H1" 1I0\\' can I'(~ cal cu luted.
It is i ;ltcrcst ill ~ to see th e freq uency domain
of th ese th ree uccch-ratkms. as indic ated ill F igure
10 .•36
a lmb ..md G n .rt are the dat a obt a ined from
se nsors. aCp is the ca lculate d uccolcration of th e
co ntac t pa tch , assuming that tlu- ti re behaves as a
p lln> spring.
The ac t uul shape o f t ll l ' Sl ' graplls is track- «ud
spee d-specific and dep ends 0 11 tlu- track su rface
profile . It is th e rclan ousl up lx-twc-c-u thv sc g raphs
t ha t characterizes till' veluclc's n 'sp<l!ISt· tllroll gll its
sus pension.
Figure 10.35 Hub and body eenical acceleration in
t he time do main
Speed
Bod, acceleration

FHE()lT '\CII-:"i vvn ... 1I0Ch: \II~OHBI': H~ 119

 The graphs are co herent; the low frequen cies
indicate the susp ension is not absorbing t he move-
ment, allowing th e bod y to follow th e track profile.
At h igh er fr equencies, the b o dy has mu ch less
response , a nd the sus pens ion absorbs most of th e
movements indu ce d by road irregu larities,
\ Vith t hese frequen cy response function s, th e
FH F diagrams can be calculated as in the earlier
t heoretical cas es. From th e frequen cy doma in data ,
one can calcu late Eo u ut icms 10. 5 3 and 10 .,54 ,
F igure 10 ..'36 Frcquency domain graJl" oj body,
"lib , and t ire contact JUl te" acceleratioJl
10.--- - - - - - - - - - ,-- - - - - - - - - - - ----.
,,-
" <lowing techniques, a nd dat a scg mcu ta tt o u based
--
10
Tire contact patch accele ration
Hub acceleration
Bod y acce lerati on
Fig ure 10.3 7 Hody t ransjcr alld fire !requc ncy
'-cspOllse [uncti ons
10.------ - -- - - - , -- - - - - - - -- - ------,
.........-_-~
.-~-
~~
.) -~t__--:- ~
- - - FRFCP. Body
FRFCP_TIre
120 CHAPT ER 10
Ft(G "rt)
FRFcr _body = (Eq. 10.53)
Ft(a c r)
Ft(a hub)
FRFCP_hub = ( ) (Eq. l 0..54)
Ft a c r
with FHFCP_!Jml\" = frequen cy response
fun cti on tire co ntact
patch (hody)
I' H Fc P_l lllb = frequency resp onse
function tire contact
patch (hub)
Fig u rc lO .:J7 shows th e two FH Fs fill' t lu-
liod v t ran sfer ( F HI" C I'_hod) and ti lt' FBF for tho
t ire (F HFC1'_tin") TII(' thi n 'graphs are th e tlu -orc-t i-
{'alk culcnla tc d FH Fslxiscd on th e kn own value s of
ma sses and sp ring rates of t he veh icle suspen sion ,
Whut is int ere sti ng abo ut t h is is t hat rc la-
ti vc-l v accura te measu rement s c a n h e obtained
result in g ill a sux pc-uxiou FBI' th at is reasonahly
cons iste nt w it h t ho se of a ve h icle o n th e track.
T I]('s(' ca lcu lations incl ud e some data filte ri ng, win-
0 11 veh icle sjwcd" Furt he r n-finc-nu-nt x c an h(· dOIl P ,
tak in ,!.!; into uc-count s us pen sion gl'o ll1 d ry dctuil s
:-o uch as tl«- uutid ivc- that ill thi s vehicl e accou nt s fo r
SOl Ilt' Slls !w llsio ll-a d d(, d loa d s during h raking.
Th is allal ~-s i s was p('frorll H'd on ly for vt-rti ca ]
II is li.·asibl(· to produce tlu- sa me an a ly-
I110 n '1Ilt '1l1.
si s lilr otlu-r h(ld ~ " 1l10 n ' II U'I l t s such as pitch und roll,
prm "idt'd Ollt · ha s uccch-ronu-n-rs ill the- vehicle t h at
c-a n uu-a sun - t ilt' .u-c'c-h-rutions o f t hese movement s.
:\ sClIsih lt· configurat io1l n -qnin-s on e ve rtical ucccl-
c-rution se-nsor o il e ach corner of t he car h od y so
that it is possibl( ' to ca lculate the accele ratio n of the
extension of rlu- lxxlv 0\"('1' the vertica l of the wheel
co ntact patch.
 VJ
(Eq. 11.1) ~ U
~ ~
-<
z
(Eq 11.2)
n:::: :-
r-.
w ith J) = nerodvnamic d rag force
W
I- -
0
erodynanncs arc a key facto r in th e ove ra ll L = aerodyna mic down force (L = lift ) ~

perfor ma nce o f a ra cecar. Aero dyn a mic \' = vehicle speed ......
~-~

-c
down force Increases the tires' capah ility CD = drag coeffici ent
0-
to develop co rnering force, wh ile d rag reduces the
engin e power avai lable for acc ele rat ing; the vehicle.
Th is chap te r offer s techniques for measur ing aero -
dyna mic for ces with t he data acq u isition syste m,
C L = down forcc coefficient (o r lift
coefficient !
A = vehicle fron tal area
«
I
I II the se e q uat ions the term t ·p ·Vi is the

Aerodynamic Measurements
Eve ry object moving th rough the at mo sphere-
experiences an aerodvnu mic force proportion nl t(l
its sha pe, size. and speed as well as ti le d e nsity o f
th e air surroundi ng it. The d irect ion of the aerody-
na mic force gen era lly var ies fro m th e dire c tion o r
travel. It has a vert ica l an d horizonta l di rect iona l
co mponent. This also appli es to a ruc ecu r moving
th ro ugh the air, which experiences an ae rodvna mic
fo rce tha t call be d ivided into a hor izon tal (d rag )
and vert ical co mpo nent (dow n force ). T hese a rc the
two most co mmon ae rody na mic m eaxurem eu t x ill
racecar engi neeri ng,
D rag is the resis ti ng force acti ng on th e vclu-
clc , whic h is pa ralle-l ,lIld ill t he opposite direction
dvnamic pressure, which is p ropor tional to the dif -
fi-re-nee betwee n the stat ic p ressure away from the
U
car uudloca l a ir pressure at th e point wh e re a nu -u-
s u re-mont is tuke u . T he measure ment a nd co nsc -
t{ 1U' m 'l'S of dyn a mic pressur e are covere-d later in
th is chapter. Front al area can be est imated as illus-
trutc-d ill l'ig ll r c 11.2.
If tln- (lillwn siOl lle ss aerod vu ami c coeffi -
c it'llt s (C l) and C 1) are known (c.g. , fro m a wind
Figure 1 1.1 Aerodyna mic [orces acting on a mo oing
veh icle ( C(J II "ll" ~ !1 oj Icu'(c.bcrt!ollghl.colll)
~"ec_tiO_n_of_tr_av_e_,-l~~
...
\J"j
Q
'~s<:::lj
s\
---::;;;

tenter
~ A - - of pressure
_
•.
to the di recti on of travel . p rim arily illHu{-,lIcing the -~_ Drag D ~~
vehicle's top speed on t he st rai ght s, D o-en fo rce is
the vert ical eompOlH' nt of th e uerodv'n umic fOrl'l '

expe rienced by th e ve hi cle. A rise ill do wnforce

Total aerodynamic Downlorce l
incr eases the co rner ing pote nti al of t he t ire s uucl terce
poten tia l cor ne ring speeds (Fig ure 11.1).
Ana logous to th e ce n te r of gravity in me chan -
ica l ca lc u lat ions, a po int is d efined as t h e area F igu re 1 1.2
whe re t h e aerodyna mic forces ac t o n t h e bodv. Estim ation oja car's
[ronto l area (Courtesy
T hi s po int is the center of p ressu re, and at its loca- of www.hert lmlgi n.co m)
t ion there is no aerody na mie moment. The long it u-
d inal locat ion of th e ce nter of p ressure represents
the d own force d istribu tion between t he fro n t and
rear axle s (i.e ., th e aerody n am ic ba lance ), Th is
ba lance ca n be \'ery se nsi t ive to ch anges i ll r ich,
h eigh t.
Th e two aerodyn amic force co mpo ne nts call
be calcu late d using Eq u at io ns 11.1 and 11 .2. Frontal . .. A'" Area 1 + AJu 2 + Area 3 + Area 4

\EW) I»)":\:\ , tICS 121

 tunnel test), the ae rodynamic forces ca n be ca lcu-
lated by m e a suring t he d yn am ic p re ssure .
C o nversely, if th ese coefficien ts arc un known o r
th e win d tunnel tests require veri ficat ion , th ey can
be determined by di rectly measu ri ng the aerodv-
na m ic forces. It gets co mp licated becau se C D a nd
C L are d ependent o n t he veh icle 's front and rear
ride he ight s. Th is is why measuri ng rid e he igh t
accurate ly is a n inh e ren t part of aerodynamic
analysis.
The effects of a (·hange to t he vehicle's aero-
dy nam ic configuration are analyzed easil~' hy look -
in g at cornering sppt' ds ami sl.'~ lIle ll t time s. A
ch ange re sult ing ill 1II0 re dowuforce sho u ld sho\\'
an increase in corneri Ilg spel'( I i II ti ll' faster c-on WI'S.
whi le the ind uce d d rag due to thi s dlilllge is mani -
fe sted in a slowe r stra ight -Iinl.' sl.'g llll'1I1 timc an d <I
lowe r top speed. The effe-ct 011 lap time shou ld he
eas ily assessabl e.
Air Dens ity
One dc tcrnun urg facto r ill Eq nut iuu s 11.1
an d 11.2 is the de llsity of air (P). which ref'('rs to tl«-
we ight of a cu bic meter. A vuriatiou ill air d ell sit y
due to {;hall~ing atmospheric co nd it ions a lso a lte rs
th e aerodynam ic forces a<:tin j.! O il t ill' ea r. A th o r-
ough under stand ing ( I f these va riations is Iwecss a ry.
Figure 11 .3
Digital weoth er station
"".cd to mcmmrc
ambient temp era hire.
pressure. and humidity
122 CHAPTER 11
Atm o spheri c con d itio ns ca n va ry Sign ific a nt ly
bet ween test sess ions. As a result, racecar eng ineers
place a h igh p rior ity on underst anding the impact
of cha ng ing weat he r co nd itio ns on the performan ce
of racecars.
Air is com posed of 75.54 % nit roge n , 1.3%
a rgo n, a nd 23 .1% oxygen. The amou nt of a ir per
unit of volume (air density) dep ends on air tem per-
atu re , p ressu re. and hum id ity. T hi s affec ts variou s
vehicle pe r for man ce pa ra met e rs:
• Cold . den se air mean s a greater mass of
oxygen . If the uir-fue l uuxtun- is calibrated
properly for th e condition s, t he engine's
pmq.-'r olltput is ~ r('at(' r.
• A hi ghe r air dellsity iuc reases th e acrodv-
numi c- force s act il l~ 0 11 the car. I ligller (1('11-
sit y me a ns mort' d ownfo rcc and more
drag.
By ca re fu lly mea sll r illg atmospheri c cond i-
tion s, till' de nsity or till' umlucnt air ca n be trucked
to gain all u nde rstand illg o f tile e ffect s tltese Ch;l llg-
illg co ndit ion s han' on nu 'ccur perf oru umce .
\Vitli a simple d igit al weather station sim ilar
to that S hOW~ l in Figure 11.:3, atmosphcnc condi -
t ion s ca n be monitored accu ratelv duri ng r.rcc
weekr-uds or test sess io ns.
For racing. it is uuport ant ro mea sure th e fol-
I (}\\'in ~ paramet ers:
• um hicnt air tempe ratu re ,
• a mbient ahsolute ai r prl'SSlln \ a nd
• n-lat tvc air hmui dit v;
T h e ideal gas law is c o ns id e re d u s i n~
Eq nu tio n 11.3 .
p -V =n -R -T
wit h P = pressu re
V = volume
n = number of 1110les
H = gas co ns ta nt
T = temperature
Densit y is t he number of molecu le s of an
idea l gas give n as a specific volu me , which is math -
e ma tically expressed ill Eq uation 11.4.
n
p=-
V
 Th en, by combining Equ ations 11.3 and 11.4.
density is expressed in E q ua t ion 11.5 .
( f:" 1 I..5)
As an example, use stand ard cond iti on s
P = 101325 Pa and T = 20 °C (= 20 + 2; 3.15 OK) .
Th e gas cons ta nt for d ry air is 28; .05 J/ kgOK .
D ensity ca n be ca lculated in Eq ua tion 11. 6 .
101325
1.1 87 kglm 3 (E" 11.6 )
p ; 287.05 .(20 +273.15)
T hi s example assu mes t he air to he d ry.
Howe ver, in real-world situations, it is necessar y to
understand how air moistu re affects the density,
Equatio n 11.7 expresses the den sity of a
mixture of d rv ai r ami wa te r molecul es.
I f:q. 1l. 7}
where I'a = pressure of (11')' air (Pa)
Ha = gas co nsta nt for dry air
(28;.05 J/kgOK)
P w = pressu re of water vaIX)[ (Pa)
Hw = gas consta nt for water ' ""por
(461.495 J/kgOK)
T = te mperatu re (OK = °C + :27:3.],5 )
Th e act ual water , "apOT pressu re ca ll lit' cak-u-
luted from the rel ati ve hum idit .y indicate d In"
. tl u-
digita l weather stat ion. Helative luuuklitv is t ilt' rutio
of th e act ual vapor pressure 10 tilt' satu rution \'apor
pr essu re at a given tem pe ratu re , Satu rutio n \''' por
pressure can be dete rmin ed from Figu re 11 .·1.
T he re fo re , continuing wi t h t lu- p re vio us
example. a weather station assum edlv pro vides a n -l-
ative hu mid ity reading of 4.5%. From th e ~raph . the
saturation vapo r pressure at 20°C is 2.'3.50 Pa. Actu ul
vapor pressure th en becomes Eq ua t io n 1 1.~.
2350 Pa · 0.45 ; 1057.5 Pa
All th e variables re quired for Equatio n 11.7
are now kn own [Eo uuri o n 11.9).
p; 1.187 + (1057. 5 ) ) ; l.I qS kg'm,
( 461.5 · 20 + 273.15
( "~I-
L
Enter this q ua ntit y into the eq uat ions for ca l-
cu lati ng aerodyn am ic force s an d e ngine output
power. Th is may explain why a racecar is not rea ch-
ing th e top speed it did th e last tim e it was on a spe-
ci fic track or why downforce numbers are lower
t ha n expected . Being aware of th e weathe r situa -
tio n ca n preve nt a lot of tail-ch asing in situati ons
like these.
F in a lly, a ir tem pera t ure , pre ssure , a nd
hum idity a re not th e on ly we at he r para met ers
affec tt ng the racecar's perfor ma nce. Asph alt tem-
pera tu re influe nce s th e rol ling re sist an ce of th e
tires , a nd wind speed a nd direction alter th e drag
a nd down for ce of t he racecnr. Air temperature
a ffec ts th e cooling o f th e eng ine and tr an smi ssion
fluids. which modi fies th e frict ion in the drfveline.
Dynamic Pressure
T he scienti fic defin ition of dynami c pressu re
is t he pressure of a fluid d ue to its motion. It is the
d ifference be twe en tota l pre ssure and static p res-
sure . In ruce cur aero dynami cs, dymuulc pr essure is
tb l' pre ssure acti ng on th e ca r as it tra vels through
t lu- ai r. It typi ca lly is mea sured with u pitot tube , as
0 11 t he Ferrar i Fo rmul a O ne car shown in Figure
11.,1). Th e op('rat i ll~ prin ciple of a pitot tube is ccv-
(>n·d in more deta il in C hapt er 15 ,
As ind icate d earlier in th is chapte r, dynam ic
p n'sslIre {Eq u at ion 11.1 0 ) is half of t he air den-
sity mult iplied hy the veh icle speed sq uared .
1 ,
q ;_ · p· V- (Eq. 1I.1 0)
2
Figu re 11..1
\Valer ~opor satura tion
pressure cersus
teml Jerolure
6
2
o
o '0 20 30
l U I)
.\ F IIl II H ," \ \l IC S 123
 Dy namic p rpssu re can h e es ti mated from the
wheel -speed cha nnel or it CPS- hased speed cha n-
nel. Air den sity n 'lllai nin g equal. t he shap e of th e
resu ltin g mutl r channel is exact ly t he same as the
sp eed channel.
T he dynami c p ressure trace measu red wit h a
pitot tube res em h k-s tilt' ca lcu lated dyn am ic p re s-
sure . Howe ve r, the trace-s deviate from one anot her
wh en headwin d s or tailwind s come in to p lay or
when t he ca r is s lips t rea llling anot her car. In th e
case of a head wind . the actual d vnunu c p ressure is
h igh er thuu estimate-d. T hi s incr eases drag:. so me -
thin g t h at is cxpr-ru- nccd wlu-u r idin g a hieycle
against the w ind. Down forc-e level s are h ighe r as
well fur th e smuc reason. Th e opposite is true for a
ta ilw ind . which inc rea ses the \'(' h ide's top spee d
hut re sult s in less dO "'Il {()I"(..' c.
The el'fi'd o f w ind is determi ned not onlv bv
m<->asllring dynami c pressure. B.\' ente ri ng this value
int o Equation s 11. 1 and I J .2 , t he ucrodvnamic
forces call he cst imntcrl. To do t h is, the drag and
dow nforcc coc-Ffk-ic-uts 11I11St he known . If not avail-
abl e, l he~' call Ill' dete rmi ne d 11.\' d irectly 1Ilt'<lSllrillg
d rag alld down forco. T Il(' procedures ar e covered ill
the following se d ion.
Figure 1 1.•5 I'itot tl/ hl' lIwll/ltcd onn Ferr ari FJ car
to meas ure dYlllllll ic ]1 "1'.<; ,<;111'"{' (Courtesy of[ ac ueline
Perreira do Xasdll//'/Ito (; ra",kd
124 CHA PTER 11
The Coastdown Test
T he procedure for calcu lating external resis-
tance s on the car was explai ne d in C ha pter 4 . T he
most Sig nificant component of t hese forc es is aero-
dvnam ic drag. In th e D od ge Viper example , a n
aerody na mic drag coefficie nt (C n ) wa s assu med .
Th e ideal way to dete r mi ne the C D of a veh icle is to
test it in a wind tun ne l. Beca use thi s is not a fina n-
cially viable option for mo st m ot or racing team s,
t he co ustclo wu test presents an a ffor dable altcma-
tive . Th is test involve s dri ving the car on a st ra ight
asphalt road , preferab le as smoot h as po ssiblo . The
ea r is ac celerated to a ce rt uin spee d a nd t he n
shifte d int o ne- ut ral a nd suu pl v allowed to coa st
down to a lower p red et ermi ne d speed w it h m in i-
lll Ulll steer ing fluct nat ions. Til t' dat a loggillg s ~'st elll
provides the data Ilee ('ssa ry for eal cnb titlg t he tota l
externa l forces (a nd al so the driveh uc Friction and
inertiu ). On ly a spccc l signal is re quired fe r the ca l-
culat ion, hil t a meu su n -mc nt o r d vn a m ic p ressu rc is
preferable.
In ste ad of dt'ter m ini ng t he ab sol ute d ra g
force (or rlownf orce ). aerodyna mic perfortuaucr- is
p rimarily e~ presst'd hy CD (o r C L ill the ea se of
d own fo rc c ). Di men sion less co efficient s arc use d
lx -causc t hey arc indc p<,I H{('nt o r SP ('Ptl or amhic'n t
c-onditions. For insta nce , if t ile uuuuxpheric !' !"l'S-
sure cha nges b et ween two run s, it becomes dtffi -
cull to correlate set up mod ifica tio ns w it h cha nges
in dcwn fon-c or drag becau se t hc a mbi ent con di -
lions infl uence t he re sult.
Wheu the car is coa st illg, tlu-rc is no t ra nsfer
of powe r to the whee-ls II}" the el ig illl' . Ti ll' forces
slOW ing th e car are aerodyn.uuic Also co ntributi ng
to the loss of speed arc the rolli ng resi st ance of the
whe els , t he inertia and fric tion ill the d rive line . and
the slope of th e t rack Oil wh ich t he ca r is t raveling.
As d iscussed in the previous section, acrody-
num ic forces rel at e to t he ve h icle speed sq uared.
To measu re the C n of the car and han ' a mi ni mal
influen ce on the re sult fro m the rolling resist a nce
and fr iction , beg in coasti ng at a speed th at is as
h igh as possible . I nfluen ce s resulting from track
slope can h e d e termined a nd sub trac ted from t he
re su lt by measuring vertica l acc elerat ion,
Figu re 11.6 is a grap h obta ine d from a 2001
coastdown test in Zu ndvoo rt IIsin g a Dodge Viper
GTS -R. On the start/finish straight , t he driver
acce lerates unt il the next reference point on th e
track is reached (in thi s ca se, a bridge crossing t he
racet rack). Here, the d river lifts the thrott le, shifts
into neut ral. a nd let s th e resisting vehicle forc e s
slow th e veh icle dow n unt il it is necessar y to bra ke
for th e next co r ner. Th e r -ax is repre se nt s t he
el apsed t ime in seconds , und t he vehicle spc('( l is
indi cated on th e y·a xis.
After 2 sec, th e car decelerates to a speed of
205 .5 kill/h . At this poi nt . Newton's Law ensures that
t he resistin g force acting Oil tln- ear may he cal cu -
lated using Equation 11 .11 where G lmw is obt ai lied
from the data acquisition's longitudinal gra ph if it is
present or calculated from till' spt'L'<.1Signal.
Fres e m -G long
The average deceleration between 1 and 3
set' is de fined in Equation 11.12.
2 13 km/h - 198.5 km/h
wing at its maximum angle. The speed sig na l is
shown in Figure 11.7. The signal for th e minimum
wing a lso is pictu red.
Look ,again at the speed after 2 sec, which is
202 .2 km/h. A second before and after this mo ment,
the speeds are 210.4 and 19 4.3 krn/h , respectively,
mean ing longit udinal decelera tion is 2.24 rn/s2. F res
becomes 2,822 N (or 2 ,374 N whe n th e roll ing
resistan ce and inertia force s are subtracte d).
Finally, a C n of 0.656 (or 0.553) is obtain ed.
T h is mea ns th at bet ween the mini mum and maxi-
II IUlll rear win g a ngle , the tota l veh icle drag
i nc reases hy 11 % .
G Drag measurem ent usin g coastdown testing
is valu able for det ermilling thi s rucccnr paramet er.
However, so me facto rs should he conside red :
(Elf· I l l l)
• D rag (a nd down force ) vari es with air den -
sit y. Preferably, compari son s shou ld he
Figure 11.6
S"C{'c! . .igllal ve nous
, tim e. Cow.ido wJI tc...t

. ~ I"- ""-
2 l)crfiJrm cd at Circu it
2.0 I 01/s (Eq _11,12)
3.6 . (3 s- I s) Zandooort in 200} wit l,
a lJod~e Viper GTS-R

At the time this l est was conduc ted , the tota l ~

wci~ht of the ear (i1lt'1llding tilt> d rivcr ) was 1.260 kg.
"<,
Ping thi s iufonnauou iu lor Euuution 11.1.'3 .
<,
F"" = 1260 · 2.01 = 2532 I' ( Ell- 11. /.1 ) <,
For xiur p lici tv. the rolling re sistance a mi
inertias a n.' i)!:lIc lf('d Icu· th e mom ent . This mean s
'..
t hat Ffl'" = '"" IITO' w hich )!:i n 's Equation 11.14 fo r
CD wit h A = 2. .:1 I ll :? alld p = 1.187 kg/ m.1. C D
!>C' l"O Il H ' S 0..5. 1. Figu re 11.7
Speed signlll versus
time. COllstdo um lest
seas l,crfonlled at
'~

r: -
Zandooort in 2001 with

" '""'-" a Dodge Viper GTS-R

For ti lt' nod ~( ' Viper in C hapter 4 , a ro lling

"
~,

_. / : ~
--
resistan ce of 32.5 :\ and a fifh. d rivelinc loss totali ng
app roximutr-lv 123 :\ we re calculated. when th ese -,

~ .~
"
are subtracted from th e 2.532 r\ measured in th e
coastdown test a nd CD is calcu lated ag a in , t he
'. r-.
resu lt is OAIO. ~
Th is te st was con ducted wit h th e re a r winp;
at its minimum all~Il'. To illust rate th e feastbl ltty of
thi s method. C n is calc ula ted aga in wit h th e rea r
'. • -,.
•
 made for coastdown tests perfor me d on th e
same d ay or d iffe re nces in a ir de nsit y
shou ld be corrected for.
• Between ru ns, ensure that the car con figu-
rat ion (speci fica lly ti re p ressures an d tem-
peratu re s a s well as engine and d riveline
temperatures) remains as cons ta nt as possi-
ble so th at it do e s not influ ence t he
meas ure men ts .
• Always perform t he coastdown test in two
d ire cti ons to ta ke into accou nt th e influ -
ence of th e wind and t rack grad ient.
Coast down t est s a re sta nd a rd ize d SAE
J12G3.1:2 Th is standard sta tes the f(,llowi ng in itia l
cond itions a nd pre requisites tha t mu st be met:
• Tests shou ld he cond uct ed at te mperatures
be tween _1°e and 32°C. D ata obtain ed at
temp erat ures out side this mnge ca nnot be
reliably adj usted to sta nda rd co nd itions.
• Te s ts sha ll n o t be r u n d ur in g fogg y
con ditions.
• Tests shall not be run w he n w ind speeds
an-'rage mo re th an 16 km/h or whe n pea k
win d speeds a re more t han 20 km/ h . Th e
m·e rage of t he com po nent of ti ll:' w ind
velocity perpe ndicular to t he te st road may
not exceed S kill/h .
• Heads sha ll be drv. clea n, smoot h a nd must
not exce e d o.,se;;. zra dc . I n add ition th e
gradc s ho u ld be co nsta nt and th e road
shou ld he st raight since variations in g rade
or st ra igh t ne ss c an sig n i ric a nt ly affec t
result s.
• T ires sha ll han >accu mulat ed a mi nimum
of 160 k in prio r to coas tdo wn test ing.
• The tire s shou ld have at lea st 75 % of th e
orig ina l tre ad dept h re maining;.
• \ '('hid t, t ire s should be inflated to the man -
ufac tu rer's re com mended cold in fla tio n
pre ssure c o rrected for th e d iffe re nce
betwee n am bie nt temperatu re and ti re
tem pcrature .
A final note on ti re pressu res: Increasing the
tire pressur e duri ng a coastdow n test decreases the
ve hicle 's ro lli ng re sistan ce . H ow e ve r, it a lso
inc rea se s the t ire s' spring rat e . A g reate r ae rod y-
namic down force at high er speeds results in more
126 CHAPTER 11
t ire com pre ssion . a nd this also affect s the aerody-
na mic prope rti es of t he ve hicle. Mai ntaini ng a
h igh er-than -normal tire pressure therefore int ro -
du ces an incon sistent variable into th e test.
Measuring the
Aerodynamic Downforce
\ Vhen wind tunne l down force data is un avail-
able o r whe n eva lua ti ng w ind tunnel dat a on the
tra ck is d esired , d own fo rce nu mbe rs can b e
extracte d from whe el load measurem en ts. As w ith
drag measur eme nts, th e d imensionl ess forc e coeffi -
dent (C,) is the mai n focu s. Also important is how
th e tot al dow n for ce is d istribu te d bet we en t he
fron t an d rea r axle s (i.c. t he locat ion of th e ce nter
(If pressllre ).
Aerodyna mic force s de pen d on the vehicle 's
ride heig ht. To eval ua te th e down forcc a vehicle
develop s, th e wheel loads o n th e front a nd rea r
axles th rou gh t he ca r's ride heig ht range mu st be
mea su red .
T he wheel loads ca ll be mea su red with strai n
gauges in the suspe nsion or, a lte r nat ively, hy ca lcu-
lati ng th e suspe nsion loads fro m suspe nsion deflec-
tion measur e ment s. Downforcc measur e men ts a rc
conducted prefe rably as stea dy-state tests at a CO Il-
stunt speed in or de r to minim ize t he in flue nce of
ine rtia l forces, as out lined in Referen ce 13.
Rearran gi ng Equation 11.2 resu lts ill th e de l-
inili on for C L (E q ullt io n 11 ,15 ).
L
CL =- --=-- - (Ell- 11.15)
I 2
2 ' P'V · A
To solve fo r C L at a det ermined fro nt and
rea r ride IJeigh t. t he tot al ver tica l loud a nd dynamic
pre ssu re at th ose rid e heights should be mea sured
at a co nstant veh icle speed. The run pictured in
F ig u re 11.8 was obta ined fro m a test performed
on an airstrip. It shows t he front and rear ve r tical
load a nd vehicle speed for two ru ns at co ns tant
spee ds of 50 and 19.5 km/ h, re spect ively. Th e ru n at
50 km/ h es ta blished th e wheel load whe n aerody-
nam ic do w nfo rce is not pre se nt , le avin g only th e
st at ic weight of t he ea r. T hi s figu re ca n be com-
pared to t he we ig ht s measured whe n th e car is
placed O il t i ll' co mer we ight sca les to ensure there
is no downforce pre sent at th e test speed . Taking location versus front and rear ride heigh ts. Every
the average over the time interval in which a spee d value is stored in a spreadsheet. whic h then is
of 50 km/h is maintained results in th e following imported into th e ana lysis softwa re as a lookup
vertical axle loads. ta ble. From thi s table, a math cha nnel can be cre-
fro nt static vertical load 8,250 N ated that takes the front and rea r ride height values
rear static vertical load 8,200 N and assume s the corresponding cen te r-of-pressure
total st atic ve rtical load 16,450 N locat ion (Fig u re 11,10). Thi s cha nnel offers a good
indi cation of th e variation in th e location of th e
Doing the same for the time spe nt at a speed of 195 ce nte r of pressure and allow s the investigation of
km/h gives th e followin g total axle load s. any abnormality in the aerodynamic balance of the
vehicle.
front ve rt ical load 8,775 N
The same can be d one wit h the downforce
rea r vertical load 9,375 N
coe fficient table. \Vith a measurement of dynamic
to t al vertical load 18, 1SO N
pressure , the tota l aerodynamic downforce can he
Subt racti ng t he static loads from th ese figu res ca lculated at each point on t he tra ck. Comhining
results in the amount of downforce de veloped at a th is cha nnel with th e center-of-pressu re channel
spee d of 195 km/h at the tested front and rear ride indica tes the absolute down force on the front and
height s. rear axles. Altern atively, when the lookup table fea-
tu re is not available in th e analysis software, a
front d own forc e 525 N
lookup table can he generated using a spreadshee t
rear downforce 1, 175 N
am i t he data export func tion in the ana lysis sort-
t otal downforce 1,700 N

\Vit h a dynamic pressur e 1,740 Pa and a frontal

area of 2.3 m i , at these ride heights the downforce
,-J_l..,J Figu re 11.8
Constant velocity test
perjormed on an
,
(1W'Ht _
,1\IlI)
airst rip to measu re
coefficient C L becomes Equation 11.16.
I r:ehiclc dowriforce (Data
co urtesy of Pi Research)

C ; 1700 N , 0.425 ( Eq. 1116)

L
1740 Pa · 2.3 m -

Finally, the aerodynami c center of pressure

is loca ted at 0 ,17.5/ 1,700) x lOO% = 69 .1 % of th e
ve hiclv's wh eelbase from the fr o nt w he el \,
·fJ
.I .1
fl:1~~
.,
centerline.
These test s should be repeated u nti l th e
I !
.. - ,.
de sired ride height interval is covered. \ Vhen all
Figure 11 .9
the necessary data is collected, the following aero- A graphical representa·
maps then can be created : tion ofa center-of-
• downforce coefficient as a function of front pressure aeromap.
Th e center-of- pressure
and rear ride heights, and - location is expr essed
• ce nter of pressure location as a function of here as the distance in
millimeters fro m the
front and rear ride heights. fron t axle centerli ne.
Th e more sophis tica ted ana lysis software
packages can define lookup tables. Each aeromap is
entered as a lookup table. Then a math channel is
created th at assumes the table va lue with front and
rear ride heights as indices. As an example, Figure
11.9 graphs th e ae roma p of center-of- press u re

. \ E I U H )\, ~.-\.\ tI C S 127

 wa re . Front and re ar ride heigh t channel s ca n be
imp ort ed into the spreads he et and associate d with
th e cor respond ing locat ion of the cente r of pre s-
sure and down force coefficie nt.
As with coastdown testing, a consta nt veloc-
ity test requires a spe cific vehicle set up to maximize
accuracy. Th e do w nfo rce produced by th e vehicle
depen ds on its rid e height. T herefore , thi s is a very
impo rtant pa ram eter to cont rol.
• Spri ngs and damping sho uld be as soft as
possible to minimize vert ical load va riation
resulting fro m hump s in th e tra ck .
• Any in fluen ce of packers or hu mp rubbers
should he rem oved .
• Antiroll hal'S p referable a re d iscou ue ctr-d.
• Static ride heigh t sho uld be adj uste d so t hat
the target ride heigh t is rea ch ed at the ta r-
ge t sp eed . Th is is Ilece ssa ry to p re pa re
aerOlnap s of d ifferen t ride heigh ts at di ffe r-
ent speeds (Fig ure 11.9 ).
• Tests should he performed in two op posite
d irecti on s to minimize o r re move th e influ -
ence of wind direction a nd track g radient.
Airbox Efficiency
What det e rmi nes th e pm\"t' r potential of a ll
engi ne? All power co mes fro m the amount of fuel
burned in the engim'. Th e more fuel the engi ne ca n
Figu re 11.10 Tlie cen tcr-oj- pressu re location math
cha nnel us a [unction offmll l and rcur ride hei ght .,;
<C.J ' , - - , -- - ,- , - - ; -- - . - - -- -"--- ---,- - - - ;- - ; -- - , - - ---;-- , ,
----
...." "
--
' .00
'"
12 8 CHAPTER 11
burn per time inte rva l, th e great er th e po wer o ut-
put is: Howeve r, to burn fue l, oxygen is required,
a nd this come s stra ight from th e at mosphe re . The
amou nt of ai r t he en gine ca n process depends pri -
marily on th e de sign of th e cylinde r head and th e
inl et manifold.
At mosph eri c e ngines usc th e am bie nt atmo-
sphe ric pressu re to pu sh air into the eng ine's cylin-
ders. \ Vhen regulat ions provide inlet restric tors , th e
ai r usually is guide d th rough th ese rest riclo rs into
t he in let mani fold and the n i~l to the e ngine . When
th e ambien t air pressure is known and the absolute
pr essu re in th e inlet ma nifold is det er min ed , th is
St' lYCSas a measure for th e inlet svstt-m
. e fficieucv.
.
Figure 11 .11 illustrate s t he mani fold air
pressllfl-' (j'vl A P) signal of a GT ca r wit h the t hrot tle
position , e nginc HPI\I , a nd vcluclc speed.
An ap proximat e utmospln-ric pressllJ'c ca n he
ohtni ue d from the graph hy ta king a point whe re
t he throttle is closed completely. In thi s case, it is
100 kPa. As SO O l1 as the throttl e ope ns, the MAP
d rops proportional to the engine HPf\1. Shift poin ts
a re indicated as up ward spikes. when the throttle is
close d momentarily. Note th at the se upwa rd spikes
a re m uch mo.re subt le whe n the ca r is e q u ippccl
w ith a power-shift system that en ables the dri ver to
ke ep h is foo t do w n 0 11 t he acce lera to r du ri np;
upsh ifts.
An idea of how well the inlet syste m is pe r-
fo rmi ng is indicat ed whe n th e minimum air pn's-
sure ill the graph (whid . is upproximate lv 87 kPa ) is
subt ract e d from th e at mospheric pressu re . As th e
CoP moves throttle is ope ned , air flows into the engin e cylin-
1
toward
front axle
Cop moves
ders and the rise ill HPf\1 increases the flown'}odt)'
so air p re ssu re d ro ps. Howe ver, wit h inc reasing
J
toward
rearaxle HPM , the engi ne literally asks for more air to be fed
into th e manif old. As vehicle spe ed increases, th e
dyn am ic pre ssure befo re th e manifold increases
quad ratic to the vehicle velocity, which in thi s ease
is a good thing. T he lower th e pr essure d rop in th e
manifold, th e better the air supply to the engine is.
Thi s is why engine builders try to design air inlet s in
such a way that the air pressure before the throttle
is as close to th e atmospheric pressure as possible.
Figu re 11.11 shows a pressu re drop of 100 -
87 = 13 kPa at an engine speed of 6,100 RPM. To
illustrate th e effect of manifold pressure, a test was
pe rformed in which the a ir inlet restrictors were
---
removed from the e ngine air inlet. Th e result s are
given in Figu re 11. 12 .
Test s on the engine dyno result ed in a power
increas e of approx imate ly 80 brake horsepowe r
(bhp) for thi s ca r by removing t he restrictors.
Figure 11.12 ill u st rat es why t hi s is th e ca se .
Atmo sp heric pressure is 100 kPa and th e MAP
reading at 6,100 RPM is 91 kPa, whi ch mean s a
drop of 9 kPa.

Figu re 11.11 MAl' siglwl jor II G T car arouud

Zolder

~»
Increasing Gearshift
RPM ·
$»
~»
~» r \.
~»

~»L~~~
Atmospheric
pressure
--,,====,,--- -----l

F ig u re 11. 12 MAP siglwljur a GTca r aroulld

Zah ler, with 110 air inlet restrict ors

:: :...-/'L'I'-/:,....---- '~·100R;~- -- -t,''- /·~ ·.. .-,""-./v.---- -. _ •..I/V'1.--;tf'/~·v--t.----<.\"

f """" "''t<l f~ ,"\ '~

A EHO J)YI'\A~ IICS 129

130 CHAPTER 11
 ::::
the vehicle. All of th is depends on the willingn ess
and motivation of drivers to learn and develop
th emselves. At the end of th e day. this is nothi ng
N
~
--::::
,.,
;>

more than part of their job. 0

fr::
W .t---..
In pract ice. drivers shou ld be able to ana lyze ~
dat a independently on their own computer and
acecar engin eerin g is not limit ed to tun-
ing a vehicl e to its maximum dyn am ic
performan ce . Racecars do not drive
should have access to the data quickly while every-
t hing is still fresh in their memory. Modern tech-
nology. such as USB storage devices and wireless
r-
0....
z
-
V

t-.:
th emselves; the driver is a very import ant part of
th e performance equation. Logging dri ver activi-
ties provides a detailed reco rd of what is happ ening
in the cockpit and fur nishes the dr iver with tools
pitbox networks, can facilitate thi s accessibility.
In the cockpit. the driver has five main con-
trois to help get the car around the track as quickly
as possible : thrott le peda l, brake pedal, steeri ng
«
I
:::3
....
z
<
~

that help Improve per formance. whee l, dutch pedal, and gear lever. A d river's act iv-

Improving Driver Performance

\ Vhen eva luating a d river, th e data acqui si-
tion engineer must be aware of two significant pit-
falls. Th e first is th at d river activity and chassis
balance are interrelated closely. Something diag-
nosed as driver deficiency may be the result of an
uubalauced chassis. The oppo site can be true as
well, so th e d river's comments should he inter-
preted in comhination wit h detai led data analysis.
Realize that a racecar driver is a human being
with a finite tolerance to criticism. Even founded ,
well-intended, and tactfully offered suggestions are
not acce pted always in a graceful manner. In the
worst-ca se scena rio, pointing out to drivers what
th ey are doing wron g can pot entially underm ine
t he ir self-confidenc e, something t hat should be
avoided at all costs.
ities co nsist of acceleration , brakin g, corn erin g, and
shift ing gears. Figu re 12.1 illustrates a display
U
template th at includes the importa nt channels to
heg in th e drive r evaluation: (front) brake pressure,
gea r. engine RPM. vehicle spee d. and throttle posi-
tion. Thi s screen templat e conta ins the basic infor-
mation for evaluating dri ving style. Dr ivers usually
want to compare their laps with previous outi ngs or
wit h the data of other d rivers. The tec hniques for
overlaying and comparing data from d ifferent laps
were covered in Chapter 3.
Figu re 12. 1 A tY1Jicni llserfriendly display oj dricer
acticitsj cha nn els
,rcn &. e Pfefton
I ,,'
.....-
, "
, , I
~
I sP""
--- I

- f-w -,
A solution tha t often works is lett ing d rivers 'I, I \ I sm 'P" I
- - IF=;I - - - - i .!..L_
I
ascertain (to the best of their ability and in conjunc- -_ ~
1 :l:58.2 ~ I
tion with subtle guidance from the engineer) what I rn 'r-----' ' • • 'It I

J
they are doing wrong. In addition, encourage them
to uti lize data ana lysis as a developm ental tool. ,
""
U- Jl J I
Drivers have everything they d id on the th e track
stored in th eir brain . Driver ac tivity recordings
~ VV W Alt ~ I .;1J 1./ vll V1
made by the data logger should make sense to them.
W 'Irt'l
If J'V
To ensure th at thi s occurs, there are some condi-
tions. Firs t, drivers should know how to operat e the 1\ /
V
h / \ /' /'
----
v./ J IV
analysis software. Second , they should be edu cated
in the ana lysis techniques necessary to eva luate ..
,,,,.
,
their performance. And third, they should possess fif H

.)..~ .. ,.. ~
some basic knowled ge about the dynamics of the
vehicle to correlate their performance with th at of
"'" ..- ,.. ,.. ... ... ~

DiI&rIx 1)111_

,\ :\'ALr Z IX(; T ilE DRI\'ER 131

 Modern dashboard systems oft cn allow th e
di sp lay of messa ge s to th e driver o r o utput sig nals
to be se nt (e .g., to a lamp) once a co nditio n is met.
Different applicat ions exist to assis t drivers during
th eir time on the track. Data logged o n pre viou s
runs provide the information to program th e dash-
hoard. lle re are some exa mples :
• Progmmmaule shift ligh ts, which a re a se ries
of LEDs pla ced on th e d ashb oard to indi -
cate when th e driver sho uld shift to a highe r
gear. Fo r each gear, a n Indep enden t shift
RPM ca n h e> prog ra mm ed in th e
dashhoa rd .
• Brake baluuce ind icati on on th e d ashboard
• Visual iudicati ou on th e dashboard when a
wh eel is hlo cking. IIlH.lerhra k in ~. or slip-
pin g HIlder accelerati on
• Sector tim es from virtua l beacon s. which arc
placed at fixed di stances From the infra red
beacon indicati ng the sta r t a nd finish of a
lap. \ Vhc n th e car reac hes th e respective dis-
ta nce of a virt ual beaco n, t he secto r ti me is
d isplayed 0 11 t he dash board d isplay. C PS
integra tio n has imp roved g rea tly tile acc u-
racy of this leutu re. O fte n. a refe re nce lap
ca n he progn.ullllled into th e das hboard ,
ell ahl i ll~ drivers to ob ser ve during their lap
if t hey are faster I I f slower th an till' u -Icrence
lap (Fig u re 12.2).
• Pred icti ve lap time cu lcu lutiuu in which a
previously l o~g(' d reference lap ca n be
load ed int o th e da shboard . Th e tim e /di s-
tuuce- dat a of the current lap is co mpa re d
constantly to that of th e referen ce lap ; from
the di ffe re nce bet we en t he two, th e lap
tim e of tile cur ren t lap ca n be predict ed.
Figu re 12.2
\'irtu al beacons
compare the tlri(;er's
current lap to a
ref erence lap.
(Courte.'iy of j ean-
Michelle .\ Ieur)
132 CHA PTER 12
Driving Style Evaluation
Fo r driver evalua tion, t he followi ng charac-
teristics sho uld be investigated :
• Performance : Thi s is a m easure of achieved
re su lts. Performance improvement is the
co ncep t of measu rin g the o utput of a par-
ti cular p ro ce ss an d th en modifying thi s
proce ss to increa se its output. e fficiency. or
e ffec ti veness , Exampl es of performan ce
measurem ents a re co rnering speed, max i-
mum lateral G d u rin~ co rnering, maxim um
lon gitudinal G d uring braking . and gear-
sh ift tiu u-s. Lap ti me is a lso a performance
mcu su n -nu-nt .
• Smoot h ness : TI/(' American IIcrit age@
Dictionary of tlu: Ellglisl, Lallgllagl'defines
smooth as " ha\·i ll ~ a texture that lacks fric-
tion ; not rough:· \·4 A driver should maintain a
certai n de gree of smoothness to avoid upse t-
ting the ear in tra nsient phases . Fo r instan ce ,
accelerating out o f" a corner w it l l a fluctuating
thrott le pedal causes nlmr pt cha nges in lon-
gitud inal we ight t ransfer resulting in load
Iluctuat ion s at the tirc cont act patches.
• Resp on se : T h is is an outpu t resu ltinl!: fro m
a n inp ut. O pposite stc e ring lock can he a
respon se to th e rcur end of the car stepping
out d uri ng corne ring. Hesponse is also th e
time dela y bet ween two netions (e .g., th e
delay between <"01nillg ofT tile thrott le and
applyin g tile brak es ).
• Consistency: Th is refers to th e repeatabil-
ity of performance factors (t~.g., con sisten cy
in ge a rsh ift tim e s. thrott le blips, braking
effort, and lap tim e consiste ncy).
Drive r improvement s in sm o o t h ness .
response. a nd co nsiste ncy have a ben eficial e ffect
on overall pe rfor mance. Some tec hniq ues for mea-
suring an d quantifying these d rive r characteristics
are discussed in th e following sections.
Throttle Application
T he accelera tor pedal is the d river 's pr imary
interface with the vehicle. It has a simple funct ion- to
accelerate the vehicle, However, the driver can apply
too litt le or too mu ch thrott le or apply it too slow or
too fast. The more available engine povver, the thinner The driver also can apply full throttle too
this too much/too little line becomes. ea rly. Th e result of this is probably the rear break-
The first performance indicator is th e throttle ing out. The driver corrects with an opposite steer-
h istogram (Chapter 7). It shows how much ti me the ing lock and ba cks off th e thrott le . Look for
driver spends at full th rott le and part throttle.More oversteer and traction problem s here when th e dif-
tim e spe nt at full throttle improves lap tim es.
Wh en th e driver exits a low- to me d iu m- Table 12 .1 Target values f or percentage oflateral
acceleration where the dri ver should be at full th rott le
spe ed co r ne r, th e point where full thrott le is
reach ed should follow shortI)' after the G -peak. The
Pow er output % lat eral G at t
value of th e lateral acceleration channel at the full ." 100% throttle
thrott le point is a measure of the assertiveness of <150 hp 95%
the d river. Fig ure~ 12 .3 and 12.4 illustrate a late 150-250 hp 90 %
and early thro tt le application respectively. 250-400 hp 85 %
In Figu re 12.3 , th e d river exits a 60-km/h >400 hp 80 %
corne r in which a lateral acceleration ma ximum 01"
1.81 G was reached. At the point where th e throttle
Figure 12.3
is op en fu lly, lateral acce leration has alre ady Example oflate throttle
decreased to 0.70 C . To compare d ifferent corner s, ap plicati on exit i/lg II
these figures ca n be expressed as a percent age in .. 60·km/h corner

Eq ua ti on 12 .1.
:J \
'·'~=~....,:";===--+-----------I
z.o G Forte llltlGJ
0.70 G . \00 % = 38.7%
1.81G
( EfJ. /2 .1)
.""
Different cars produce different figu res, and ••"'-" """'~
."
dri ver expe rience factors largely into thi s as well. . ,.~

However. it is safe to say that 38.7% can be classified ·n ,-pe.. . -1.81G/ "
as being a bit careful on the gas. Figur e 12.4 shows
th e resu lts fro m same dri ver in th e sa me ca r at
another location 011 the track. lI ere, th e dr-iver is
much more assertive on the thrott le pedal. The lat-
..
~

"'::.:'-_~-;~..."'::;:'-=~~-;,;;_ _ ...-,;c--'~_=~..J

eral Cs peak at 1.74 G, and at 1.60 G the dri ver has

the thrott le flilly open aga in. Eq ua t io n 12 .2 100 Throttle PO$ [%} Figure 12.4
A.ssertice th rott le
expresses thi s as a percentage.
.... application exitin g
120 km /lI CO ni CI'
(J

1.60G .\ 00 % = 9 1. 9% (Eq. 12.2)

1.74 G
J~..".,....~;;;;;:;;;=!--l---------l
2.0GForce l&[Gl
Author Budd )' Fe)' offers a target value for
ie
the percentage of lateral acce leration whe n the ie
driver shou ld be at full thrott le.6 These tar get val- ••
•0
ues dep end on how much power is available at the ••
dri ven whee ls (Ta b le 12.1 ). ."

A lat e thrott le application, as illu strated in ...."

... fulthl1ltllt

...'" l====-- - - ----'---i

Pf*Jt -1.80 II
Figu re 12.3 , is obser ved when the car is oversteer-
• 'M-.eeI Speed R. (I:;mJh]
ing at a corner exit. Investigate other cha nnels and

_.."'"
talk to th e d river to diagnose thi s. When th ere is no
balance or t raction problem, the driver is probabl y
bei ng too careful on the accelerator. .... moo

ASAIXZI:\C TilE D IHYER 133

 ference be tween th e G -peak and lateral acce lera-
tion at the full th rott le point becomes greater.
Th e smoothness with which th e dri ver treat s
t he thrott le pedal is also a paramet er affecting lap
tim es. \ Vhen driving at the traction limit , it is vita l
to not upset th e car wit h a fluctu ating throttle. A
good exa mple of t his is provided in Figure 12 .5,
where t he thrott le position signals of t wo d rivers
dr iving th e same car are overlaid. The corner
seq uence pictu red is indicated in t he litt le track
map. A tight right hander is followed hy a sweepi ng
fast left-hand corner. Th e da rk t ruce pro duce d the
qu ickest lap tim e.
T he d river who produ ced th e ligh ter color
signal trace is clea rly dancing 0 11 till' t hrottle pedal,
ind ucing an upsett ing longitudinal weight tran sfer
wh ile s('arching for tr action. Th e dar k trin-e shows
that the driver uses on e progressive thrott le lift to
negotiate th e fast left hander and th en return s to
full t hrott le.
Th e gray trace is an ('xaggera t('d example of a
car upsetting throt tl e beh avior. III mo re xuhtle
ca ses, th e spee d of th e pedal m ovem ent can b e
observed. Throttle speed can be calcul ated b~' tak-
ing th e first derivati ve of the th ro ttl e position sig-
nal. Th e thro ttl e position ofte n is e xp ressed as a
pe rcent age. When thi s channel is derived, its unit is
typicallyexpressed as Iw rcent per second. A throt-
tle sp e ed of 50 % pe r second means th e thrott le
ped al is beiug red uced to half of its maximum travel
ill 1 sec. Th e lower portion of Figu re 12. .5 shows
t he thrott le speed for both dri vers. III th e sec tion
whore tile slower di ver is figh tin g to kee p the car
Figure 12.,5 I modu lation is necessary to compe nsate for changes
The tllrottle position 1 I .1f. C I lif
ami thro ttle speed fo r 1
t j\T \/1 I~
~
re-o different d rit:ers ill
the :wme car ! i
-l - <, .u
U
I
I ..
, '" I
, ,
.,1 I
. 1!LlJ",j II IL~
- - J,
134 CHAPTER 12
under co nt rol, t he th rottle speed trace illustrates
much higher peaks th an th at of the faster driver.
Experi ence has shown that throttle applica-
tions in a corne r that occur at a speed of more than
150 % per second do not have a beneficial effect on
lap tim es. Note that th is is true during cornering,
but th rottl e blips and lifts while shifting gears can
produce t hrott le speeds of 500% per second and
more.
Braking
A dri ver 's braking ana lysis should include the
follOWing:
• hr aking; p oint location and con sist r-nc v,
• total hraking d istance and hruktug di stan ce
con sistency,
• react ion time bet ween the mom ent th e
d river comes o ff the throttle an d steps on
the brake.
• q u ick ne ss i n h u ildi ng lip ma xi mu m
deceleration,
• how hard the dri ver is hrak illg,
• br ake pressure modulation to comp en sate
for changes in fricti on bet ween the tires
and tr:u:k su rface, ami
• brake pressure variat ion during t hrottle
blip s for downshifting (d river footwork).
Techn iq ue s for investigating how hard . how
quic kly, and whe re th e d river starts hrak ing are
cove red in C hap te r .5. Urakin g, as wit h th rottle
appli cation , requires a certain degree of smoot h-
ness. Too much brake pre ssu re modul ation upsets
th e chassis, making it eve n more d ifficult to stop
th e car in time. On the ot her hand. brake pressure
in the traction between the tires and tra ck surfa ce.
I
I co nstan tly at th e limit of wh eel lockup . Th is is
! another thin line to tread.
In t he followi ng example, three dri vers are
compared brak ing th eir way into Senna's S, t he first
(d ow n hill) corner aft er start /finish on Bra zil 's
~ Int erlagos tr ack (known also as the Aut6drom o Jose
Ca rlos Pace ). All three driver s were driving th e
I,
same car model. Using the method for determining
th rottle speed fro m th e previous paragraph . th e
first deri vative of th e (front) brake pres sure signal is
ca lcul at ed to d etermine th e brake application
 speed. In this case. the braking speed is exp ressed
in bar pe r seco nd. Another way to do this is to d if-
ferentiat e th e longitudinal G channel (C hap te r 5.
braking qu ickn ess). To ana lyze ped al work. how-
ever, use th e cha nnel th at di rec tly relates to th e
ped als, which in this case is th e brake pressure
chann el.
Th e first driver's ac tivities are indicated in
Figu re 12.6 . The pictured channels ar e uraking
speed. (front) brake pr essure. spe ed, and throttle
position. Th e dri ver must redu ce th e speed of th e
ca r fro m 26 0 km /h to a minimu m co rne ring speed
0[88 kill/it; this is achieved in a braking d istance of
240 III (a pe rformance measurement !). During thi s
braking maneuver, t he d rive r shifted from sixt h to
third gear, which do es no t he lp the situation.
The hrakin g ma neuve r be gi ns w here th e
dr iver's rig ht foot is removed from th e throttle
pedal and t ran sferr ed to t he brake pe da l. Thi s
action takes the driver 0.1 sec. Th e bra ke pressur e
chan nel and its deri vati ve shows that th e brake
pr essure increa ses rel at ively slowly. Maximu m
are caused mainly by footwork during dow nshift-
ing. Th is is how it should be done !
Th e third d rive r is a left-foot braker, illu s-
trated by the short transition period be tween com-
ing off t he t hrottle and e ngag ing th e brake in
Figure 12.8. For a very sho rt per iod , th e driver is
simultaneo usly on th e th rottl e and building up
brak e pressure. Pressure is bein g increased to a
maximum of 50 bar at a rate of250 ba r/soThe driver
brakes 34 m ea rlier than the d river in Figure 12.7
and ac hieves a braking distance of 209 ITI. This
driver also shifts d own to second gear. After th e
first peak, the driver modul ates the brakes at a rate
below 70 har/s, which is considerably lower than
the drivers in the previous two examp les. The third
driver achieves thi s because his lcft foot is a ll the
lirukes. which keep s the right foot fre e to blip the
t hrottle during downshifts . Here . th e po ssi ble
.. SIow J-~J I ! 1
I ..... 2 4i--+- Figure 12 .6
Driver 1 braking into
~ ~'t-.Aj l.l lJ...l;-r- Semlll :~ S

'--
,

brake pre ssu re is 45 bur ami is achieved only after r~-l ~

'~ Ilif !l I
one-third of the total braking distan ce is covered. - I I / <--l _
Th e driver 's footwork is rather sloppy. somet hing
I I L .-,I
RIktlDn Ii1lI Q.II _ ,- MaL,.......4Ii... \ '

t hat is indicated by a seriously fluctuat ing brake ._.LJ I ~ I {YI-

speed t race. D u rin g th e driver's down sh ift fro m
, I '
I I
I '1"" "'i.:~
~"IItNpe411
fifth to fou rt h gear, ncarly all brake pressure was
lost as t he driver blip s tile t hrott le. Th e braking
sequence ends ab rupt ly as the driver's foot is
- I

I
II I--'-240 .,
rr l"
1 1'1 · ....
removed from the pedal. Thi s is followed by a short I 1/ II Y
coasting period when the dri ver is not on the brake I r.J( r VI
or the th rottl e.
-- I - . - - -
- ._- . .... , .,...
Figure 12 .7 provides an example of a much
bett er braking maneuver performance, proven by a 3l)I bif lf '\. F igu re 12.7
heroi c braki ng di stance of 195 m and a braki ng Driver 2 braking into
'~ Senna s S
pnint that is located 25 m furthe r down th e track.
-

,
Th e second driver takes Senna's S in second gear,
I
so there is one down shift more than in the previous Mii...... 1IIIl :-

.., --- . -:.:;.,

example. Th ere is absolute ly no delay between the ~~
moment the dri ver's foot is rem oved from the th rot- ~
tIe and when th e brake is engaged. A maximum I- -
V I'...--
~ 1-'""]
..... ...., .......
.-
brake pressure of 69 bar (at a speed of 301 barls) is ." \
increase d instant aneously. From th at mom ent, th e
driver gradually decreases pe da l pressure to avoid
~ :
...............1 '\
~ r= .-
wheel lock du e to decreasing ae rodyna mic drag.
Thi s is ach ieved by neatly modu lat ing th e brake
pre ssure below 90 bar/soPeak speeds in th is area
.. - - - hIL
-
Al\"ALl'ZI i'OG TilE DHIVE H 135

-
 advan tage of left-foot braking is illust rat ed.
Although the dri ve r's brake pressure modulation is
better, th is d rive r misses an opport unity in th is
braking zone for two rea sons : select ing an ea rly
brak ing point an d correct ing ped al pressure ha lf-
way th rough th e braking zone (see th e indicat ed
a rea in th e brake pressur e t race ). Th e dri ver soon
rea lize s here the pressure is decreasing at too high
a rate and th erefore increases peda l pressure.
T he previous exam ples showe d d ifferen t
techniques used ill a very hard braking zone, where
the prima ry goa l wa s to slow th e ca r down su ffi-
cie ntly in as short a d istance as possible. Howeve r,
the brake pedal is a lso a way fin- th e driver to influ-
e nce th e vehicle's tr an sient hand ling, The locat ion
of hra king points, maximum hrak ing effort , and the
way brake pressur e is modulated determines at
what rate longitudi nal we ight tran sfer ta kes place
and th e attit ude of th e ear ill the co rner. A sudden
reduct ion in brake pressure crea tes a n insta nt for-
wa rd longitudin al weight shift, mom e ntarily pro-
vid ing more co rne ring grip to the fron t whee ls. In
add itio n, beginn ing to brake wit h less than ma xi-
IllUIll hraki ng e ffor t may allow a more pre dictable
corner entry. Always observe a ll th e variables and ,
more impor tantly, ta lk to the dri ver !
Shifti ng Gears
Cha nging gea rs does not make the drive r's
life ea sier. Down shifting can be frust rat ing at tun es
be cause it co mes whe n the ca r mu st he slowe d
down into u corner ove r a very short di st ance .
Fig ure 12 .8 , driver response to cha nges in t he velucle ba lan ce .
"" ' j' 'A t
"",fa
Co nce ntrati ng on two different act ivities perfor med
simultaneously requi res skill.
Gear-cha nge analysis focuses on the follow-
ing issues :
1. Upshift
• At which e ng ine speed does th e d river
cha nge to a higher gear ?
• Duration of the upshift
2 . Downshift
• At wh ich e ng ine spe e d does t he d r-i ver
cha nge to a lower gear?
• Th rottle blippi ng
• Brake modu la tion durin g dow nshi ftin g
{i.e., the drivcr's fo otwor k; se (' pr pyiolls
sect ion)
The tec hniques used to a nalyze th e-se issill' S
are covered extensively ill Chapte r fi .
Corneri ng
Th e physics bel und get ti ng a rucecar a roun d
a co rner a rc di scussed ill C hapter t . Th e tra ct ion
ci rc le is a tool used to det erm ine t he corne rill).!;
potential of a ca r, TIle traction ci rcle can also deter-
mine if th e d river en(~ct ivdy uses the available cor-
ne ring power .
Ju st like th e th ro ttl e a nd bra ke ped a ls. tltc
stee rin g wheel is a dri ver contro l t hat in fl ue nce s
th e dynam ic a tt it ude of t he vehicle. Tu min g the
wheel, the re fore, requires t he driver to exerc ise a
degree of smoo thness to not ups{'t the chassis wit h
unnecessa ry movem ent s.
A ro ugh stee r ing an gle signal resu lts from
steer ing fee dback due to road irregula rit ies an d

Driver S b rakin g into

_ -I~-I
Selina 's S
--- I __ 30lJ.Irll h.
Th e steeri ng wheel gives a dri ver all ind icat ion of
what is happening at th e front tir e contac t patches.
".2>

-,--- i
I .-----"- -- --
j~.-=["·il
'·0- I
.- .1
_ j____
..
I
-= Any ch anges in t he ti res' sel f-aligning to rqu e are
felt by th e dri ver 's hands on th e stee ring whee l and
provide an idea of how much grip is ava ilable at th e
,_&.,_ ,,Mm_ 1'\ I I
&<.mg drr.. z
pDInl ", Cotreelloll
" I fro nt ax le. For th e rear ax le , th e dri ver se nses
!---1-t-- ', II __ f----i"
•
cha nges in th e lat eral acceleration to es tim ate th e
/1 i i - -;\ ./ I i grip level.
sr-, I I

~
- I , I Th ese brain inputs result in a dri ver respon se
!
J ; i
at th e steering whe el. This resp onse sho uld be of
: 1 i I
... -= -
v= l Gf-t :;
I I I
such magn itude that it keeps th e car on its desig-
nated trajectory. Too mu ch response up set s th e
- chassis.

136 CHAPTER 12
 Steering smoothness is evaluated in exactly
t he sa me way as th rottle and brake inp uts. The
steering angle signa l is di fferentiat ed to obtain
stee ring speed.
An example is provided in Figure 12 .9. Th e
steering wheel angle and steering speed traces are
give n for two different d rivers goi ng through
Senna's S at l nterlagos. Th e driver producing the
black steering sp eed trace ha s a lower average
amplitude, which al so is proven by a s moot he r
stee ring angle trace.
A car with handli ng problem s requ ires more
steering corrections fro m th e driver and creates
Iligller steeri ng speed amplitudes. \Vhen a corner is
take n at a lower speed, stee ring spl"l'd amplitudes
decreases. First find out from t he driver if the cor-
ne r is bein g approac hed at a maximum allowable
speed and if the balance of th e car is accept able
before thinking about stee ring smoot hness.
determined by the drivin g line chosen by the driver.
Possible apex locations are in.Fig u re 12.11.
Assu ming t hat the track widt h at th e corner
entry and exit arc t he same , a constant radiu s line
tra nslates to an apex located in th e middle of th e
corner. A mid -corner apex allows t he dri ver to
maintain a straight-line speed as long as possible
without sacrificing corner exit speed .
~' o" -,-"----,-----",----,---,--,,,,,,-"""-.,----r-----.
Figu re 12.0
Stccri l lf!, II'I/Cd tfl llf.Ie
a lit! stce ri llf!, speed[or
tl l'O dricor» IhrollJ!.h
Se/lll(l 'o~ S

Driving Line
Th e line selected by the dri ver whe n negoti-
ating th e corner is det ermin ed by th e maximum
speed of a car being dr iven at the limit during cor-
nering. To achieve t he g reatest possible cornering
speed , th e path through the corner should he an
..... -- -
,
.~
I I I I
-
a rc with the grea test po ssible radius. The spe ed
maint ained through tile corner also det ermines the Figure 12.10 Speed und co rner rudin» ol'crlay of
speed on t he follOWing st raightaway. (However, it tlW lap sec t ions Of the Pa,,1 Rica rd High Tech Te...t
Truck
docs not determine necessarily the top speed; see
C hapter 4.) Because cor neri ng speed and st raight- iioiPie@"U o
... Oot. . . . . . . _ _
,nse 'Bh'F#tiiF\! 0

away speed an' the pe rformance factors detcru u u- • ~ I [, 1. 1 e ~ 01 .. /3" g r-. l:!lil • • I. '
ing lap time, it is impo rtan t to find out if the driver -r t " " -s r - _ _
-- - ..
I
is locating th e ideal pat h around the racetrack. ~ ~~~~"ll

The analysis software can calculate the cor-

~ ~ ... ~- , ...""
I
o• •"
ner radius by defining th e mathematical cha nnel
{Eq u at io n 12 .3 ).
1:/ ------
1\
v2
R ~ ­ (Eq. 12.3)
-:'." .
I'·
'.'
i "" f"
G 1at r- ;.. .;-, ;-". i
Th e result looks as illust rated in Figure 12.10. -
i- !.oil 1,.
".

1\
According to Equ ation 12.3 , th e corner
;\
.
\
radius is t he smallest where lateral acc eleration
'~
,
........~.,,,
reaches its maximum. \ Vith this in mind, t he loca-
tion of th e apex can be determined from t he comer ....
'\
,

radius graph . Th e apex is th e point in th e corner

where th e ca r is closest to the inside edge and is

Y'\.\ IJ7:I:'\C T ilE IJHI\'EH 137

 Because th e geo metric location of the apex is
th e middle of the corner, th e corne r rad ius is at its
minimu m at this poi nt. This results in a symmet ri-
c al co rner radius t race, which is illustrated in t he
upp e r left d rawing in Figu re 12 .11. Mid -corne r
apexes often show a flat, late ra l C plateau in th is
section of the corner.
Late corner entry and late apex go hand in
hand as indicated in th e right upp er d rawing in
F igure 12 .11. This results in a n exces s amount of
track left at th e comer exit. which is not utilized
whe n accelerati ng th e ca r, and co mpro mises speed
on t he followi ng stra ight. lu re alit y, t he d river
u nwinds th e stee ring wheel at t his point to lise a ll
ava ilab le grip for for ward accele ra tio n. Also, hy
pe rformi ng th e lar gest amount o f turni ng at t he
corne r ent ry, th e car is in a bette r posit ion for the
Figure 12.11
.Hicl-con lCr. late, lllld
early apex
Figure 12. 12
An early apex indicated
by increasing lateral Gs \
.....
to a lat e peak and
minimum corne r radius \ enginee r mu st decide if it was t ile correct oru-, Look
138 CHAPTER 12
exit, which makes it ea sie r to accelerate out of th e
co rne r. However, th e drawback of a late apex is sac-
rifici ng corne r e ntry spe ed . Achieving a mini mu m
corne r rad ius in th e ea rly par t of th e corne r gin >s
away a late apex in th e corne r rad ius graph. Lateral
Gs incre ase quickly, peaki ng ea rly following corner
e ntry, a fte r which th ey decrease slowly until th e
d river sta rts to unwind the stee ring wheel.
Fin ally, a n early co rner entry resu lts in all
e a rly apex . T he driver t u rn s t he stee ring wh eel
more (to dec rease th e radiu s of the path ) at th e co r-
ne r exit, whic h inevit ably sacrtflccs the cor ner exit
spee d. In th is case, the tnin inu uu corner rad ius is
reached ill th e later stage of t he corne r, which cn--
ates a t race resemhli ng th e lower drawi llg iu F ig n rt-'
12.11. As tile stee ring an gle increases. late ral ucccl-
c rut ion incre ases to a late pe ak (F ig u re 12 .1 2 ).
Earl;' apex illg a lso res ults ill a later th rott le upplica-
tion point, as much of t he corne ring is clone so latr-
in th e co r ner.
To d e te ruuuc whe re t he d ri ve-r plal'('s tilt'
apex. know w h at type of corner (lil t' is dpalill).! wit II.
A consta nt radius co r ner. on e defi ned hy O I l{ ' single
radius, favors an ap ex placed d ose to the uuddk- of
th e co rner. /\ decrea sing rad ius cor ner. wlu -n- tile
latt e r part of t he tu rn is tighte r, lIoTlllall y l" jw ri-
c nces a late ape x, while in all int'Tei.lsing radill \ cur-
ner th e apex is placed e a rlier.
Ha irpins a re comers excl'cd ing 1 ~1I dq !; .uu l
arc speciul cases . Th ese usuall v ar e tackle d ,, ·jt ll a
Single, late apex to m axitui zr: co nu-r ('xit Sp l'(' I !. Ill lt
a n app roac h wit h a double ap e.\ is also l''! il.h-.
Much depe nds 0 11 th e ca r a nd h(l" · it lumd k- the
mid -corn er cha nge of d in -etten . Tu l·olllplicatt · tln-
matter even more, grip le vel ch anges. banked cor -
ner s, an d bumps also influe nce apex placcuu-ut .
The data logg ing syste m reveals which line-
wa s ta ken to handle a co rne r, but till' dr-iver and
at th e min imu m corner ing speed and co rner exit
speed to eva luate di fferent lines. Always rem embe r
that a highe r corne r exit spee d minimize s rlu- ti nu-
spe nt on th e following st ra ight. The refore. dri\"ill~
line analysis sho uld conce nt rate prima rily on t lil'
corners th at matter, th e ones followed by a !"ignifj·
cant acceleratio n zon e. Sector ti me analysts can he
very helpful here as well.
 Driving Line Analysis Using GPS Drivi ng Line Analysis
Track mapping with CPS is becoming more Using Video Feed
useful in raceear data logging systems . Th e accu- The next best thing to putting th e driving line
racy of these track maps make th em very suitable on a two-dimensional map is recording it on vide o.
for d rivin g line an alysis. Wh en overlaying track Mod ern data logg ing systems often ca n synchronize
maps from d ifferent laps (Figure 12.13), a d iffer- the logged data with video recordings. Wat ch th e
ence in driving line is visua lized clea rly wit hout images with the speed tra ce to find out whi ch line
ca lculat ing and analyzing a corner radiu s cha nnel. thro ugh a corne r is the fastest (Figu re 12.16) .
In co mbi nation w ith an analysis of t rack segme nt
t imes , it is possible to de termine which driving line
was th e faste st.
Figure 12. 13
Th is type of vis ua lization give s t he person
A comparison of d ri d llg
behind the laptop screen more of a feeling for where lines O il a track map
th e car actu ally d rives on the track. Th e t rack bor- at'crlay created fro m a
CPS signal
d e l'S also call he show n 011 t he track Illap by first
do ing a lap around th e circ uit on the outs ide track
bo rder followed by a lap on t he ins ide border. Th is 7 -r
way, it is easy to visua lize how much of th e track th e
d river is using. An examp le is given in Figu re 12 .14 ,
J
which shows a CPS -created tra ck Illap of th e Circ uit
D uiveisb e rg Muasmc chelen rallyc ross circuit. Th e
black Imes rep rese nt ing the tra ck perime ters we re
~ "" ' !>' ~ ! ... ~--

logged by strapping the da talogger toge t he r with a

CPS ante nn a and an exte rn al batt er y to t he back of
a bicyde . Th ese lines ar e not as fluent as the actua l 11 . . _.. :. __ i i _ _~ _
Fig ure 12.14
dri\'ing lines logged in th e vehicle. Thi s is pri maril y Track map of the
because of the ab sence of high lateral an d !ougitml i- Maus mechelen rally -
eros.') circuit . The Mack
na l accele rat ion levels 011 th e bicycle . Th e position lines represent the track
Signa ls normally are ca lculated from the raw C PS perimeters that we re
logged at low speed with
Signal and the acceleration cha nnels, hu t in the ca se a Race Tech nology DL I
or th e bicycle the dat a logger relics cxclustvclv 0 11 GPS receiver st rapped
th e C PS dat a . T he Indicated area in Figu re 12.101 to the back of a bicycle.

illustrates a pa rt of th e track where the CPS sigua l

was tempora rily blocked hy a gro up of trees, which
is de t ri menta l for positional accu racy in thi s case.
Howeve r, th e black line s provide a fine representa-
tion of the tr ack surface. Downhill skiing has simi-
lar use for this typ e of analysis. A C PS recei ver with
Figure 12 .15
inertial sensors is attached to the athl et e to an alyze Driving lines in Google
th e downhill trajectory. D ata logging is not limited Earlh™
exclusively to motor racing.
Th e example in Figure 12. 15 goes even fur-
th er. Here t he C PS traj ectory logged by a Race
Technology D L I dat a lo~ger is expo r ted from th e
analysis softwa re and proj ect ed o n top of a satellite
image of th e track obtained from t he Internet appli -
cation Google Earth'>'.

'-\:'\"\Lrl.l :\G TIlE DHI\'ER 139

-
 Driver Consiste ncy Sometimes, on short cou rses w ith ma n)' com-
over Mult iple Laps petitors on the track, it is difficult to determine how
consistent the driver was from only th e t imesheets.
Dri ver consisten cy is eas ily assess able by
In this cas e , rely on the sector tim e report.
obse rving lap times. Stati sti cal ca lculations (e.g..
Figure 12. 17 s hows a secto r time report
average and standard deviation) can be performed
from th e 12 first lap s of a GT race on th e Circuit
to qu antify consi stency and use as measures for tac-
Zolder ra cetrack. In this race , fort y-five compe ti-
tical decision s.
tors shared a 4-km circ u it . The t rack was di vided
into fourteen segme nts in whic h eac h co rner a nd
Figure 12.16 Synchroni::;;lIg rideo recordings It"it h stra ight was defin ed as a se parate segment.
th e IOggCll {lata can be ('cry rCl' eali'lg W!U'U flIllllyzili g
In thi s re por t, th e fastest seg mc nt tim e for
clddng lines
eac h sector is ind icated auto matically with a black
_ , ~ ."..... ....... _ _ lI _ ... haekground, and e"ery segme nt tim e co ming within

'-'- 2% of th is tim e is highli ght ed in gray. Th e more g ray

area appearing in thi s repur t , th e m ore consiste nt

:J- th e driver is.

I n se ct or Str6-7 (F ig u re 12.17) over th e 12
laps, a faste st sec to r ti m e of .5.3.59 sec was reached.
i:'- ]c-:c-:.,......,.,......,.,......,:-::o:-::o:-::o:-::o:-::!:-::!:-::!:-::!:-::,::-::,::-::,:,.....,.,---:c---::r---::r-,. Thi s means that c"cry seg me llt time within .5.3.59
sec x 1.02 = S A()() sec is highlightc·d in g ray. To be
consis te nt , a d river needs to 1)(· within one-tenth of
h is fastest sector time t!\'('ry ti me .
Of co urse , thi s ull depe Jl (ls on what on e COII -
siders co nsis te nt . III this exam ple . the d rive r is sup -
posed to he wit h in 2% of t lu- best pe rform an ce ,
The d river's faste st lap du ring the ruce was D4..3-t·1
sec . This menus th at it cons iste nt lap li me is ;lIl~'­
thin g within H4.344 sec- x 1.02 = Hfi.227 sec , which
is already a hig difference in lap tim e .

Figure 12.17 Sector time report oj 12/(//',0; during a

GT race 011 the Zolder mcdmck

!l:!...,~llU ' 20040425-«ltI101.ld(fl.l,tJ(.lCllder. lw.4f2004. 5:14pm) C

2 ) ~1 teo 12
" 11

,.......... ..
le lrt_ io.l9& ,~

..... aD IUS7

.....
,"'''
s..U
,1.511

.....
lJM
U23
U lIlll
US2
5.118
ec::::::J:III
'""
! .C'1
v.....
e
.51'
wi
U.
,
U<

ses- 55l(1 5&'1

-... 1.l5li. u.,
,>-0..... 1.1~ CD
U50l US&
S-!IO '..Gt'- LS1
" ... 10 BDXl DlDI

• d'

fastest sectortime Fastest laptime Sector tsne within 2%of

for sector Stf6·7 fastest sector time

140 CHAPTER 12
 for crea ting math ematical channels rel ating to sus- CFl

pension behavior for the data ac quisitio n software.

(Y) ...::
0
~
4, Veh icle Dyna mic s Simulation 9,...
Simulating th e dynam ic beh avior of a veh icle
allows the user to ver ify the performan ce of d iffer- 0::: z
,...,
'-'
ent vehicle con figu rations. In motorsp orts, th ese
W <;
1-
n all mot o r racin g di scipline s, track tim e is
lim ited becau se race organizers mu st divi de
packages ca n be used to pred ict th e lap ti me ach iev-
ah le on any given racetrack. -
I- .....
~
pract ice and race t ime among vario us classes (L

to offe r a suita ble p rog ram to spe ctators . The test-
ing ti me available be tween races is primarily a bud-
ge t questio n. Becau se of thi s. rac ecar behavior
snuu latiou is be coming mo re po pu la r, and simula-
tion softwa re is now ava ilable to th e wider pu blic .
T his chapte r offers a short in trodu ction to simu la-
tion and how it ca n int eract w it h the data acqui si-
t ion syste m.
Introduction
Simulatio n gives an e ng ineer th e ab ility to
predict race-car beh avior wit ho ut putt ing the car on
a race track" Vario us techn iq ues are avai lable for
prt'dicti ng th e perform an ce of a vehicle in different
ureus. Th ese include the follow ing:
1. Comp utationa l F lu id Dynamics (C F D)
Thts com pr ises th e num e r ica l solut io n
obt ained from computationa l method s of fluid lIow
p rope rt ies. CF I) a llows si mulation of th e ucro dv-
nam ic behavior o r raceca r co mpo nents or th e e ntire
vehicle. It is muc h like having a virt ual w ind tun nel
at one 's disp osal. Ot her applications of C F D includ e
heat tra nsfe r si u rulut lon , eng ine co mb ust ion pro -
ce ss simu lutio u, and fluid d rive n syste ms ana lysis.
2 . Engin e Simulation
So ftware pack ages are avuilublc to simu late
th e behavior of vario us e ng ine config u rations.
«
Th e re ma inder of this chapte r co ncentrates
ir:
on kinematics and lap tim e simulatio n. One can
have different objectives when simu lat ion software
is integ rated into th e ra cing te am st ru ct ure. Th e
most obvious rea son for llsing the se tools is to virt u-
I
a lly test cha nges to the ruccca r wit hout having to
physically test th em on the track. W hen the vehicle
U
model is accurate e nough to perfor m th e se virt ua l
tests, money and ti me is saved (F ig u re 13.1).
Anot he r (possibly not so evident ) reason for
lIsin g t hes e tools is de te rmining cer ta in ve hicle
parameters. Th is cau be ach ieved by att em ptin g to
match data mea su red hI' th e da ta ac q uisitio n sys-
tem to th e ou tput of the simulat ion by twea king th e
simulation's inpu t pa ramet ers, a hit like solving an
eq uation wit h mor e th an one uHk~l own variable.
Much of the recen t lap time simulatio n program's
o utput is ,"ery simila r to th e g ra phs creat ed by th e
data acquisition ana lysis softwa re and offe rs th e
Figure 13 .1 Racecar behocio r simultllioJl
..._...- "'- --.!:""-'-~-----""''' -- '--- - - - - - - - - - - - --"
BOSCH
a:a-
J:a _.u...
I : I : I Z I - -'"

E ng ine powe r an d torque a re pre dic tab le to a high

deg ree of accuracy. and different solut ions can be
tested w itho ut pu tting a n engi ne on th e dyn o.
3. Sus pens ion Kinematics Simulation
Suspe nsio n geo me t ry simu latio n packa ge s
all ow th e user to input a ll rel evant su sp ension
pickup points, the three-d imen sional coo rdi nates ,

___r_ ..•• .. - ..,-

an d ot he r ne ccssurv veh icle dimen sion s. Th e so ft-
ware's ou tpu t typically includes dyn am ic roll cente r ~ --.-"' •• U ll M

- ." ••
-
" - - oot.' _ _ __ laM .... . , .....
", .1'

-
M

loca tio n. ca mbe r cha nge, wh eel rat es, and bu mp

steer. T his type of simulat ion is particularly useful --.....'- "
m
~

"
Ii i

SI \ l l "LAT IO :'\'TO O LS 141

 capability to impo rt data and directly overlay them the recorded data valida tes th e mod el afterward.
onto the simulated dat a. Once _a reliable model is created, its output can be
In addit ion, vehicle paramet ers not d irectly used not on ly to predi ct the effect of changes to the
measur ed ca n be simulated . A simple example is to vehicle but also to calculate cha nnels not directly
use kinem ati cs simulation to crea te th e wheel's measu red on the car.
bump stee r cu rve at di fferen t wheel travel values.
Subse quen tly, a mathematica l cha nnel ca n be cre- Suspensio n Kinematics
ated in th e data a nalysis software th at relates th is Simul at ion
ca lculated curve to the whee l travel data measured Suspension kinematics describes the way that
duri ng the car's t rack time. the spr ung and unsprung ma ss of the vehicle relate
The inte racti on be twee n th e data acqui sition to one anot her and to the relative motion of the
system and th e applied simu lations works ill two various suspension and chassis components . A tvpi-
directions. T he simu lation softwa re requires input cal kine matics softwa re package requi re s the coer-
t hat in some cases 1I111St he measured on th e tra ck: dinutes of each sus p e ns io n pi ck up poin t to he
entered (F ig u re 13 .2). Th e typica l output parame-
Figure 1:1.2 ters include the following:
Dod~e Viper G TS-li • roll-cente r height from the gro und and off-
[ront S I/·.,PC IIS ;O Il
geomet ry set fro m the axle ce nte rline,
• s\ving axle length and angle,
• dynamic camher gain,
• dynam ic easte r,
• dynam ic kingp in incli nati on,
• tire sc rub,
• dyna mic toe (bum pstecr) ,
• roll ste er,
• whe el movcuu- nt versus shock ab so rbe-r
movement (motion ratio),
Fig ur e 1.1.3 A. kinem at ic... model i... cre ateel by • a nt illft/a nt tsq unt .
en tering all releca nt .'iW.! Il·I1Sio ll pickuJI J10 iul coon li- • dyna mic t rack width,
illites and icheel alig nm en t "wtt ing..s.
• Ackerman steering. and
... - -.- -
a s sf ; .1; if··...
_ I-' ~ _ I_ I I_ I_ I_I _ IT_I
I
• d rtvcshafl angle am i plunge.

..-- -
~ "_""'_f(-.
, Th ese pa ra met e rs C<\11 he calc ula te d as a
..- .-... ---:;;e _ function of ride height, wheel t ravel, roll angle , and
- GJ
:..- I :r--;uo , _~

--
e-
I "I "$..00 1'1i'i"iM"
- "'_ r-nJ:iO ".W_ steering angle. when th e soft ware allows vehicle
r"xrt:il
- - -
!

r-xl - 1'1-
I JUI ·m., ,rme! --
_--
..
---
---
-."
,.
"'~
~~

~~
"' -
2.• _

. ~-
~ ., .

I
dynam ics parameters such as spring rates, corner
weights . and ce nte r of grav ity heights to be inp ut,
r-.,......
---
Gixl- --1'/"iii" II _101._ 1,
I
- ....
...
- -........._ r-TziiT

-- ..... - -".-_001-
_ ~

...u
_ ""_ _ 00. _ _ -.,
.)' ,
. ,.p I
dynamic weight t ransfer and wheel loads can be
calculate d also.
---'....
1 )1 "
-~ '.11 I
r-",......
- - I
r- ~ .-« "
Wh en th e location of t he suspe nsion pickup

- .- -_N-- I/J I
_ .... - rJiiU f\?- 1[:EJ ...1!!..J x e-I
. ~- r~ _
points are not supplied by t he manufacturer, care
C_ I~ ~ xe- 1 ./ ~ must be taken when measu ri ng th em on the ca r.
---
~

... Th e output obt ained from the software calculations

xl _--
au.. 1'1 ......~
....._--
~ xl ~
1'1"'iiiO II
[ ....
~ xl

.•" .. .[--
xl -- II
n Ul

uuo 1'~
----
1' ftliill~ ;

---- , <,
...... OlU I

"." I
I is only as accu rate as t hat of the coor d inate mea-

- ... r- --
UOM ' M ,O!) ,
su reme nts. Manufacturer d rawings of the variou s
<, - r~_

"I
crJiiiO 1'1 II ·•.... 1 J"" --- I ~ .-l...!!.J )C - suspension part s (e.g., hubs, upright s, wishbone,

.-1
J11,_
h_
~ chassis) are useful. Occasionally, part s must be dis-
~ [EJ...I!!.J ~
assembled to obtain a proper measu re me nt.

142 CHAPTER 13
Typi cally. most of th e time required to d evel op a Lap Time Simulation
good ki nem atics mod el goes toward measuring th e
Th e primary performance indicator of a race-
suspe nsion pickup point s (if nne is not designing
ca r is the lap time that it can ach ieve on any given
th e suspension from scra tch). It is also ne cessary to
racetrack. Most changes made to th e ca r aim to
ensure th at the relative positions of th e pickups are
decrea se lap time. Lap time simul at ion packages
measu red from a known ride height.
are ava ilable for simulating racin g laps. C ha nges to
\ Vhen an appro p riate kin em ati cs mod el is
th e ca r ca n be evaluated beforeha nd . It is doubtful
selected , th e effect of mod ifying various suspen -
that simulation will replace completely circu it test-
sion parameters can be investigated . In ad diti on ,
ing. bu t it reduces the amo unt of set up va riables
th e data acq uisition enginee r has acce ss to more
and gives the team more track ti me so team mem -
information to better unde rstan d t he beh avior of
hers can focus on ot her issues . In add ition, t he
t he veh icle. Th e output of th e kinematics mod el
more accurate the model . th e more setup pamme-
can be input into the dat a analysis softwa re through
ters ca n he optim ized without act ually test ing them
th e use of mat h channe ls (F ig u re 13.3) .
O il the racetrack.
F ig ure 13.4 shows (a mong othe r pa ramete rs)
Th ere are different software packages avai l-
the dynam ic ca mbe r values for th e front and rear
able. The following are the more popul ar ones:
suspe nsion of a Dodge Viper GT S-H that were cal-
• PiSim (Pi Research),
CIliated wit h a ki nem ati cs mod e l creat ed in
• LT S (Lap Time Simulation, Milliken
Susprog3D. I f the analysis software allows th is func-
Hcseurch Associates Inc .).
tion, these values can be ente red d irectly as a lookup
table with wheel t ravel as an input variable (see the
example ill C hapter 11). Alterna tively, th e camber Figure 13.4 Kinematics model output
val ues can be exported to a spreadshe et where the)'
Roll .nof b.... p (Fronl) ~
are graphed against whe el travel and an eq uation
(I.e .. a t rendltne ) is ca lculated from t h is curve
(F ig u re 13 .•5) . Th e eq uations ca lcu lated by t he
LK ..tIe . l

4O, Si b __
) 0 , 00 buaJ>
20,00 buaJ>
,-,
. ~, 44

-4.n
. 1,&8
cu te .
12 .~ 0
12 , 11
."
1 ~,18
14 ,46
1 ~,2 0
.c...
-0 ,1'
0 ,08
0,18
u_
) , 15
2 ,29
<.oOln
-12 , 20
_',49
- 6, 98
o Eh H"
. U, 2 S
0,00
"".... 01 .
54 , 4.3
$1, 46
,-
.011 COn t.<e he1Ilh"

U ,U
21, 46
~u
HO~ , n
11 00 ,01
19l1, 9l
"-

12, 0 4 ' .~ 0 , 00 49 , 4.3 29 ,43

....
10 00 b -s " 11 , 77 13, 98 O,H O, H -4 , . 9 0 , 00 41 , 10 11,10 a U,20
sp reads hee t softwa re are indi ca ted in t he graph. ' ut.u
10, 011 dl_
""OOP
.',SO
- 1, 11
- 1,21
11, SO
11 , 24
10 . 97
13 ,'0
11,66
13 , 56
0, 00
-0,21
' .00
- O, H
- 1 , 41
....
- 2, 02

2,93
0 , 00

0 , 00
46 , 11
," , n
4.3, 56
46 , 11
54 , n
n,w;
2612 .61
3Ul, !!
6-US, "
Th e last arg ument in both eq uat ions eq ua ls th e 20 , DO
21,0' dnop -J,U 10,15 13,50
-(1.'0
-1,12 -2 ,06 6 , 95 _6 , ) ) 42 ,90 10 , " 623 6,n

static camber angle (3.5 deg on the front wheels, 1.S

(k'g on the rear). III othe r words, the front and rear ~~
dvu aur ic camber angles in this example are defined
by Eq uations 13 .1 and 13. 2. 1.1:_ .1
,- , .,. u_
_...... "
...
lOU c.... <.o:.
,,-
"'l~ "
"-
K'~

....'.00 ~"
CU te . oU n .. chu . h
,. n '' .00

....• ...••
1U,lII ~ -6 , 1' - 2, ' 2 11. 69 11, 77 ~ -14, 00 ' 11 , 55
Th ese two equations can be entered into the 110,DO boa;> _5 , 96 - 2. n 11 , 46 2,)2 11,41 .00 91 . 01 - 12,92 ' ," ,12
1DO,OO boa;> - 5," -2,~ 11," '.U 10 ,43
••00 '.00 OO . U - 9,$1 JtI9 . 40
allah-sis softwa re as math emati cal channels and 99,00 " -
M,oa "'-
_4 , n
- 4, n
- 2.ll
- 2 , O?
11. n
16 ,13
'.-
''.e ' '.00
'.00
'.00
' 4 ,51
79,%6
- 5 , 4.3
~ . 16
Uas,22
1211~ . ltt

t reated like any chann el logged by the dat a acqu isi- lO,oa "'-
M , DO " ' -
. 3 , 17
- ), 43
-1 .12
·1, 56
16 , "
1$.96 _.n
,'.~ '."
'.00
'.00 '.00
'.00
1'4 , 52
~.n
4 , 5l
10 . 21
111 ',54
1656, 59

.... ......" ''.00 ' .00 "."

$0,00 " ' - - ) , 01 -1 . 30 IS . S9 16, "" lW, 11
tion system. Fig ur e 13.6 port r<tys the values of th e 4O, DO btaIl - 2 , 14 · 1 , 04 1$ ,25 1.13 <•• .00 '. ~ 61 .91 ...n 11 29, 67

above chann els for a lap around Circuit Zolder in a ..

lO ,lIO ...."
ZO,OO " ' -
~
- 2, ""
-l ,l'
- In
-,
~.n
·(I , U
-0 ,%6
14 .96
14, 71
14 , 500
1 .07
(1,5 1
J ,2 4

..
2 , 11
'.00
'.00
'.00
'.00
'.00
''.00
.00
59 , "
n ...

....
5 3 , 91
" .n
"."
.....
43 , 91
211I5, 11
2454.92
2tlO, I 4

Dodge Vipe r GTS -R. for which th is kinemat ics 10 , 00

ZO,IIO
4<:_ u_
J u uc
- 1 ,61
~ '.00
......
0 ,%6
14 . 33
14 , 20
' .00
-0 , ' 5
'. ~
-1 , 10
~
''.00
.00 '.00
'.00
51 .(1)

• .n
51 .(13 ) 11 5 , 0 5
SU4 ,09

....
lO,OO . ._ -1 .st 0 ,53 14 , 12 - l .JI - l, 2 1 1 4 . 18 99 lS , U
model was created. Th is tech niqu e can be used to u_
-l,U ~ 14 , 09 - 2, 11 - ' . 33 '.00 '.00 41 .10 1'1, 10 l 619'1,M
40 ,00
'."
....
- 1 , 541 14 ,11 -) .02 · . , 46 360.16 l1i . 14 - 1 5110 ,22
SO,DO U eo, 1.33 '.00 '.00 ~1 61 ,O4

....
- 1 ,51 14, 1' _) . ' l -5. 50 Sl. U 11 . 42
relate all parameters calculated by the kin em ati cs 60 , 00 . ._
- I , ll 16 . 33 - • • 16 ~ ,n
'.00 '.00 l 4 .'10 ' 4 , lO - )4;)1 . 33

software to measured tra ck data.

n ,M U _ -1 ,91 14 , 5.6 - 5, 11 - 7 . 92 '.00 '.00 15 . 91 '5 ,95 - 2 416,' 1

~-
IU R

~~

3
Cambe rFron, ; -5 · \0 -8 . X~eelF - 2 . 10- . X~eelF - 0.0151· XWheelF - CamberSta'icF (Eq. 13.1)

(Eq. 13.2)

S I ~ Ill LATl O :'\' TOO LS 143

 • MSC .ADAMS / Motorsports (MSC Lap time simulation is a technique formerl y
Software ). used on ly in th e upper echelons of motorsports.
• CarSim (Mec ha nical Simul ation Many of th ese high- end use rs actually develop their
Co rporation ). own programming code to set up a model of t heir
• CALLAS Motorsports (Sera-C D). ca rs. T his is often quicker th an using comme rcia lly
• RaceSim (D.A.T.A.S. Ltd .), available packages. Also, whe n thc software is writ-
• FastLapSim (I' roRacingSim). te n in-h ou se , t he prog ra mmer a lso kn ow its
• LapSim (Bosch Motorsport Cm bf I). and limitations.
• Chassisshu (Chassissim Technologies). Not cve ryo ne has access to t hose program -
ming facilities. However, as with data acquisition
technology, simu lation so ftware has become more
Figu re 13 .5 Dodge Yiper G7'S.Hfmrlf ami rear access ible to all raci ng d isciplin cs. In fact. some
dyn amic camber curccs
illu stra tion s in thi s chap ter were err-an-d with

. ,~
c •
" '"
_._1.. .. , LapSim, which ca n he down loaded free of cha rgp
frum www.bosch-nmtorsport .com.
Th e approa ch used to create a stm ulation
.,
-+- c -Sf..--,' · D.OOOz-,'· 0.01$1_ . J.5 mode l differ s a mong various software packages, but
___ C_ _ . 2E·O '-.· _ O.DOll ~' . 8.1l" ' _ . I. '
th e fundam ental principles rem ain th e sallie. 15 A
race track is divided into Illany individual sectors,
v
each defi ne d hy lengt h a nd (corne r) radiu s. T he

-.
• maximu m speed in this sector is dc-tenuiucd hy tile
v [ri cfio u be tween th e ti res an d road sllrfac(' as well
'.
as the resistan ce agai nst forwa rd uccclcrution expt'-
• rie ncc d by th e vehic le. O nce- t hp se-ctor speed is
~ 0 known , t he seg men t tim e ca ll I )(~ calculun-d: the

• ~ sum of a ll th ese segment times yields the thco n -ti-

ca l lap lime.
The maximum force that ca ll he tran smitted
F igu re 13.6 D ynamic camber cha nnels created from through the ti n 's' con tac t patches is defilwd bv
a killcm alics model clU rill ~ a lap around Zoldcr Equat io n 13 .:J.

f.. t. Y- ~ tpl t! " ~ l_ 1!""

J J ..w • (J~_~~ ~ 6~0!l 2 r.i ! ~ :J

1I :: II·n ... >I.... ,.~~.I_._'-._.
: -- 1-'00- '
i"u_-----;'J
sc
, "'''''-''- z:_ l l fn l- - - .. J1 is th e coefficient of frict ion be twee n th e
-
'. ' M ~t u .@J m ~ •
tire and th e road su rface a nd F N the normal force

i ~~J~·~\;~/v~fv--. ~~~ '~;I

act ing on th e ti re.
Th ese two par am eter s p resen t a challe nge
when cre ati ng a mathe mat ical racecur model. The

~ ~i~:J~:rt~y\\~ ~t~Vl\k;~L'N ~~i- !E co effic ient of fr icti on p artia IIy depends on t ire
characte ristics a nd a lig nme nt se tti ngs , pressu re,

.. (... _

~~

'-
100oi
l"I OI_-..&
l_'_fQ
""'III
... _JOCIl",
£ooOlI_ m
te mpera t u re, and t he sta te of th e road su rface,
pa ram et e rs that may not re ma in cons tant over the
duration of a lap. Normal load dep end s on vehicle
- - ""'I weig ht, th e location of the center of gravity, roll
stiffness d ist ribution, ae rodynam ic configu ration,
and suspension kinematics. Th ere fore, tile qu ality
of th e veh icle mode l and the cha racteristics of the
_ Oloil
f_ "," llIClol
va rious softwa re packages primarily depend s on

144 CHAPTER 13
th e number of parameters and t he accuracy of the
ti re model.
A racecar norm ally is d riven near th e bound -
ary of th e tires' traction circle, where th e ti re beh av-
ior is st ro ngly nonlinear a nd load se nsitivity is
significant. It is very diffi cult to acquire such d ata
from tire manufacturers, and if the data is available
it ofte n requires extensive manipul ation to be use -
ful. In many of today's simulation software packages,
the tire is model ed using Pacejkus magic formu la, a
technique developed by H.B. Pacejka from Delft
University of Techn ology. Th is model ca n represe nt
the primary ti re properties, such as side force, longi-
tud inal force, or self-aligning torque.
Once a suitable model is created , it can be used
to investigate, a mong othe rs, th e following typical
applications:
• dete rmin ing suitable gear ratios for a given
racetrack,
• analyzing the e ffect of shift HPM and du ra-
tion on lap time,
• co mp ro m is ing be tw ee n aerod y na mi c
down force and d rag,
• determ inin g e ngine out put cha racte ristics,
• assess ing th e e ffec t of veh icle we ight an d
we ight di stribution on lap ti me (e.g.. fuel
load and ballast),
• determining th e effec t of a se ries regula-
t ion s 0 11 maximum ve hicle pe rfo rma nce
(e.g.. rest rictor size ve rsus veh icle weight,
ami effect of pen alty weight ),
• compa ring t he pe rform an ce e nvelope of
diffe rent ca rs,
• opti mizing bra ke balan ce,
• optimizing suspe nsion set up,
• assessing t he effect of e nviron me nta l cir-
cu mst ances on lap tim e (e.g., wind. and
am bient temperature and pressure ),
• measuring th e effect of tire deteriora tion
on lap tim e, and
• det ermining nonm easured veh icle parame -
ters (e.g., dra g and downforce figures).
The data acqui sition system in thi s context is a
validation tool. By comparing th e mea sured data
with the simulation output, the model's accuracy can
be evaluated and imp roved whe re necessar y. Some
parameters required for the mod el must be deduced
from the logged data . Most simulation packages have
an export funct ion for t ransferring th e simulation
dat a int o th e data acq uisition softw are, and vice
versa. By doing th is, a real lap can he overlaid onto a
simulated lap, and the analysis techniques of th e
overlaid data can be used for comparison.
The vehicle model is defin ed by a num be r of
parameter s, that depend on th e qua lity or th e simu-
lati on and th e e ffect und e r in ves t igat ion . For
insta nce, to determine the optimu m gea r ratios for
a given t rack, not as Illany param eter s are required
as for invest igating the transient cornering be havior
of a vehicle.
SOIlIP vehicle pa ra met e rs, suc h as ve hicle
weight a nd d istrih ution as well as sp ring rates, can
be obt ai ned di rect ly from t he ca r's se t up she et.
O t he rs must he meas ured sta t ica lly (e.g., t ruc k
widt h, wheelb ase , and cen ter of gravity he ight), or
es ti mated from th e logged data (e.g., aero dynam ic
configuration and tire characte rist ics).
A Simulated Exampl e
In this paragraph , a simple vehicle model is
created for a GT ca r lIsing Bosch 's ~apS i m . The
simulated output is linked to act ual reco rded data
f rom th e car wh ile 0 11 t he C i rc u it d e Sp a-
Fran cor ch a mps. T he veh icle mod e l is va lid ate d
with th e recorded dat a.
Th e Lap Sim softwa re uses a qu asi ste ady-
state model in which the ca r co nsists or a body with
six degrees of freed om plus fou r ,vheel s, e ach with
four degrees of freedolll. 16 The model is described
with twenty-six vehicle parameter s. Th e tire model
is a variation or the Paccjka formula, in which e ach
tire's cha racteris tics are de fined by th irt een coeffi-
cie nts . In th e standard version of LapSim , th ese
co efficie nts cannot be modified . The simu lation
mod el first calculates th e minimum spee d at ,vhich
the ca r can negotiate each corne r. Subsequent to
that , t he mod el simul ates acceleration out of th e
first corne r, while braking backward from th e sec-
ond corner. Where these two calculat ions converge
is th e top speed be tween th e first and sec ond cor-
ner. Thi s sequence repea ts itself until th e compl ete
lap has been simulated .
The first step in modeling th e vehicle is e nte r-
ing all parameter s defining th'e racecar. The drive-
SI ~ruL-\T I () l\' T O OL,,> 14 5
 line parameters include a power/torque curve of compone nts (i.e., th e master cylinder size an d brake
the engine and the ratios installed in the gea rbox caliper dimensions).
a nd differential. In ad di tion , the dynam ic ti re The suspension motion rat io is entered to cal-
radius and th e up shi ft duration a re require d to culate th e re lat ionship between the wheel and sus-
create an accu rate acceleration model (Fig u re pension t ravel. This e nables th e model to calculate
13.7). th e car's roll and pitch movem en t.
Total we ight an d di st ri buti on, wheelbase. The aerodynamic configuration of th e car is
track width, a nd height of th e ce nte r of gravity ar e defined by a d rag coefficient and two lift coe ffi-
used to det ermine th e static we ight on t he four cients , one for th e fron t axle and the oth er for the
ti res, the longitudinal load transfe r du ring accelera- rear axle. T hese coefficients arc assumed for a static
tion and braking. and the late ral load t ransfer dur- ride heigh t a nd are indepen dent of dyna mic ride
ing corne ri ng. TI le st iffness of th e spri ngs an d height or spee d. Th ey arc multiplied in th e calcula-
unti rul l bar s, wit h t he brake force di st ribut ion , tions by the fro nta l su rface of t he vehicle. Static
det ermine how this load t ran sfer is d istr ibuted over ride height is used in tile 1II0del as a re fe ren ce for
th e four wheel s. Th e brake bala nce should be cal- calc ulati ng an outp ut cha nnel of dY lla mic ride
c ulated fro m the d im en sions of th e bra ke s),ste m height around t he t rack.
T he Lap Situ model uses a limited slip d iffer-
e ntial with an equal percent age or lim ited slip for
Figure 13.7 Baselin e model param eters bra kin g a nd accele ration , In add itio n, a pr eload
value ca n be entered.
Ii e-llt I @'_.epJ1Q+'hw__ ___---.:l Th e light version of LapSim uses a l'ucejka
rcr..... WEtOHT I _ _ fR
~ 120.,,01 3:1 ~, 1'1 tir e model th at can not he modi fied by th e use r. The
_EI..8oOSE , HoI'IJIlIC.O.G ±J 2tSi ........ j:j I IU ~
'!RACIM'IOlH ...... I _
3:::J U 2t ........ :;J 1515 ~ use r input is lim ite d to two gri p facto rs. O Il(-' for the
IIlOEIEIGHT'8 _ I ....
~IJ ~ :::iJ 1Il ......
front whe els and one for t he rear wheel....
:::: I-+-+--l.,(~~
. ~~~!+-- ±J
-.
ou II j:j 11 ~1I
~ U' II :;J u , \I Th e ti re gr ip factors in the soft ware are used
_.. '--'-lL. to tune th e model to re al-life tir e cha rac ter istics.
C _ _....-
OIff EflelllOl.._OIIp l p t _
-I :;J XI l"ItI :;J H·ml
- .. '--""'' ''= "",'''''""P',,,"ir'- Sclcctt ng a grip fact or simila r to the maximum lat-
±J tf ~ ±l l~ Jj\'m(

±I 110 ~ j:j 611 I I era l accel eration of th e vehicle ill a slo\\' corner wit II
jJ 1. 0 .......... :D' ~ 1 1
jJ IS 11
litt le aerodyna mic signi ri ca nce results ill a re-a son-
jJ U II
ahle estimation. If t he front tires are sma ller th an
:;J 11'1
~ ~ l7ol
th e rear tires, th e front grip factor e nte red into the
:±l 11 II softw are sho uld be a hit lower than th at of tlu- n-ar
tires. T he se tw o coefficie nts can he twea ked 11\·
overlaying th e simulated stee ring angle channel O il
t he t race of a re feren ce lap . By va rying th e gri p
level of th e front tires compared to th at of the rea r
ti res, th e stee ring a ngle of th e simulation cuu he
F igu re 13.8 Afile with onboard recorded data can tun ed to th at of the rea l vehicle. The longitu di nal
be imported into the simulation software
t ire characte rist ics are defin ed by a longitudi nal
slip va lue at which th e maximum longit udin al tire
force occurs.
Nex t, th e simu lat ion model requires a race-
t rack. I n th is example, th e ca r behavior is simulated
around the Spa tr ack. A data file with th e cha nnels
is pictured in Figure 13.8. Th is file is exported
l1' '''", ,, 0115 .,
. ~'

:1 .. ! , jdIt;IP;Jilj~ ~~I ! from th e data analysis softwa re and imported into

l'I'_Speof LapS im . To calc ulate a track map , th e softwa re
~
requires at a minimum the vehicl e spe ed and lat-

146 CHAPTER 13
 eral acceleration . Th e ca lcu late d track is two-
dim ensional, hut the user ca n define th e height of
each point on the tra ck manu ally as well as a bank-
ing angle for each cor ner.
Th e import ed lap was obtained from a qua li-
fication session with the test ca r, and the lap time
achieved was 2'15"36 . Th e additional channels are
import ed to correlate th e simulation model wit h
the measur ed data.
The model is now ready to calculate t he dura-
tion of a lap aro u nd th e Spa tra ck. Th e p redic ted
lap time is 2'141166, or 0,7 sec faster than the actual
achieved lap time, The speed, HPM, and used gear
tra ces of tile simulated lap (black trace) and t he
real lap (white trace) are illust rated in Fig u re 13. 9,
wh ile the lower graph depict s the time difference
bet wee n the two laps.
B), overlaying d ifferent channels, the model
now can be t uned so tha t th e time di ffe ren ce is
minimal. In thi s way, the value of some parameters
that were or iginally estimated can he more n-altsu-
ca lly determ in ed . The follOWing a re so me
examples:
limited slip value of t he simulation mod el
was set too low. In realit y. the wheel spee d
differ ence bet ween th e inner and outer
d riven wheels is always sma ller th an th at
calcu lated by the model.
• Det ermining if th e suspe nsion st iffne ss
pa rameter s are correct can he confirmed
by observing the roll and pitch movements
(Fig u re 13.1 3) .
On ce th e mod el is va lidate d agains t th e
recorded t rack data, it can be used to explore th e
influence of certa in veh icle para me ters on lap
times. This enables the enginee r to establish a basic
setup prior to arriving at th e t rack.
Figu re 13 .9 Th e speed , np.\l, ami f!,ear rat io f or th e
,..im fl lat ed and real lap. The lou:er ~ raph is th e ti me
difference betu'eell th e t,,:u laps.
BOSCH
_... . ._.-
<»-

c......,,;I
:tlr;;;l '"
ro;;., ,,",' I Q~

CIt SIlo

r P;,;,€l .. ~_ " · V14 .rn •

• Th e dm g coe fficient should he chosen in
snell a way th at th e spe ed signa ls match
between th e simulate d and real lap at the
end of high-spe ed st raights. The two trace s
in Figure 13.9 ind icate a reasonable corrc -
lation between the real and simulate d ear.
• To estimate the downf orcc coefficients. the
front and rear ride heights should he com -
~l
pared (Hg ll r e 13 .10). Ofcourse, the spring
rates of the model and the real ca r should
be the same. At thi s point, observe the ride
heights at high er speeds, where aerody-
na mic influen ce s are pron oun ced marc . FWll ..... .......
\Vhen tile simulated ride height on onc axle ""., F ig ure 13.1 0
A fro nt and rear ride
is lower th an th e record ed height , th e
I., li ei~ht compariso n
selected downforce coefficient on that axle Ie beure en a real car and
th e sim llltllion model.
is probably too high. Once the d rag and i .,
The whi te tra ce is the
down force coefficients have been satisfac-
tor ily det erm ined , the aerodynam ic forces ... :m> SIll
.......... -..
GIl
"'" "'"
recorded dnt a; the da rk
t race is th e simulated
acting on tile vehicle can becalculated from
the simulation results (Figu re 13. 11).
...
'"
I .,.,
resul t.

• Th e amount of limit ed slip of th e dt fferen-

L.
tial ca n be estimated by comparing tbe d if- •
ference in wheel speed between the dri ven
wbeels. Fig u r e 13.12 indicates t hat t he
... :m>
. ..... -*-- ~
GIl
"'" "'"

S I~IUL \T IO~ TOO LS 147

---
Figure 13.11 Aerodynami c forces calculated from
the recorded da ta and by the simulatio n model

-
"'"
lOCO DXl am AOOJ sen 600J
o.,.,...,;o'Cv Frool iRvd 1 'M>~e) i fld RUf {M3mJ<l I S ....'p)

F ig ure 13. 12 neal and simulated dijJerclltialwork.

Th e limit ed slip ,wmmete r af the model i s too Iou'.

Figu re 13. 13 Roll and pit ch angle comparis on

between recorded da ta amI sim ulation
Body pilch angle

05

f 0

·f .0,5

1.5
1
!: 0.5
t 0
'2,{},5
-I
-15
o ICOl am 3IXl ern
trwel'- d lACk dist.~ 1m]

148 CHA PTER 13

 return pipe. Th e di fference between th e two is the >-
amoun t of fuel burned by th e t'llgine . Ca re sho uld
he taken with thi s measu rem e nt becau se th e tem-
""
W U
E- -
'--
'JJ
>- <
perature of th e fuel supplied to th e e ngine may di f-
n:::
~
'JJ
fer from th at of the fuel returning to th e tank in th e %;
ret u rn pipe. Thi s mod ifies the fuel dpllsity; temper-
w - U
~
ir:
'-' ~

:IO
n race day, th e e ng ineer should be a rmed ature compensation in th e flow mea sure me nt is
with enough knowledge to predet ermine necessary to obtain an accu rate result. l- ::> c::<
'JJ

a ruce st rategy. Th is knowl edge also Most mod ern motorsport Ee u s have .1 pro- o, <
c- o
allows th e enginee r to be Hexiliile whe n circ um -
sta nces (.'han ge <lu rin g the race. Fuel co ns um pt ion.
tire wear, and d river consistency shou ld h e investi-
gate d to ohtai u th e nece ssa ry kn owle d ge . T h is
grammed algorithm fix ca lculati ng fueil isage. Tile
ECU soft ware uses an injection tahle to det er mine
inje ctor timin~ for t'n·r~· possible engine HPM and
load . Every time an inject or op en s. the fue l passing
«
I
...
-
u %
<
:..::
~
~

ch apter di scu sse s me thods for measu ring th e se throll~h it equals the injector openi ng t ime multi-
r-; ,- -
pa ra uret ers . plk-d hy th e flow rate of the inject or . The sm u of
the amo unt of fuel for all injectors during a ccrtuiu
U ,- - ---
~

Fuel Consumption time peri od is the fuel consu me d . ~

:..; ~

During t he practice sessions pre ceding a A va riable co ntain ing total injector 0Iwlling '/. ' - ~

race, t he engineer wa nts to udrlress t he followi ng t im e as a fun ction of elapsed tim e is stored primur- v:
::;
q uestions concern ing th e ve h icle's fucl economy. il~' hy till' EC U, lem'jng it to th e use r to sea le t his

1. How mu ch fu e l is co nsu me d pe r lap ? v.ui uhle to the liter s used. Figure 14 .1 illu strates
III ntc:ing. fuel consu mp tion common ly is n ol a ll e xa mple o f th is in the \ loTl'C Da sh i\lallag('r
expressed in liters/ IOOkill, as with road-gOing velu- Software.
des . O n a racet rack , it is importan t to know what From thi s, th e follOWi ng varia ble-s can hp ca l-
the cons umption per lap will be. c ulated using the analvsis softwa re :
• amount of fuel used ,
2. How m all)' lap s call be complete d on a ta nk?
• amount of fllpllpft in tlu- tun k.
T his numher det ermines the amount of fuel
• amount of fue l used p('r lap, and
that should be in th e tank to comple te th e race.
• laps rt' lIIaill i ll~ on fuel tan k.
Wh en refueling is necessary during the race, thi s fig-
lire det ermines th e minimum amount of stops th at
must he made and esta blishes the pitstop window.
3. Wh at is the we ight penalty re su lting from fuel
load ? \\11at influence does this have on lap ti me ? Figure 1-1.1 .\ luTeC f)a.~" .\ Ill1 l(1 :!,f 'r [ucl 1)1"(''';(,(;(111
Th e pe rfo rma nce pot ential of the ve h icle calculatioll
cha nges as the fuel load cha nges during th e race, A
ligh te r load help s decrease lap t ime s. As the fue l
fuel Prediction Setup [1}[Rl
level d rops, th e car's cente r of gravit y shifts in I COICditiQn I Fuel Used I FuelA.......... ) '-A.......... )
heigh t. If the ca r does no t have a ce ntra lly locat ed Fuel UsedeolcWtiondetl---;:==::=~;: :;;:;::=;--------l
fuel cell, it a lso cha nges longitudinally. This mod i- l:Ie1hod : Ilna_FuoIUsed V..... ::0:1
fies th e vehicle's balance. II... Fuel Used _ : IFueI Used(RAW . Unlle..) ielocl.. I
Fu el co nsu mpt ion can be mea sured by th e Fuelused -(, _ . ~ l'~' ~ (mil
data acquisition syste m in severa l ways. The sim -
plest solution is measuring the tank level. Th e qual-
it)' of t he se nso r mounting in th e fuel tank ECU1lenerated channel;
determ ine s how useful th is Signal is. total Injector openingtsne
Another way is to assess the fue l flow between Injector flow
th e tank and the engine, both on t he su pp ly and rate scalar

LTS I.'\G T ilE DATA AC Q UI SITI O ,\; SrSTE \ 1 FOil 1l!':\"EI.< H' I'c; \ H \ ct -; "'T H.r n :C y 149
 To gua rantee su fficie nt accu racy, th e config-
uratio n of thi s calcu lation must be checked aga inst
actual fuel consumption . The best way to do this is
manually measuring th e weigh t of the fuel pu t into
th e tank before driving and th e weight of the fuel
th at is left over. Th is compensa tes for di ffe rence s in
te mp erature .
Fig ure 14 .2 was take n fro m a GT car du ring
a free practice se ss ion at Zhuha i I nter nat io na l
C irc uit. Th e chart illustrate s the last outing of thi s
ca r. The fuel tan k level is plotted against ti me . Th e
amount of fuel used per lap is show n at the bo tto m
of th e scrcens hot.
Th e average fuel consumption (ill lite rs) per
lap ca n be ca lcu lat ed from t ile data by subt Tilct ing
th e rem a ining tank level at th e e nd of thi s o uti ng
from th at me asured at th e heginni ng and d ivid ing
it by th e number of covered laps (Eq ua t ion 14.1).
60.69 L- 30.67 L
2.50 L1lap
12 laps
Thi s fig ure include s t he fuel co nsu mption
d uri ng t he in and o ut laps. From a st rategic per-
sp ect ive, knowing the spectflc fuel cousuruption
during these two laps lIlay be nt'eessar y; thi s inco r-
Figure 14. 2 Fuel tank level dudn:; u [ree practice
outing l1ftm,ul Zhuhui
150 CHAPTER 14
porate s th e amount of di st an ce covere d at a con -
trolled speed in th e pit lan e . Howeve r. it does not
provid e a 100 % acc u ra te average for th e no rmal
racing laps.
when the in and o ut laps (which a re not rep-
resentative of fue l co nsumption during norma l rac -
ing laps) are igno red, t ile average fue l used per lap
becomes Eq uation 14.2.
58.22 L- 33.03 L
2.52 U lap (F4. U 2)
10 laps
In this outing the amount of fuel used dnring
the ill nnd out lap s is the followin g:
in lap 2 .4 3 L
out lap 2 .36 L
To eva lua te the ile<.' lIraey of t his me asure -
ment, th e follow ing method should he applied con-
ti nuou sly. Takin g int o ac-c-ou n t th e cut ire practi ce
sess io n . t h e follo wi ng fur- l t ank le vel s we re
recorded :
fue l tank le ve l befo re st a rt of session 96. 40 L
fu e l ta nk le vel at e nd of session 30.67 L
Th e logged data indi cat ed 6,5.7:3 L were used
a dtstauco of 27 laps (itlcilld illl-': a ll in a nd out
0\"(' 1'
laps), wh ich re sul ts ill a n m'('ra ge of 2.4:3 L <.'011 -
sumed per lap.
I n n -alit v, _:;)2.5 kg or fuel was put into th e ca r
be fo n- a nd d u rin g tilt' p ruc ticr - sessio n. Th e fuel
tem pera tu re at t l.a l 11111111('111 (l.e.. belon- it was Pllt
into th e tn n k} \\';1'\ 29°<: . TI l(' fuel spec ificat io n
shee t sh ows a lh 'lIsit y o r 0.75 kg/ I. at I.5°C . Fuel
vol u me- and tt' lIlpl' rat u n ' an ' c o r rel ate d llsiug
Eq ua tion 1-1. 3 .
!!.V
=
V
with V = fuel volu me ( I..)
'r = fll('1 tl'lIIlwraturt>(Oe)
PI.; = [rn-l d. -nsit v at ISOC (kg/ L)
a = constant = O .()()(JS
 This means th e den sity of th e fuel put into • In wh ich d irection is the balance of th e car
th e car is as shown in Equation 14.4. I n ot her d evel opi ng (ove rs te e r o r underst eer)?
word s, 76.06 L of fuel was put in th e Fuel tank. Which axle produces th e high est tire
After th e session, 4.15 kg of fuel (at a temp erat ure wea r?
of 39"C) was re moved from th e tank. At this tem - • Wh at is th e avemge possible lap time over
perature the fuel density is 0.731 kg/L , resulting in th e life of the tire set?
a volume of 5.68 L. Th erefore, 65 .38 L we re used ,
Figures 14.3 and 14.4 illustrate the per for-
compared to 65.73 L calculated by the data logging man ce of three dri vers du ring a 3- hour GT race on
system. Thi s indicates a relative error of 0.53%. th e Dubai Motodrom, The car in qu estion was a
The accuracy of th e data in thi s exa mple 600-hp rear-whee l d rive vehicle. The first illustra-
mea ns it is feasible to investigate the effe ct of vari- tion represents tile lap times achieve d by the three
ous par a me te rs on fue l consu mption (e.g., sh ift dri ve rs. TIll:' race was split into thr ee sti nts , ea ch
HPM , th ro ttle blippi ng du ring downsh ift s, a nd heginni ng with a full fuel tank and a new se t of ti res
th rottle uppl icut ion ). In add ition , t lu..' ca r we ight made of th e same compound. Th e end of t he sec -
l: .1JI h e esti mated at a ny give n ti me to a nalyze ond sti nt was interrupted by a safe ty car sit uatio n .
cha nges in t he veh icle ba lan ce as th e fu e l load T he avera ge lap times for each d river are give n ill
decrea ses. Tabl e 14 .1. In and a lit laps and the laps co mpleted
The fuel tank level can be displayed for the under th e safet y car we re not taken into accoun t.
dri ver on the das hbo ard and th e read ing co mmuni- Th e first d river is the fastest, with the slowest of th e
cated to the eng ineer by rad io. when telem etry is th ree tnckhng th e midd le stint. Assuming similar
available , th e level ca ll be obser ved in th e pits at conditio ns, the second dri ver loses approx imately
a ny tim e. 1.4 sec to the quickest dri ver, while th e third driver
limits thi s d ifference to 0..5 sec.
Tire Wear a nd
Driver Consiste ncy
Tire wear is th e second imp ortant fact or for 0.75 0.75 = 0.739 kgll ( Eq , 14.-1)
developing a race strategy. The per formance of th e 1.015
tires over th e race di stance is not constant. Th e
overa ll grip level decreas es. If tire wea r is greater I ]
29 - 15
[ 1- 0 0008 ( )
on one axle, th e car's balan ce changes as well.
0.75
To mea sure th e effect of tire d rop -off, record
longe r ru ns du ring th e pra cti ce sessions p re ceding
th e race . Grip and balan ce th en can be invest igated Figure 14..3 11' 1' time f!. rtlfl h of a 3- 11Our GT rac e in
Dub ,,;
over th e lifetime of a ti re se t. Th e followin g qu es-
tions should be answere d to obt ain information on
"""
.....,
""'"
th e lifeti me of a set of ti res. "'....
2:O:s,ss
Z:OO:J,12
• From th e time th ey ar e new, h ow many "',...
"'....
lap s are complete d b efore the performance
of th e tires peak?
• In which lap are th e highest grip levels
recorded?
--........
"'...,
"'....
I .....,
12;01.,1.
" es ,

• From th e performance peak, what is th e

drop-off in gr ip as a fun ction of th e lap
.......
"'.....
...."
""
......
...,.
number ? t :S'i,lt .,
• \ Vhat is th e re alistic maximum number of ......
t :u.",

laps thi s tir e set is going to last? ....

US I'\"G Til E DATA . \ CQ l' l S IT J( ) ~ .., .. , 10:'1 F<Hl D F\ 'U .O I · I ~ C: \ H \ CE ST H.-\T E G Y 15 1
 Table 14.1 Acerage race lap time and m;era~e
unden tee r angle per d river
Ave rag e Und erst ee r
Averag e Lap Time Ang le
Driver 1 1'58"56 0 .85 d eg
Orive r 2 1'59"99 0 .97 deg
Orive r 3 1'59"0 5 0 .81 deg
During th e first sti n t, th e dr ive r co mplains
ahout a d iab olic uude rste er fix th e first 30% 01" the
cove re d laps. Th e sit uat io n im prove s on ce th e
drive r adjust s his dri "i ll~ style to th e cha ngi ng hal-
a ut-e. T his is e vident in Figu re 14 .3 . D ur ing th t'
first 10 bps oft he- ran', th en ' is a d rop -off Inun tln-
fastes t lap (which was ac hieved in t he th ird race
lap ) of 1.3 sec. Afte r th at. tile times CO IllC d OWIl and
the dri ver he g ills to record som e high 5is aga in .
Du rin g t he last qu a rt!' r 01" till' st int (a fte r upprox i -
matel v 2.4 laps ), ti re weur beco me s uo ticeuhle us
the lap times i ncreusr- aga in.
T IH-' secon d st int ind icat es a sim ila r patl ('rl l.
TI H~ d iffe re nce here is th at the stin t ge ne ra lly is
slowe r a u d it ta ke s u nti l t he m id dl e o f t he xti ut
before the tire se t reach es its seco nd life. The drive-r
lias ruon- d ifficult." adapt ing to th e changing situa-
tio n. Th e thi rd d r -iver has th e lea st d ifficult y coping
w it h tile uml erste e ring cha racter ist ic.
Tile first d rive r's c-otnu u-ntx a re con fir u n-d ill
Fig u re 14.4. l h-n- t he an'ragp understee-r ang ll' ( SC I '
C hapter 7) per lap is plott ed . Th e h igh er the u nde-r-
' ·'igu re 14.4 Al~ em g(' unders teei a ngle IIl'J' llJ/J
'.' ~-----------------------------~
Driver 2
.. I-- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --'I--'r-.....,r-- - - - - --'I--J
ut-- - - - -- - -->ial<llCCJIL ..L-J
.l-- - _ - - _ - - - _ - - _ - - __- -
. --l
• " .... " "
- "
152 CHAPTER 14
stee r an gle . t he more uuderste e r t he veh icl e is
den·lop ing. 1n Table 14.1, th e average u nders tee r
a ngle for ea ch d river's st int is ca lculat ed , illu strat-
ing t hat the second d r iver de a ls w it h th e high est
d eg re e of un clcrste e r (o r is indu cing the most
u udcrsteer through a speci fic driving style) , Th is is
confirmed in th e g raph.
All th ree dri vers a re con fronte d wit h Increu s-
ing uncle rsteer for the first 10- 15 laps ill th ei r sti nt.
A fte r t ha t, th e huln nco beg in s to de ve lop in to
inlTt'asi ng ovcrs t cer. p rob abl y usstste d hy th e
d eC'reasiJlp; fll P I load 011 t ill! rear uxh-, T he t h ird
d rive r lms th e most consiste-n t lmlau cc ove-r a COIll-
pll'tl' st int , b ut cveutuullv th e t hird d riw'r\ an'rage
lap tiuu- is O.,=; se c slowe-r th an th at of thr- first
dnvc-r.
Th is exa mple Iwrft'dly illust rates how drtv-
c-ts m ust adapt 10 e1 1;lIlging xit uutions . D ri ver ('0 11-
s istf:' II('~' isthe th ird impo rt an t facto r in a race
st rah~g.". A d river cnn lu- faste-r tit an th e t-ompe ti-
t ion in a flua li(ri llg lap , hut over a ruce cli stuu cc a
dri ve r m igh t !la\"(' a g re a te r lit·grada t ion ill lap
tiuu- s. or co urse. t he ph ysical co nditio n o f t he
d rive-r pJ.IYS a m ajor role in t h is. Prohh-mx w it h fit-
Jt(' $ S a nd c-ouci-ut rutiou often a re ind icat ed in t he
d atu as elri\"( 'r (' IT OI". C ea r-shifti ng mist akes, dl an g;es
ill thrott le hl ip ping. eu rher-t lr.u r-noruml hr a killg
po int s. and ot he r ubuo r mu lit ies ca ll im licuu- a
li t ti~lJ('d d river. Set' C hapter 12 for nto n - d et ail s O il
d rive-r u nalvsis.
 mean s th at it can only detect a change in the Signa l f-<
grea ter th an 5/256 or 0.019 V. The smallest su spen -
L..{) Z
sio n travel that ca n be measured th erefore is ...--- ~
~
0.019/0.05 or 0.38 Ill lll .
In Table 15.2 , the resolution for 8-, 10-, and n:::: -
,~,

:::::
::;,

he p re viou s c h ap te rs in ve sti g at ed how

12 -b it syste ms is given. The regeneration of a signal
is a succession of sampled point s. Therefore , the
W ir:
<
e:.:;
numerous sensor sig na ls are an a lyze d to pr e ser vati on of th e o rigi na l Signal depend s on the l- ....
~

provid e information ab out ve h icl e and number of sampled po int s pe r unit of lime - the
0.... 9,...
driver performan ce . Th ese signals always are ta ken
for g ra nted . However , when a physical p heno me non
must be mea su red , it is necessary to uud c rxtuud
how this is done. In ad di tio n, to draw th e rig ht CO I1-
sampling freque ncy. Errors in Signal recor d ing can
a rise fro m a sampli ng fre q ue ncy that is to o low, a
phe no me non known as aliasi ng.
TIl e conti n uous lin e ill Figure 1.5.1 repre -
«
I b
z
0

h
elusions from the data , th e mea sureme nt must 1)('
eval uated to meet th e necessary requ irem e nt s. Th is
se nts t he Sig nal to measur e , in thi s case a Simp le
si ne wave. Th e sCJuares are th e sa mples sto red by
th e data logge r. E\·er ything h ap pe n ing be rwc eu
U --'
'"'
~
~

cha p te r d iscu sses the liuxics o f sens or tech nology ~

and met rology to ar m th e rea de r wit h t ilt:' ue-ce-s-
sary knowledge to se lect and apply the co rre-ct sen-
sors for o!Jta ining mea su reme nt s.
Analog-Digital Conversion:
Accuracy Implications
T he data acquisition syste m is all extens ive
mea surem ent tool with a mem o ry. Lik e an y utlu-r
mea sure ment tool , it has [itni tatious regard ing pn>-
cision . The mom orv . can st or e on lv
. data convert ed
to d ig ita l for m . Thi s c onve rs ion t ukc s a fiuit c-
amoun t of ti me ; as thi s proccs s t ak e s plact'. a
dltUlge of ma gni tude in th e sigua l gm' s un rh-tr-ct c-d.
the se points is ign ored. Th e graph sho ws th at t he
Z
sa mp ling frequen cy used was a bit lower th an th e
fre q ue ncy of th e or iginal sine wave . TIle signal pro -
d uc ed by th e da ta logger is a sine wave wit h a much
lowe r Irc q ue ucy, an alias.
To avoid a liasing, th e i':YlJu ist-Sh an noll sa m-
pli ng the orem states that th e Frequency at wh ich a
signa l is sa mpled mu st be g reate r th an twice t he
Ta b le 15 . 1. Output mltagc f or (J typical lincar
po tentiomete r (rd th a l"a 1lg, C of 100 111m )
Lin. di st . Output voltage

One is forced to app roximate a r-outi uuoux signal bv Omm 5V

10 0mm OV
a succession of samp led points.
Th e digitizing process conver ts tlu - 'llla!ng val-
ues to a stream of dat a bit s wit h values o f zero or WH ' .

The resoluti on of th e sigllal ( t I H~ smallest c ha ng" ill Tab le 15 .2 ne so/uthm [or 8-, 10-, and 12-bit data
n-ro rdcr«
Signal that the syste m can de tect ) is limited to tl«-
voltage th at corresponds to one hit of variation .
Conside r a n 8 -bit d evi ce th at st o re s e ach Resolution (%)
d at a po int as an integer w it h a value of 1 to 2 s or
25 6 (act ually stored as 0 to 255): This menu s the
data point is sto re d wit h a re solution or 1/ 256 of Figure 15.1 A too-slott' sampling rate results in a
the fu ll sca le or ap p roxim ate lv 0.4 % . Take a look al fill.w' signa l rcprc...e nta tion calleel aliasi ng
a lin ear pote ntiomet er m easur in g SlISP(' HS io ll
trave l. The measurement range of t h is sensor is
given in Tab le 15 .1.
O ne mm of suspension travel creates II vari a-
lion in th e se nsor Signal of 0.05 V, The data recorder
measures a signal in the ra nge of 0 to 5 V. Thi s

I :\THOD CCTl O ,\ T O _
\ I E:\ !'.lJH E \ I E:"\T 153
high e st frequency encountered in th e sig nal. This
means th at to digiti ze a sine wave with a frequency
of 20 Hz, th e sa mpling freq ue ncy should be more
than 40 li z.
A sampling Frequency that is too low can cause
the data acq uisition system to miss valuab le eve nts.
Most systems allow sampling frcq ue ncie s to be set
according to specific needs. High sampling frequen-
cies increa se accuracy but require more memory,
thus decrea sing the ava ilable loggin g tim e.
Th e followi ng sa mpling frequencie s can be
used as g uide lines :
fluid tem peratures a nd pressur e s 1-5 Hz
ch a ssis a nd d rive r activity 20 Hz
susp en sion motion 100- 200 Hz
Sen sor Signa ls a lso a re aff ected In' noise
result ing from vilnution o r electromagnetic fields
from t he ignit ion syst em. Noi se is add ed to th e
mea sured Signal wh en it excee-ds the resol ution of
t he ana log. dig ita l (A-D ) conversio n. Preven tion of
pa rasite Signa ls is a ided signHica nt ly hyad equat e
wiri ng. Of course , th e se nso r it self a lso pose s a
qu e stion as to th e acc uracy of th e me-asurem ent.
Ti le required accuracy of a data acquisition
syste m shou ld he chosen carefu lly. Agai n, it co mes
dO\\11to the speci fic needs of the user. It is not nec -
essa ry to log wate r tcmp eratu rc wit h an accuracy of
0.01 °C ; this do es 1I0t make o ne a ny sm art er. For
shock uhsorbe r motion . mor e an 'lIracy is always
be tter. l\.l easu rin~ the Illll~it lldi llal ~-f()rl'e doc s not
require a high sall1plill ~ frt'qw'll l"y, t'x<.'t'pt when
gea rsh ift ti mes must he der-ived from t his sia nul.
Th ink abo ut wh at ner-ds mea suring a nd d t'<:ide on
th e required acc ufaey.
Sensor Selection and Application
A sensor is a device th at olltpuh all elect rical
Signa l in reaction to a phvsk-al p hen om en on . Fo r
a ny imag inable llll'aSU fl'IIWIIL a se nsor p roh ably
exists. To jus tify th e applicatio n of a give n sensor,
the req uireme nts of t he nu-usu rc me nt must bc
determined first. Therefore. th e follo w ing qu cs-
tion s requ ire an swers:
• \Vhat requires U/cowriu:!. ?
Th e ans we r to this qu est tuu often falls into
o ne of the follOWing ea h.'gories : tl'lllp era-
154 CHAPTER 15
ture , pressure , flow, d isplacement or posi-
tion , ve locity, acceleration, and force.
• \Vh a t is th e ex pec te d mea surement
iHterval?
T he minimum an d maximu m e sti mated
measurement values need to be inside th e
se nsor's range .
• To what type of ellr;i ron mental circum -
stances will the sensor be exposed ?
Becau se e nv iro n me nta l e ffec ts ca n in tro-
du ce errors int o t he mea sureme nt, thi s
should be carefully considered when select-
ing a se nsor. Temperature , pressure , and
vihrarion can Influence th e OlltPlit si~ Il;l 1 of
I I H~ se nso r. JII addition, the Illounti llg of the
sensor and co ntami natio u hy Iinid, dirt , aud
simila r co uta mi nunts can have an e ffe ct.
• \ \"/w l kind ofaccllracIJ is 1"Cllll ircd ?
T he highest possible accuracy for a se nso r
always is wanted. hut there are economical
factors to consider, In addi tion, using a sell-
SO l' within a g reatc r d egr ee of aCCUfilCY
tha n t he data logger ca n reco rd is not nec-
essa ry. Signa l co ndi t ioning and A-I) <:0 11-
version can cause inaccuracy in a highly
accurate sensor Sig na l.
• \\'hat is the acoiloblc l Jlu !/!,Cl ?
Senso rs co me in d ifferent shapes an d sizes,
hilt th ere arc also pri ce differen ces between
vario us se nsors. A mo re ex pe nsive senso r
usu ally has more fun ct io ns th a n a cheape r
one a nd sco re s bette r on the four poin ts
ment ioned preVi(U1SI)·.
To eva luate th ese qu estion s, one must under-
stan d t ile perform an ce cha racte ristics of ti le se nsor
ment ioned on th e se nso r data sheet. It is abso lutely
necessary to g ras p p recisely wh at th e data o n th e
sensor data sheet mean s to appropriately eva luate a
sensor. Th e important se nsor prop erties are cove red
usi ng th e Bosch AM 600 accel erometer (htt p ://
wwwbosch- motorsp ort .com ) as an example .
l. Trans fer F unction
This determine s t he rel ati on ship between
physical input and e lectrical o utput. This oft en is
illustr ated in t he data sheet as a graph showing thi s
relationship. For t he AM 6 00, th e linea r fu nction
shown in Eq ua tio n 15,1 applies.
-
 ~V)
V(ACC) =2.5V + (ACC. 440 (E<,. 15.1)
with \'(A(.'c ) = sensor output voltage at th e
measured acceleration value
Ace = the acce leration value measured
by t he se nsor
2. Se nsit ivity
This is the ratio between a small cha nge in
t he electri cal signal to a sm all cha nge in phy sical
input (i.e., th e derivati ve of the transfer function ).
T his means t hat for th e AM 600, the sensitivity
equals 440 Ill\· /G .
3. O ffset
T his is th e value of th e electrica l sig na l at
zero input. T he A~I 60 0 measures 2.5 V at o G .
4. Measu remen t Hange
T his is the rangl' of in put sig na l that ca n he
converte d int o a ll ele ctrical signal. Signa ls ou tside
th e mea surem en t ra nge re su lt in un acce p table
Inaccuracies. TI\{' II U';\ SI I H ' II U' lll ran ge o f ti l e Bosch
A\I soo equals . 4..5 C .
These first fou r sens o r prop e rti es a llow tlu -
crea tion of a gm phieal n -pn -sc utution of ele ctr ica l
output versu s physica l in pu t. Figure 15 .2 illus-
trat es the t mu sfcr fu ncti on ca lcu la ted ove r th e
co mplete nn-asun-nn-nt rangt'o
age ca n vary between 3.567 to 3.633 V. For a rea l
accelerat ion of 2.5 G , t he value me asured by th e
se nsor ca n therefore range from 2.425 to 2 .575 G.
6. Non linea rity
This is th e maximum deviation from a linear
tra nsfer fu ncti on ove r th e specified measu rement
range . For the AM 600, a non linea rity of ±2 % of
se nsitivity is stated, which is wit hi n th e tole rance of
th e sensor.
7. Hyste resis
T his is th e variation of the ou tpu t value when
th e input value is cycled up and down. Th e A~ 1 600
da ta sheet does not mention hyste resis.
H. Xoise
All sen sors prod uce some noise out put, which
mu st h e conside red in addit ion to th e ot her elec-
tron ic ele men ts in th e mea sure ment syste m.
9 . Re sol ution
T he senso r's resoluti on is the sma lles t dete -
t cc tnble physical input factor. A senso r's resolu tion
o ftcu is limi ted hy the noise it produces.
T he best possible sensor choice ca n sti ll pro -
vtde bad dat a if not properly ap p lied . A se nsor
re spond s to its total en viron men t . a nd t herefore
p\'l' ryt hing ill th is envi ronment 1I111S t be taken into
acco unt. T his no t onlv includes the exte rn al influ -

5. Unce r tainty ences ac ti ng on th e sens or hu t also t he complete

uu-us u re me nt sys te m. T he refo re , co n nec tors ,
Also called tolcmncr. uncertui ntv is th e larg-
est expected e rror ln-twc-cu th e ac tua l ami ide al
cuhles . power su pplv, signal co ndi tioners , a nd log-
g i Jl~
unit all mu st work together.
outp ut sign.i1. 011 sensor da ta shee ts. th is usual lv is
refe rre d to as O1J( ' ( II" t [n- fol illwi ng:
• fraction of till ' full-scale output.
• fract ion of lilt' n·;l(lill~. and
• [ruction of till' sen sor's sc-nsitivitv;
5
Th e accele rat ion sensor ill t his example ha s Figure 15.2
4.5
Bosch A U 600 t ransfer
a quoted tolerance of :t3 % of th e se nsor's sensitiv-
2: 4
V fu nct ion
ity, Assu ming th at ti ll' se nso r is exposed to an •
~ 3,5
/'
acceleration of 2 .5 G , the ideal o.ut put voltage is -B> 3
V
Equation 15.2 . V
1 2.5
~

"~
./
2
V (2.5 G) = 2.5 V +( 2.5 G · 440 ~v ) = 3.6 V 5
~ 1,5
./

( Eq. 15.2) .:; 1 /'

0.5 V
\Vith a stntcd tok-ruuce of 1: 3'k of sen sitivity. o
th e range in wh ich tlu - sc.· lIsit ivity ru n \..u y is from -4.5 -3.5 -2.5 -1.5 -0.5 0.5 1.5 2,5 3,5 4,5
426.8 to 453.2 III\'. Th is mean s that the output volt- Acceleration (Gl

l '\' IIIODt:CI'l O ,,\ H ' \1I :" ... t "B E\IE:"'T 155
 Measurement Uncertainty
Any measu remen t i s va lid o nly if accompa-
nied bv a co nside ra tion of th e er ro rs involved.
Be fo re takinp; it me asu rem en t , identify sig nifica nt
sources of error a nd el irninnte th em if possible.
After th e measu re me nt is ta ken , ma in tain an
impression of tlu- p robable remain ing measure ment
error. E\,el'y time a sen sor 1I1('<lSl l rCI1lCnt is rep eated.
t he result s obtai ned will vary. Each measurement
deviates bv a certain amount from t he t rue value
for the following rea son s:
• inadcquuciv s in th e measurement object .
• inadequacies ill till' lIlea suring instruuu-nts,
• inade'luades i ll tilt' measun-nn-nt method ,
• c-uvirmuuc-n tu ] infhn-uccs,
• influences [iv the p ersoll perfor ming tl n-
mea su rem en ts. and
• changes over time .
A quantit y has a true value that on e t ries to
culcul u te tllnlllgil m eu suremeuf . H owever, n-' Cllg-
nizi llg th at lIO 1lH';lsn r illg inst rument is pe l"l<"<:1 aud
ou tside in fl uen ce-s m-vc..-r ca n he eli minated com -
pletely, the - lu-st that cun be ach ie ved is an es ti mate
of t ho t rue- value. TI ll' d i fit 'P. 'm'l' 1)('1\, vcn tlu- mea-
sured value - and till' true- value is culled the e rror o f
the nu-usure-uu-ut, or ucc urucv. Hccuusc - th e true
, ';1!11t' of a qu a ntit; - never can he dc-teru uued . it is
also illlp ossihie to know th e e-xac t ;\ee llrae;' o f a
mcas un -nn-ut. Howe-ve -r. ('stilllatillg t he e ffect tha t
,·ar iolls errors ha' l' till ti lt' Illeasurl'd vuluv is possi -
hit'. \\ 'Ilt' ll tl.i s l' flt 'd is l·stilllated . an uncc- rtaiutv
call lx- utt.u-lu-d to tilt' uu-asun-d , ·u111<', whidl indi -
l'atl'S a rauge of ,·,dlll's withi n which the tr ue value
is cxpl'dt'd 10 ln-.
The tot a l er ror ill a m ea su rem en t is com -
pri sed of the It)lIo\\·ill).! eompolwnts :
• large e rrors .
• s, ·sielllat k erro rs. a nd
• random er rors,
Larp;t' er ro rs occur as a result of an improp er
measurement TIIt'1!aOt!, c-i rcuit e r ro rs. incorrect sen-
so r application. alltl logging e rrors, They ca n not he
corrected fill' alit! OTlI;·l·;1II he e lim ina te d if d et ect ed
bcfon- pt'r!llrlllillg l ilt' III(';lSlIreIl1Cnt. \\'h e n signifi-
cunt e rrors occur, the mea su re men t is rendered
156 CHAPTER 15
obsolete; it se rves no purpose inco rporating them
in any er ror quantifica tion ,
Systematic error, so me times ca lled statistical
b ias, is ca used hy d e ficien cie s in th e measured
object , in th e meas ureme nt met hod . a nd in th e
measuring instru men ts.
Statistica l hias ca n be eli mi nated or reduced
by calibrati ng th e relevant ins trument. Correcti ng
the measureme nts to the res ult s obtai ne d w ith a
re feren ce instr umen t al so re d uces bias . Fo r
instance, an ofte n-ob served practice bj- race teams
is l'omparing: the Olltput of tire pressure ga uges to
those used bv the tire manufacture-rs to ohtain th e
S:I IllC measurement n -sult s. T ilt, dlffi-n-nce be twee n
the- two rea dings is t ilt, gallgt"s stnrist tcal luas.
Ruuclom errors occur h pc ausl' or fact o rs
heyond the t'llgill('('r 's cont rol. Exam ple s of th e se
factors include th e f()!low ing:
• e nvironmen t (e,g" temperature , luunidlt y,
pre ssure , pn' st'll ce of magnetic field s.
radiat ion ).
• agi ng of t ll(, nu-asured ()lljI..·d, and
• aging of the II le<lSII n-mc nt illStru ment x.
An cxiuupl e of a ra nd om error oft en occu rs in
the least siglTfficant ,ligit ill di git al bul.mcos. T hree
measu rem ents o f a Single objt'l'l lIlight he O,5G7 g.
O.5fi6 g. an d U,5l),') g,
HaIHIOlIl error ca ll he es t imated sta t istically
by attadlillg a ll nuc-crtui utv to th e- m ea sure ment
re sult. I ' Ruud om uncc-rt .uutk-s gt' lwrally follow a
no r ma l di st r ib ution . which I):lsieal ly uu-a ux th at
small random devia tion s from tilt, a,'t'r;IW'lllea Sufl'd
value ure much men- probabk- t han la rge o nes ,
In a st' rit,s of nu-asun-mcnts, if II Si ngle values
x) _x;2" , . xn are measured und e r comparable con di-
tio ns. th e an'rage p o f these II val ues usually is con-
sidcrcd a n es t imate of t he true va lue . In a norma l
d ist ribution . approx ima tely 68% of a ll meas u red
val ues fall within ±1' O'. a nd 95% fall within ±1·O'
(where a is tile standa rd d eviation of th e data), This
is illustrated in Fig u re I,S.:J, The sta ndard devia-
tion determines th e scat ter in th e data,
Do not assume that JI is eq ua l to th e true
valu e. When the se ries of mea sure ments mentioned
ea rlier is repeat ed . anothe r IT"SUIt for l' might be
obtai ned. T ill' quest ion that needs to be answered
is, " '!I at uncerta inttj call /", assiglled to the average
-
value of the data ? For a normal distribution , t he • \ Vhen the car hits a curb, data also is incor-
sta ndard deviation of t he average is de fined by porated in to the calculat ion . This tempo-
Equation 15.3. rarily results in very large roll ratios.
• Data scatter around th e y-axis in Fi g ure
Standard Deviat ion of the Average ~ };; (Eq. 15.3) 15.4 (whe re the front roll a ngle is zero) in
t heory ca uses t he roll rat io to ap proach
infin ity. In rea lity, be cause of a finite sam -
wit h a = the standard deviation of the d ata
pling rate, it induces very h igh values for
n = the number of data values
the roll ratio into the data ,
T he sta ndard deviation of t he average. or in
The sta nda rd e r ro r is calculated u sing
this context o fte n ca lle d sta ndard uncertainly ,
E quat ion 15.3 and eq uals 0.03. T he refore , it ca n be
e xp res ses t he u ncerta int y of a me a su rem e nt
stated (with a confidence level of 68 %) tha t th e tr ue
[Eq u at io n 1,5.4).
va lue 1'0 1' the roll angle rat io is located wit hin th e
(J j()llowing limit s.
Measurement result = Jl ± .[;; (Elf. 15.4)
lo w e r co nfidence limit 1 .1 2 - 0 .03 = 1.09
upper co nfidence lim it 1.12 + 0 .03 = 1 .15
I n pract ical terms, this means t hat there is
a G8% probabilit v th at th e t ru e value lie s w it hin
(J

±.rr; Figure 15 .3
A norm al dis tribution
m id its 1"'obability
of the average measured value and a 95% probabil- limits
itv that it lies wit hin twice this dista nce fro m th e
<lH'rage.
As an example, the un certa intv of a measu re -
ment of a vehicl e's roll angle ra tio (see Chapter 8 ) is
evaluate-d. Th e roll ratio is calcu late d by di vid ing
the rear roll a ngle hy t he front roll angle , The se
inp uts are calculated in t ur n from the Signals mea -
surcd hy xuspc usiou position sen sors,
For th is measurem ent , the data or a complete Figu re 15.4 The relatio nshi p hetween th e f ront alld
lap is evaluated . which resulted in 10,421 samples rea r roll angle
fi ll' the Front ;:lIId rear roll angles. For each sample,
the roll rati o is ca lculate d by d idding the rear roll
all!!:le by tlu - fro nt roll angle (assuming a linear rela-
tio nship betwee n th e front and rear roll angle a s
Figure 1.5.4 sug,\.!;ests).
Following th e th eories explained ea rlier, t he
mea sured value o r th e ro ll rat io for th e co mp lete I
i
lap (tile coefficient or di rection of .the straight line t· 00 .15.00 15.00

in Figure 15.4) is th e average of all 10,421 roll rat io ~

samp les (Figure 15.5) .
Th e calculated average in this example equa ls
1.12. Th e stan da rd deviation of the data is 3.35, which
is a measu re of the scatter of the data samples. T his is
qu ite h i~h . Two main issues Significantly influ en ce
the sta ndard deviation of the data samples:

1" 1I{OIH 'CT lo,\ T O _' I E:\ S U H E ~ I E :\'T 157

 O r, with a 95 % con fidence level t he true value is possible to determine temperature by measuring a
within these limit s: target's th ermal rad iation. However, a te mperature
lower confi d e nce limit 1.1 2 - (2 • 0.03) c: 1 .06
sensor's output always consi sts of an output voltage
upper co nfidence limit 1.1 2 + (2 • 0.03) '" 1.1 8
th at co rre sponds to a te mpe rat ure cha nge . There
are two basic typ es of temperat ure me asure ment:
The measu re me nt resu lt now is expresse d as 1. Contact Te mperature Me asure ment
follows: Thi s requires the sensor to be in di rect con-
roll a ngle ra ti o ::;: 1.12 ± 0 .03 for a confidence tact with the medium to be mea su red. Oil, water,
level of 68% and air temperature fall into t hi s ca tegory. For
roll a ngle rati o ::;: 1.1 2 ± 0 .06 for a co nfide nce th ese applications, thermocouples, th e rm istors, or
le vel of 95%
res istive te mpe rat u re device s (RT Ds) com monl y
are used .
Temperature Sensors
2 . Noncontac t Tempera t ure Measure ment
Most me t hod s for me asurin g te mp erat ure Th is is use d fo r loggin/-!; t ire O[ brak e d isc
rely O il llleasur ing some physical propert y of a met al te mpe ratures wit h infra red (I H) se-nsors.
t hat varies wit h tempe ratur e. In so me cases, it is
Th erm ocoupl e Temperature Sensors
A t hermocouple te mpera ture senso r con sists
Fig ure 1.5.S Boll ratio un certainuj calculatio n of two wires of different materials welde d toget he r
into a junct ion , ca lled the measure men t junct ion.
At th c other end of the signal wires is an ot her ju nc-
tion , ca lled th e refe re nce ju nct ion . A cha nge in
te mpe rature withi n the mea surem en t ju nct ion gen-
G H t'li e rates a cu rre nt in th e wires proport ional to th e
0;
tem pe rat ure change. Tempe rat ure at the measu re-
men t ju nct ion th e n ca n be det er min ed fro m t he
,
10421 type of th ermoco uple used , t he magnit ud e of th e
11 2
3,35 millivolt potential, and t he te mp erature of t he ref-
0.03
ere nce junct ion (Fig ure 15.6).
The big adva nt age of a the rmocoupl e tem -
p erature meas u rem ent is the poten tial mea su re-
men t ran ge. T hermocou p les may be rat ed fro m
- 270 to 1800 -c . Th ey a re also ver y reliable under
vibration and shock because of the ir simple design .
The disad vantage of using this sensor typ e is th at it
req uir es spe cial extension wires a nd refere nce junc-
tion co mpe nsation .
Figure 15.6 T he rmo co up les are ava ilabl e in di ffe ren t
Thermocou ple combinations of met als or ca librat ions . The fou r
measu rement j unct ion
most popul ar con figuratio ns are named J, K, E, and
T. Each ca libration has a different me asurem ent
range , although th e maximum temper atu re varies
with t he diameter of th e wire used in the therm o-
couple. Figure 15 .7 shows the upp er temperature
lim it of the fou r common th ermocouple cali bra-
tions for d ifferent wire sizes.I8
Th er mocou ple probes ar e availab le in th ree
ju nctio n types: grounde d , ungrounded, or exposed

158 CHAPTER 15
(Figure 15 .8). With a grounded junction , the ther- Infrared
mocouple wires are att ached to t he inside of the I R techno logy is not a new phe no me non. It
p robe wall. In an unground ed juncti on. t he wires has been used in rese arch and indus t rial applica-
are de tac hed from the prohe wall. Th erefore. th e t ion s for decades, bu t lately inn ovat ion s have devel-
response time of an ungrounded junction is slower o ped fo r non contact IR se nso rs o n ra ce c a r
th an t hat of a gro unde d junction. In an exposed applications. Es pecially pop ular are ti re tempera-
juncti on , t he t her mocouple wi res protrude from t ure (Figur e 15 .11) and h rake disc temp erature
the probe wall and are in di rect contact with their measu rements.
environ ment. This type of jun ction has th e fastest
response time but is limited in use to d ry, noncor-
ro sive , a nd no npres surize d en viron me n ts. Figure 15 .7
Upper temperature limit
Th er mocoup les wit h expo sed junctions often are I'--- r-.. in degrees Cel...iue of
use d for air tempe ratu re mea sureme nt. pro tected bare wire
F:::::
Thermistors
,- the rmocouples vers us
wire diameter
! I'--- t-, I'---
T he rmi stor s (Figure 15 .9) c ha nge th e ir !- <,
r:::: t:--
el ect rical re sistance in rel at ion to the ir tempera-
ture. T hey are typica lly co mposed of t wo me ta l
r-..
oxides e ncap su lated in glass o r epoxy. T he r mistor s
are availab le in two types :
. ..".
--,
,-
I__ J TI

~
• posit ive temperat u re coefficie nt (PT C) ,
where resi st ance increase s wi th a rise in
te mperat ure , or Figure 15.8 Com mon therm ocouple juncti ons

• negat ive temperat ure coefficie nt (NT C), Grounded Exposed Ungrounded
where resista nce decrea ses as temperature
rises.
TIle change in resistance of t hermisto rs is generally
q uite la rge , resulting in high sensor sensitivity, but
th e measu rin g range is sma ller tha n th at of th e rm o-
Figure 105.9
couples. The relat ionship bet ween te mperat ure and Th ermistor tem perature
resista nce is not a linea r one . bu t w ith exte rnal cir- se nso r
cuit ry it can be made Virtua lly linea r. Th ermistors
ar c one of the most accurate ty pe s of temperatu re
sen sors.
Res istive Temperature De vices
RTDs work on the same prin ciple as a th erm-
Figure 15 .10
istor. A change in e lec trica l resistance is used to
Resisti ve temperature
measure temperature (Fig u re 15.10) . The sensing devices
element consists of a wire coil or de posite d film of
pure met al, whose resistan ce has be en documented
at variou s temperatures. Co mmon mat erial s used
in re sistors a re platinum (t he most popular and
accurate ), nickel , or coppe r.
An RTD can have a simila r measurement

---..
ran ge as a th ermocouple , wit h th e sensitivity ad van -
tage of a t he rm isto r. Howeve r, th eir cons t ruc t ion
ma kes th e m u nsu itabl e for me asu re-ments in high -
vibration enviro nments. ~_.

I ,\TBOD V CTIO,\ TO .\ l EASUU E \ I E"'T 15 9

 Th e followin g arc the ad vantage s of III tem -
perature meas ureme nt:
• fast resp on se times (in th e ms range ),
• t emperat ure measurement on mo ving
target s,
• measuring physically inaccessible object s,
• high mea surement range , a nd
• 11 0 heat di stor tion (no heat ene rgy lost from
the ta rget).
Neve rthe less, keep in mind th e following di s-
advantages of IR measu rem en ts:
• Th e target II111St rema in op t ica lly visible to
t he I n se ns or. D ir t or d u st ca n c ause
inaccuracies.
• O n ly s urface t e mp er a t ur e s c all he
meas ured .
• Emi ssivit v of th e surface mat er ial must be
ta ken into account.
Eve ry' form of matte r wi t h a tem peratu re
above zero e m its IR rad iation propo rtional to its
Figure 15.11
Inf rared lire temp era-
t ure sensor... (Courtesy
of GI.J'K.-Cars port )
temperature . T hi s is called charac teristic radia-
tion, and th e spe ct r um of this radiat ion ran ge s from
0.7 to ·lOOO JIm waveleng th (F igu re 15.12 ) .
T he funct ioning of I R sensors is complicated
by the fact th at surfaces ut her th an so-called black-
bodies e mit less radiation at the same tem perature .
Th e relationship bet wee n t he rea l emissive power
and t hat of an ide al black-body is called e missivity
(c) and can have a maxi mum of one (for idea l black-
bodi es) and a minim um of ze ro. Bod ies w it h a n
e missivity le ss th an o ne a re ca lle d gray bodi es.
Bod ies where emissivity also d ep ends on tcm pc ra-
t u rc a nd wavele ngth a rc called lI oll gmy bodies.
E missivity o r the mea sured su rface sho uld he
know n to dete r mi ne th e cor rect wavele ngt h in
which the I E sensor needs to ope rate.
T hc I H sensor core conve rts t lrc recei ved
radiat ion ene rgy into an electrica l signa l. T his core
fa lls into o ne or two categorie s: (lmllltum det ectors
o r the rmal det ectors. Quantum de tect ors (o r pho-
todiode s) intc ract d irectly w ith the impacting pho-
to ns, re su lting in elect ro n pairs and ulti mately a n
electrical signa l. Thermal de tector s cha nge thei r
te mperat nre accordi ng to t he impacti ng radiation.
As with a thermocouple , th is temperature change
creates voltage.

Pressure Sensors
Pre ssure se ns o r applications o n raceca rs
include en gin e oil , br ak e line , coola nt pre ssure ,
fuel, mani fold air, and aerodynam ic . Most pres-
sure-sensing device s in automot ive app licat ions rely
0 11 pie zoresisti ve sem icond uctor tec h nolog y. A
piezore sisti ve pr essure se nsor is essentially a strai n
gage. It co nta ins a se nsing clem ent made up of a sil-
Fig u re 15 .12 IH radia tion spec tm m J9 icon chip with a t hi n silicon d iaph rag m an d three
or four ptezo resistor s (Figu re 15.13 ) . The piezore -

~r----=;------, ststance of th e semicond uctor re fers to th e change

in resistance by strain on th e di aph rag m, compared
o.IA IA l Ull I(I(l,l O Il> II> ' ''' Ic;q.. 0.1_ 1O'l'l 100m 1",
to a refe re nce pressu re . Th e resistor value s change
Wavelength
proportionally to th e amoun t of pressure app lied to
th e diaphragm. The thickness of the diaph rag m
det er mi nes th e pressure range of th e senso r.
Depending on th e referen ce pressure , p iezo-
resisti ve sensors can be divided in to th e follow ing
Wavelength i1 urn categories :
• abso lute pressu re sensor in which t he refer-
Infrared range used ence pressure is vacu um (Figu re 15.14 );

160 CHAPTER 15
 • differen tial pressure se nsor whi ch has two
ports for measuri ng two different pressures
(Figure IS.IS); and
-- - Figure 15.13
Piezoresist ive pressure
sensing e1emerlt

• gauge pressu re sensor, which is a different ial

pressure mea surem ent wit h atmospheric
pressure as a reference (Fig u re 15.1 6 ).

Displacement Sensors
Displace me nt sensors are gene ra lly di vide d
into two broad categories: linear motion an d ang u-
lar motio n . Til e well-know n linear po ten t iomet e r
(Fig u re 15 .1 7) an d the strtng-potcntfcmctc r fall
-- Figure 15.14
Absolut e pressure
SC1l.')Or (jluid pressure}
into th e first category, wh ile rot ary pot entiometers
(Figure 1.5 .18 ) mea sure- angula r motion .
In racccars, linea r and rota ry potent iome ters
meas ure th rottle position , gear position, sus pension
mo ve meut , stl'(' ring an gle, hydrau lic le vel . and
clutch or brake pedal position . They a ll work
accord ing to t he princip le ill ustrated in Figure
15.1 9 . A pot e nt iome te r tran sfor ms a li near or
rotary motion into a change in resistan ce. It is basi-
cally a voltage divider.
Th e st ring potentiom et e r is a suitable se nsor
wh en size and mo u nt ing restriction s eliminate
Fig ure 15. 15
ot her choices . It ca n be used to measure multi a xis DijJerential"res"wrc
movements. Th e ret ractable cable allov..-s for flexible sensor (for aerodq namic
appli cation s)
mounting and can be routed arou nd obstacles using
pulleys a nd flexible guides.

Acceleration Sensors
Accelerometers have two main applicat ions
on rucccnrs. The most pop ular is mea suring th e
acceleration act ing on the vehicle in late ra l, longi-
t udi nal, or ve rtical d irecti on . Second , th e)' ofte n
measure vibration on various vehicl e co mpo ne nts
(I.e., engi ne kno ck or t rack surface profili ng by
upright vibra tion measu reme nts ).
Figure 15.16
Based on th eir ope ra tion, acc e le ro meters Gaug e pre ssure sensor
belong to e it her th e capac it ive o r pie zoe le ct ric
category.
Capacitive Accelerometers
Capacitive acc ele rat ion se nsors mea sure a
cha nge in elect rical capacita nce. proportion al to
th e acce leration acting on the senso r. Their operat-
ing principle is illust rated in F igu re 15. 20. A di a-
phragm wit h a known sp ring rate a nd mass is
sa ndwiched betwe en two fixed e lect rode pl ates .

I," T HO J) l'CTI O:\"TO 'I EASl IUEM E :\T 161

 With th ese plates. the di aphragm forms two capac i-
tors. As accele ra t ion ac ts on the sensor, th e di a-
phragm spring-mas s experiences a force resultin g
F igure 15 .1 7
in defle cti on. This deflection ca uses th e di stance
Linear pot entiometer be tween th e spring-mass and th e e lectrodes to vary,
measuring rear effectively cha ng ing th e capacitor gaps .
suspension moc em ent
011 a Dodge Viper Ca pac it ive acceleromete rs ge ne ra lly can
GTS -R {Courtesq of mea su re smaller acceleration levels, making them
Gl .PK.CarslWrl)
more suitable for vehicle iner tial measurem ent s.
Piezoelectric Accelerometers
Piezoelectric acc ele ro me ters (Fig ure 15.21)
lise a piezoel ectric mat erial as a sensing clem ent,
which can outp ut an elect rical signa l proportional
to the st ress ap plied to it. Most piezoelectric accel-
e ration se nsors ar c made of Cjuartz cr ystal, pie zo-
e lectri c ce ramics, or tourmaline or lithium niobate .
Th e pie zoelectri c elements in t he se nsor ad as a
spring , whi ch is co nnected to th e se ism ic masses.
Wh en acceleration acts on th e se nsor base, a force
is crea te d on th e pie zoelectric elem ents propor-
tional to the applied acceleration and th e size of th e
seismic mass (Newton's law of motion), The refore,
th e more mass o r accelerat ion th e re is, th e high er
the applied force and the morc electrica l outpu t
from th e crystal.
Figure 15 .18 An imp or tan t cha racteristic to keep in mind
Rotary pot entiometer when selecti ng a n acc ele ratio n se nsor is th e useful
frequen cy range of a pie zoelectric sensor, which is
det e rmi ne d by its resona nt fre que ncy. Th is fre-
que ncy can he esti mated hy Equat io n 15 .5 , where
k is the spring rate of t ile p iezoelectric clem e nt and
111 the size of th e se ismic mass.

m= H;"
-
m
(Eq. 15.5)

A typical frequency respon se of a piezoele c-

Fig ure 15 .19 ............. tr ic acce lerom et er is depict ed in Figure 15.22 .

+ ~ ..
How a po tentiometer
uiorks Becaus e of th eir wide dynamic mea surement
interval and frequen cy range and th e fact that they
can be made ve ry small, piezoel ectric accelerome-
ters are found in app lications where shock and
" vibration need mapp ing to under stand th e dyn amic

l:
behavior of th e object. Knock sen sors and upright
acceleration a re th e most co mmon applications for
racecars.

.....
162 CHA PTER 15
 Speed Sensors
Measuring the speed of a rotating shaft finds
-,r- d
Figure 15.20
Capacitive accelerom -
ete r working principle
multiple applicat ions on a racec ar, of which engine Acceleration
RPM and wheel speed arc the most common. Shaft
Electrodes
speeds usually are measured using a H all effect sen-
sor. If elect ric current flows through a conductor
Spring rate k
placed in a magnet ic field, this field forces electrons
to one side of th e conducto r resu lting in a voltage
po ten tia l. This phenomenon is known as th e Hall
effect, after th e scient ist who discovered it in 1879.
A Hall effect sensor used w ith a ferrous t rig-
ger gear placed on the sha ft (of which th e speed
needs to be det ermined) measures th e variat ion ill Figu re 15. 21
magnetic field bet ween a magnet and the pa ssing Piezoelectric
accele rom eter
gear- tee t h. The signal from the sensor th en is con-
verted in to a di git al block sig na l by exte r na l cir-
cuitry Thi s is illustr ated in Figure 15. 2 3 .
To detect th e trigge r gear, it is necessary to
p rovide a source of magnet ic ene rgy. Therefore ,
most Hall effect sensors incorpo rate a perman e nt
magn et with it s axi s of mag net izati on po in ting;
toward ti le gear- teet h su rface. Wh en a too th pa sses
in front of th e se nsor , the flux density bet we en th e
ferro us surface and th e senso r face increa ses. when
a valley passes be fore th e sensor face , th e flux den -
.............. Fig ure 15.22
Typical[reouencq
reslJOllse of a piezoelec-
sity decreases.
tric accelero met er
Because Hall e ffect sensors pick up th e pres-
ence of a magn et ic field, t hey esse ntia lly ar e im mun e
to dust, oil, and oth er con tami nant s found o n auto- -.......,"""
moti ve compo nents. The trigger for this kind of sen -
sor is not ne cessarily a gear ; other objec ts suc h as
. bolt heads or other metal profiles can be used.

St rain Gages
when exter nal forces ar e applied to an obj ect,
stress and strain res ult . Stress is the obj ect's inter-
nal resistin g force s. Str ain is the deformation of the Figure 15.23
Hall effect geartooth
object that takes place becau se of these internal sensor
forces . Strain typically is measured by strain gages
(Figure 15. 24), which are designed to convert
mechanical motion into an ele ctrical signal. They
rely on the fact that metallic conductors subjected
to me chanical st rain exhibit a change in electrical

-
resistanc e.
Racecar applications include sus pension and
stee ri ng loads, wh e el for ce s, drive shaft torque,
ch assis loads, a nd ignition cut load cells. Strain

11'.'TIl.OI)UCTIO:\' TO ~ IEA S UR E ~j E l\'T 163

 gages also are used often as an int egral part in
(piezoresistive} pressure transducer s.
The operating principle of a st rai n gage is
based on the relationship bet ween st ra in a nd the
resistanc e of electr ical condu ctors. Strain is defined
as th e ratio between total deformation of th e origi -
nal len gth and the origin al len gth (Figu re 15.25)
and is expresse d in Equation 15 .6 .
t.L
E~ - (Eq. /5 .6)
L (F igu re 15 .26) .
Any elect rical co nductor changes its resistance
with mechanical stress. Thi s relationship is expressed
with the gauge factor (GF) (Eq uation 1.5.7) .
GF ~ t.R I R o t.R I R o
( Eq . / .5.7)
t. LI L E
In thi s equation, Ho is t he resista nce of th e
elect rica l conduc tor when 110 mech ani cal st ress is
Figure 15.24
Examples (}[tYl';Clll
stra in gage
Terminals
applied . .6.R is th e differ en ce in resistance from Ro
when .the conductor expe riences a st rain equal to E.
The st ra ins measured with st ra in gages ar c
norm ally very small. Co nseque ntly. th e cha nges in
elect rical resistance a lso a re vcry sma ll. Th e strain
gage mu st be included in a measurem en t syste m
th at ca n precisely det ermine th is cha nge in resis-
ta nce . To me asu re relati ve changes in resist an ce
arou nd th e orde r of 10-4 to 10 -2 0./0. , th e strain
gage should be integ rated into a Wh eatstone bridge
I n Figure 15 .26, H I ' H2, a nd H3 a re e qu a l
a nd R st ra ill is eq ual to thi s as well in a n un st ressed
conditio n. A "u ltage (" ill) is upp lhxl bet ween point s
n and c. As lon ~ as the st rain gage does not cxperi -
c ncc a cha nge in re ststuu c.-e. t he ollt pu t between
points b a mi d cx hilu ts no pot cuti n] di fferen ce .
However, when strain is appli ed , H st ra ill changes to
a v..d ue u nequa l to HI ' H 2, and H:1. The hr idge
becomes unba la nced an d all out put voltag( ~ (\'011')
exists bet ween po ints band d. "olll l'an he expressed
wit h Equa tion 1.5.8 .
R
V ~ V. . 3
out rn ( . R 3 + R stnun.

"0111 typ il'a lly fluctuates be twe-en zero a nd a

coupl e of mi llivolt s. so the sensor signul mu st he
Strain sensitive pattern
a mp li fie d b efore it ca n he dire ct ed into t he
datalogger.
Figure 15.2/5 Defi nition ojstroin Strum-sensin g mat e ria ls change th eir st ruc-
ture at higher tempe ratures. Temperature a lso can

0
F F
alter th e properties of th e busc mater ial to wh ich
th e st ra in gage is attache d . This me an s that th e
gauge fact or of th e stra in ga ge ca n c ha nge wit h

l
W
Lh
va rying temperature. Ther efore, th e manufacturer
always should include temperature sensit ivity data
on t he sensor's data sheet. If th e temperature
Figu re 15 .26 R1 R2 changes whil e strain is being measured, thi s shou ld
Stra in gage measu re- b
ment system using a be compensated for.
Wh eatstone b ridge Once measu red, strain mu st be co nverted
into an absolute valu e for t he mechani ca l st ress
a v c experienced by the object in quest ion. This calcula-
tion ca n be done using Hooke's law, wh ich applies
to the elastic de format ion ra nge of line a r e las t ic
d materi als. In its Simplest form, Hooke's law ca n be
expressed as Equation 15.9.

164 CHA PTER 15

 (Eq. 15.9) GPS
In previous chapters, t he use of a C PS signal
with 0" = material stress
to measure locat ion, distance , an d speed was men-
E= strain
tioned in nu merous examples. C PS refers to a g roup
E = material 's ela sticity modulus
of U.S. D epa rt ment of Defense (0 00) sate ll ites
Th is version of Hooke's law only applies to t hat cons tant ly circle the Earth , ma king two com-
uniaxial st re ss states (l.e ., ten sion an d co mpression plet e orbit s around the plane t every 24 hours. Th ese
bars). Multiaxial stress states require extended ver- sa te lli tes t ransmi t ve ry low-powe r ra dio sig na ls
sio ns of H ooke's l£1w.2o a llowing a CPS rece iver to dete r min e its p re cise
location on Eart h.
Pitot Tube
CPS consists of three seg me nts : space (satel-
Aerodynamic measurem ents (down force , drag, lit e s), cont ro l (g ro und statio ns), uud use r (C PS
and pressure distr ibutions) oft en use a pitot tube to receiver) .
determ ine dyna mic p ressure (sec Chap ter 11). T he space seg ment is t he heart of the syste m.
As illust rat ed in F ig ure 15.27, a pito t tube It consists of at least twenty-fo ur sate llites , of which
consists of two conce ntric tubes e ach wi th a n in let t went y-one a re active . T hey o rbit ap p roximat ely
port. The outer tube me asu res the stat ic ai r pre s- 12 kill ab ove the Ea rth 's surface uud a re a r ranged
su re, while th e in ner one is exposed to the slim of so that a C PS receiver always ca n rece ive at le ast
stat ic: and dyn ami c pressure . Th e tube s t hen a re four satel lite s at any g iven t ime . C ivilia n CPS
co nnected to a diffe re ntia l pres sure se nso r that
outputs the dynam ic ai r pressure to th e dat alogger.
To ob ta in good results, th e pito t tube mu st be
Figure 15.2 7 Work ing prin cipl e of II pitot tu be
align ed with th e flow velocity Any mi sa lig n me nt
should not excee d ±5 deg. Static pressure
Velocitypressure
~
Oxygen Sensors
Oxyge n sensors (o r what autom otive ap plica -
d?I
Total pressure = Static pressure + Velocity pressure
tio ns ofte n re fer to as lambda sen sors) measu re th e
volume of oxvgen rem aining ill th e engin e 's exhaust
gas aft er combustio n. \ Vith th ese se nsors fitt ed to .. ,.. ....... .
~ r/ / / /A
th e exhaust ma nifo ld , t he e ng ineer a nd/or ECU
can determine if the fue l-air mixt ure going into the Differential
pressure
engi ne is too rich (i.e ., loa much fuel ) or too le an = sensor f---
(i.e ., too littl e fuel),
The sensor element consists of a ce ra mic cyl-
inder plated inside an d outside wit h por ou s plati-
nu m elec t ro des. It me asure s th e d iffe re nce in
Figure 15.28
oxygen bet we en the exhaus t gas an d th e exte r na l Lam bda sensor
a ir by ge nerat ing a change in re sist ance propo r-
tion al to th e diffe rence bet ween the two.
Be cau se la mb da sens o rs (Figu re 15.28)
onl y wo rk effe ctive ly whe n he at ed to ap p roxi -
mately 300°C , most have heating ele me nt s in co r-
porated in th e ceramic to qu ickly ra ise th e sensor
tip to th e correct tem peratu re whe n the exha ust is
st ill cold .

I:\TnOD UCTIO:" T O :\I EA SUH E :\IE1\T 165

 receivers transmit a low-power radi o signal at a fre-
quency of 1575.42 MH z on the UHF band. This
signa l passes through cloud s, glass, and plastic, but
it doe s not penetrate solid object s such as trees and
bu ildings.
Each satellite transmit s a unique code. allow-
ing a CPS re cei ver to identify th e sate llite. The
main pu rpose of th ese signa ls is to ca lcu late th e
travel t ime from th e satellite to th e receiver, also
ca lled tim e of arri val. The a rrival time multiplied
by th e speed of light gives th e di stan ce bet ween th e
sate llite and th e receiver. In addi tion to the satellite
identifi cation signal, a navigation message contain-
ing satellite orbital and d ock in form ation is sent to
th e C PS recei ver .
The control seg me nt, cous tsttng ol'five Earth-
based ground stations , tra cks the CPS satellites and
provides th e m with corre cted orbital an d tim e
infor mation.
The user seg me nt is th e C PS rec ei ver. To
es tah lish its location, th e receive r must know th e
exac t location of th e satellite in space and t he d is-
tan ce to it. The navigationa l d at a t rans mitte d hy
th e satellites contain two typ es of in formation. Th e
alm an ac data co ntai ns the approximate locat ions of
the satellites . Th is dat a is t ran smitted co ntinuou sly
and stored in th e memory of th e C PS receiver so it
knows the orbit in which every satellite is supposed
to he. The almanac data is updat ed per iodically as
the satellites orbit.
The gro u nd stations kee p track of satellite
orbit, a ltit ude. location , and speed and se nd co r-
rected dat a, called th e ephe meris d ata, back to th e
satellites. Ephem eri s data is valid for 4-6 hours.
Th e combination of alma nac and ephe me ris
data tells th e C PS receiver th e exact location of th e
satellite in space . The distance be t ween the
rec eiver an d respective sate llite is ca lculated from
the arrival ti me. The coded ide ntificati on signa l is
a so-called "pseudo -rando m" sig nal because it
looks like a noise signal. The CPS receiver gene r-
ates the same signa l and tries to match it to th e sat-
ellite 's sign al. The receiver th en compares t he two
to determine how much it needs to de lay its signal
to match the satellit e signal. A radi o wave travels at
the speed of light (2 .99 .108 m/s), mul tipli ed wit h
the delay time, th e di stance betwe en receiver and
satellite 'is determined .
166 CHAPTER l S
Th e receiver need s at least fou r visible satel-
lites to det ermine a t hree-dim ensional location (lon-
gitude, latitude. and a ltitude ) on Earth. The more
satellites th e re ceiv er ca n see, the better th e
aecuracy.
Most mod ern C PS receivers a re parallel mul-
ticircuit receivers, with each ci rcuit devoted to one
particular sate llite . In th is way. strong lock s ca n he
maintained on all satel lites at a ll times, eve n in dif-
ficult co nd itions such as Ill(x:kage [rom t rees, build-
ings, and ot he r solid object s.
CPS sig na ls ca n be logged by th e rncecar
dat a loggin g syste m t o me asu re the position . speed.
and heading of tlH~ vehicle . Stuudulone CPS posi-
tion meas ure me nts ar e acc urate to with in 2~3 III.
When co rrections are appli ed IIsillg th e d ata from
lateral and longrtudiuul acce lero me te rs, accuracy
improves to 1_2111.21 CPS s i~lIals ca n I)( ~ degraded
by one or more of th e following factors.
• Ion osph ere or t I'O POS pIH're dday: As it
passes th rough the atmosp here, t he satel-
lite sig na l slows dow n. Th e C PS uses a
bu ilt-in model t hat par tia lly corrects th is
type of error.
• Sigllill multl pnth : T his oc curs wlu-n th e
C PS signa l is refll'l't('d 01"1" ohject s such as
tall huild ings hclorc it n-ache s the rece-iver.
This increases the signa l tra ve-l tiuu -.
• Recei ver dock e rror
• Eph emeris e rro r: This is th e iuacc-urucv of
the satellite's rep orted location .
• Number of sutc lhn -s \'isihl('
• I nte nt ional degradatioll of the- CPS si.~lIa l :
To pre\' ent mili tary adn 'r sa rit,s IIsill,!.!. t ilt'
highly accurate C PS signal the- U.S. Dnl J
intentionally degraded th e signa l pri or t o
May 2000 (select ive availability).
By combining th e dat a from two separate
C PS antennas located at a fixed distam·(' from each
ot her on a vehicl e, it is even possihle to measu re
vehicle yaw an d pitch. This system can be used to
determ ine t he vehicle's slip angle.22, 23
Laser Distance Sensors
Laser d ist an ce sensors nu-asun- a raccca r's
ride height or ground clearance. Thi s senso r ope r-
ate s on th e principle of tr ian gulation . A lase r emit-
ter project s a beam onto an object (Figure 15.29) . Fig u re 15.29 Principle of operation ofa laser
distance senso r
The reflection of thi s beam passes th rough a lens
th at focu ses the beam onto a receiving photodiod e
l aser
element. A change in distan ce between sensor and emitter
target cha nges th e angle of th e re flec te d beam ,
thereby changing the location of the beam on th e Receiver
element
receiving elem ent.
Thi s receiving element is coupled to a micro-
cont roller, which ca lculates th e distance to the tar-
ge t from th e reflected bea m's locat ion on th e
re ceive r and outputs a voltage prop or tion al to t he
ta rget distance .
Th rough th e lise of a microcon t rc lle r, a high
linear ity and acc uracy is achieved. Th e sig na] can l ens

he filtered w ith user-det ermined rates to smoo th

the senso r's ou tp ut signal. Th is is part icula rly use-
Target A
fu l for ride he ight mea su rem en ts to filter out t ile
rou ghn e ss of th e asph alt. Also , the e mi sxivities of
di fferent target materials ca n be accou nted for by
the nucrocontrol ler.
Re solution and accuracy depe nds all the dis-
tance bet we en th e senso r and obje c t. An o bject
within close p roximity to th e se nsor crea tes a sign if-
ican t diffe rence in th e angle bet ween th e emi tted Target B
and reflecte d bea m given a small change in d is-
tan ce . Wh en th e target is located furthe r fro m th e
sensor, a sma ll cha nge in distan ce res ults in a small
differen ce in a ngle. Th e re for e , the high e st reso lu-
tion is ac hieve d w ith lase r di stance se nso rs with a
relatively small measu rem ent ra nge.

t"TUODl CTlO \ TO \I E.\"i VH E .\ I E!\T 167

168 CHAPTER 15
 G long Long itud inal accelerat ion (J)
G vert Vertica l acceleratio n
Gcombined Co mbi ned acce lerat ion
---l
GF Gage fact or
G2 Kurtosis of a dist ribution
0
Th is book contains a nu mber of equations h Height CO
that use a variety of En glish letters and Greek syll1-
~
h roll Distance between ve hicle
bols. Th e following list will help you hetter under- ce nter of g rav ity and roll ax is

>-
stand the equations. h RCf Heigh t front roll center from
gro und
English Letters h RCr Heig ht rear roll center from
ground
(J)
A Frontal vehicle su rface
hCoG Height center of gravity from
A Skewness of a normal
d istri b ut io n ground LL
a Acceleration
a yaw Yaw acce leratio n
h F Height fro nt unspru ng weight
center of g ravity from g round
h R Heig ht rear unsprung weight
0
ahub Hub ve rtical accele ration
asus pe nsion Suspension accele ration
center of gravity from g ro und
Gea r ratio I-
Co Ae ro dy na mic d rag coefficie nt itotal Total g ear ratio
(J)
C L Ae rodyna mic lift coefficient k Sp ring rate -
---l
C Dam ping coefficient K Spr ing rate
CH Damp ing con sta nt fo r heave
Krolltot Total ro ll stiffness
Cp Damping co nst ant fo r p itch Krollf Front roll st iffness
CR Damp ing constant for roll Krollr Rear ro ll st iffness
Cx Damping co nsta nt fo r wa rp
KrollSPRINGS Spring roll stiffness
d Dista nce , la p d ist an ce
KrollfSPRI NGS Front sp ring roll st iffness
D Ae rody na mic d rag for ce
KrollrSPR INGS Rear spring ro ll stiffness
E Elast icity mod ulus
KrollARB Roll stiffness anti ro ll ba r
F For ce
KrollfA RB Roll stiffness fron t ant iro ll b a r
FN No rma l force
KrollrARB Roll st iffness rear antiroll b ar
Fmass Acceleration fo rce K H Vehicle heave sp ring rate
Fspring Spr ing force K p Vehicle pitch spr ing rat e
Fshock Sho ck absorber for ce K R Vehicle roll sp ring rate
Frolling Rolling re sista nce for ce Kx Vehicle wa rp sp ring rate
Fres Re sist ing for ce
1<,0,.1 Tot al sp ring rat e
Faero Aer odynam ic for ce
Kspring Sprin g rate
FCp Tire contact p atch fo rce
~ire Tire sp ring rat e
FSuspension Suspension for ce L Ae rodynamic lift fo rce
FRFCP.bod y Fre q ue ncy res ponse funct ion L Leng th
t ire co nt act p atch-body
m Mass
FRFCP_hub Freque ncy respon se function
t ire co ntact patch-hub mwhee l Whee l ma ss
Gravitationa l accelerat ion M R Susp e nsion mot ion rat io
g
(g ~ 9.81 m/ s2) MR F Front susp ension mot io n rat io
G1at Later al acce leratio n M RR Re ar sus pension mot ion rat io

1.1 , 1"0 1-' snlBoLS 16 9

 MR Roli R Rear antiroll bar motion ratio V slip Slip ve locity
M roll Ro ll moment Vo Free rolling ve loc ity
M Tot al ve hicle mass V o ut Output voltage
M 1f 4 O ne-quarter body mass V in Inpu t vo ltage
M Translat ional mass W Vehicle weight
M, Eq uivalent rotational mass WSPD Wheel speed
MR Whee l equiva lent mass for roll WB Wheelbase
Mp Wheel equiva lent mass for pitc h Ws Sprung weight
Mf Ma ss factor WsF Sprung weight on fro nt ax le
n Amount of samples WsR Sprung weig ht on rear ax le
n Amount of moles WuF Front unsprung weight
" engine Engine RPM WuR Rear unsprung weight
"drive sh aft Driveshaft RPM WRf Front wheel rat e
p Pressure WR, Rear wheel rat e
Pa Pressure of dry air WRSPRINGF Wheel rate of front springs
Pw Pressure of water vapor WRSP RING R Wheel rat e of rea r springs
P engin e Driven wheel power WRROLLF Wheel rate of front ant iroll bar
PG Pitch grad ient WRROLLR Wheel rate of rear an tiroll bar
q Dynamic pressure Wf1 Front wheel weight measured
Roll stiffness distribution factor with ca r on le vel surface
q
R Corner rad ius Wf2 Front wheel weight measured
with raised rear ax le
R Ele ct rical resist ance
WLF Left -fron t corne r weig ht
R Gas co nstant
WRF Riqht-front corner weight
Ra Gas constant of dry air
WLR Left-re ar corner weight
Rw Gas constant of wate r vapor
WRR Rig ht-rear corner weight
Rx Tire rolling res istance coefficient
xwhee l Wheel movement
'rolling Dynamic t ire rad ius
xLF Left-fro nt wheel movement
RG Roll grad ient
xRF Right-front wheel movement
RG F Front ro ll gradient
xLR Left-re ar wheel movement
RG R Rear roll gradient
xRR Right-rear wheel movement
SR Slip ratio
xsus pension Sus pension move me nt
SRF Fro nt sp ring rat e
xsuspensionLF Left-front suspension movement
SRR Re a r sp ring rat e
xsuspensionRF Right-front suspension
SRchassis Chassis to rsion sp ring rate move me nt
t Tim e
xsuspensionLR Le ft-rear suspension movement
T Te m pe rature
xsusp ensionRR Right-rea r s uspen sio n
T Track width movement
TF Fro nt track width xH Heave movem ent
TR Rear t rack width xp Pitc h moveme nt
Twheel Wheel torque xR Roll moveme nt
Tmass Accelerat ion t orqu e Xx Warp movem en t
v Shock absorber ve locity "<:P Tire co ntact pat ch movement
V Volume xhub Hub movem e nt
V Sp e e d

170
Greek Symbols
o: Banking angle
0roU Roll angle
0rollF Fron t roll angle
a roUR Rear roll angle
Orolltires Tire roll angle
Orollt iresF Front tire roll angle
OrolltiresR Rear tire ro ll angle
D.torsion Chassis t ors ion angle
Ppttch Pitch angle
B Ste e red angle
Bu Und e rste er angl e
Bsw Ste ering wheel ang le
BAcker Acke rmann st eering ang le
£ Emissivity
r Str ain
1; Ro ll ang le rat io
e Track slope angle
~ Averag e
~ Frict io n coefficient
~ 1/2 Med ian
p Density of air
P15 Fue l density at 1S"C
0 Standard deviatio n
0 Material stress
2
0 Variance
co Freq ue ncy

LI ST OF !'ln IBO I }'ol 171

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3.507, SAE In tern ational, warr endale. PA, 2004.

Lopez, Ca rl, Going Paster- .Uasteri llg the Art of Haec Dli villg, Rob ert Bentley
Inc. , Ca mbridge , MA, 1997 .

Vaduri, Sunder and Law, Ha rry E ., "Developm ent of an EXPClt Syste m for th e
Anal ysis o f Track Te st D ata," SAE Pap e r No. 2000-01 - 1628 , SAE
Intern ationa l, warren dale . PA, 2000.

Martin. BT. and Law, Harry E., "Develop me nt of an Expe rt Syste m for Race
Ca r Driver & Chassis Diagnostics," SAE Paper No. 2002-0 1-1574, SAE
Intcrn ational, Warre nd ale , PA, 2002 .

Kirku p. Lcs, Calcllla till g an d Express illg Uncertainty ill Measu rement ,
University of Teclmologv Sydney, New Sout h \Vales, Australia, 2002 .

Pi Resea rch , "Inertia l Se nsors Appli cati on Note ," Issu e 1.0, Pi Rese ar ch ,
Ca mbridge, UK, 1997.

Wilson, John S., Sensor l'ecllllology liantlbook, E lsevier, Oxford , UK. 2005 .

Il IB I.I OG lt\ I'IIY 175

176

N OTE: Page references f ollowed b y f refer /0
figures and t ref er to tables.
Absolute pn 'ssu re sensor (fluid pressure ), 161f
Accel eration
hraking and, 45, 4.5t
co rnering and, 68--fi9 , 69!
sensors, 161- 162, 163f
sec also corne ri ny; gearing; late ral acce lera -
tion; lon gitu di nal accel e ration; straight- line
acceleration ; throttle
Ackermann stl:'c Iing ang le, 6.5, 67!
Aerodyn amics. 2, 121- 129
uirbox e fficiency and , 128-12.9, 129/
air density and , 122-123, 122f, 123f
ce nte r of pressurc , 121, 127f, 128f
coustdown te st, 124- 126, E 5f
cor nering and , 62-63
d ifferential pressure se nsor, 161/
downforce measur ements of, 121-122, 121['
125-128 , 127f, 128f
drag mea surements of, 34. 40,121-122, 121[
dyn amic pressure and , 123-124, 124/
simulation example and . 145-148, 146f, 147f
straight-line acceleration and , 3:3, 34-35, 34J,
36-37 , 37f, 41J
see also co rnering; me asu reme nt techni q ues:
straight-line accele ratio n
Analog-di git al con version , acc uracy of. 153- 154,
153t
Antiroll elasticity, 114
Atm ospheric conditions, 122-123, 122f, 123f
Attitude velocity, comering and , 68, 68f
Axle cro ssing . See warp
Banking, 83-S5, 84f, 85f
Black bodies, 160
Blipping, 54, 55f, ,56f
Bosch
AM 600 accel erometer, 154-155, 155f
engine -controlled TCS, 3&--39, 39f
xw
LapSim, 52, 144, 145-148, 146f, 147f
Braking, 2, 45-49 o
ABSrrCS and slip rati os, 38-39, 38f, 39f
accelera tion and dece leration , 45 , 45t
brake balance , 48-49, 49f
z
braki ng e ffort, 45-46, 46f
braking poi nts, 45-47, 46f
co mparative an alysis, 28
d river analysis, 134- 136, 135f, 136f
lockup and , 47-48, 48f
maximizing h raldng speed , 4.5, 45/
pedal tra vel and , 49, 49J
see also ae rodyn amics; co rneri ng . straigh t-line
acc e lerat ion
Brc ukou t.vl l
Bum p, 97-99, 97f see also shock absorbe rs
CA LLAS Mot orsports (Sera-C D), 144
Capaci tive accele rome te rs, 161-162, 163/
CarSi m (Mechanical Sim ulation Corporation), 144
Ce nte r of gravity, 81-83, 81/, 82/ see also wheel
loads
Cen te r of pressu re, 12 1, 127f, 128/ see also
ac rod vnumics
C hassis
balance of, and dri ving style , 13 1
kine mat ics simulation, 141, 142-143, 142f,
143f, 144(
parameters o f. 3
torsion and whe el load s, 94-95
vert ical move ment of, 10, 13/
see also ro ll stiffness distribution; wheel loads
"Christmas tree," 41
Coas tdown tes t, 124-126, 125f see also
ae rodynamics
Colo r, for channe l groupings, 15
Co mparative analysis, I , 19-32
begin ncr's data la gging kit for, 28-32, 29[, 30[,
3 1f, 32f
CPS and track mapping, 27-28, 28f
ine rt ial track mapping, 26-27, 27/
lap markers and seg me nt times , 21-22, 2 1f,
22f
E,\J)EX 177
 overlayi ng fo r, 11-13, 15[. 22-26,23['24[. 25['
26[. 131 , 137[. 139, 13W
for vital signs of vehicle, 19-20 , 19[. 20[. 21f
Co mputational Fl uid Dynamics (C F D), 141
Co nstan t velocity test, 127[. 128
Co ntro ller area netwo rks (CAN ), &-8, 6f
Co rneri ng, 2, 59-69
attitude velocity and, 68 , 68f
com parative analysis and, 2 1
corner exiting speed , 40, 41f
corne ring sequence, 59-60, 59[. 60f
dri\ing ana lysis of, 136--1 37, 137f (sec also
d ri\i ng style )
effects of speed 011 , 62-63
front ami rear late ral acceleration and, 6t'i-69,
69f
steady-s tate . 98-99
steering and, 64---67, G6/. 67f, 69/
thro ttle histog ram and , 63-64 , G.31, G.5f
traction circle and . 60-6:3, (;0f. (H[. 62[. 63f
see also braking; freq ue ncy ana lysis; roll stiff-
ness distribution . shock uhsorhe rs: whee l
loads
C rc uat S.L., 97
CSV (co mma-separate d value s ) fo rmat. 14, WI
C u mulative varian ce , 23--24, 23f. 24/
l)a lllpill ~ ra te
da mpi ng an alvsis, 97-99, 97f. 9SJ, 991.
104-107,105f
defi ned,S7
D..tshboard systems. d river di splay, 13 2. sec also
indicidu ol names ofprod ucts ami
ma nujoctu rcrs
Data acquisition
basic d ata acq uisition Signals. 3
nf basie six signals, 28-32, 29[. 30[. 3 1[. 32f
categories, 2--3
defined, 2
fou r-post rig as alternative to, lOC}-I Ui
hardware, &-8, 6[. 7[. 8f (sec also senso r
techn ology)
paramet ers o f, 4--,!j , 5t
for race strate gy, 149-1.52
software requirements, 1, 9-1 'i
dat a ove rlay feature , 11- 1.3 . 15f
178
displaying mathe mat ical channe ls, 11, 14-15
driver knowled ge of, 13 1
export tng data, 14
filteri ng, 13-14, 15f
ge ne ral require ments. 9
not es with data files, 10- 11, 12- 131. 14f
o rganization of, 14-17
time/distan ce data display, 9- 10, 9[. 10{
su pp leme n ta l d ata acquisition signa ls. 3--4
sync h ronizi ng d ata, 'i
veh icle develop ment and, 3
sec also ind icid ual tW ml','i o/ ' '''od llcts and
J1WIIII/ a e/ lI r ers
D .A.T.A.S. Ltd ., 144
D eceleration , ·r ), 45t, see also h raking : come ri ng;
g;eali n~
D elft Unive rsity of T{'chnoloK" , 145
Dial-ill, 4 1
Diffe re ntial pressure senso r, l fil/
Di splacement se nsors, 1fi 1
Di stan ce
co mpa ra tive analysts of, 23. 24, 28
laser sensors , lfifi-J(i7 . lfii!
str utght-liue acceleration , distuuc c cs. tim e ,
39-40, 40{
time ami distance pints, fJ- I0, fJf, IOf
see also sim ulation tools
Do-enf o rce
measnri ng, 121-1 22, 121[. 126-128. 127[' 12Sf
simulation example . 147. 147[, 148/
sec also aerodynamics
DO\\l lshifting. 54, 55/ see also gl'a ring
D rabl J
m easuri ng , 121-1 22. 121/ (!wl' also
ae rodynamics}
simulation exam ple, 147 , 147[. 148f
speed and, 34 , 40
Drag racing, 40-43, 4 1[. 42[. 43f
D ri\i ng style, 2, 131-140
alarm message s for dri vers, 20
braling by, 46, 47, 49,134-136, 135[. 136f
consiste ncy of, and race strategy, 151-15 2,
151[. 152[. 1521
co nsistency of. over mul tiple laps, 140
co m e ring and, 136-137, 137f
driving line analysis, 137-1 38, 138f
C PS for, 139, 139f
video feed for, 139, 140{
 eval uation of, 3, 132
gea r-cha nge analysis and , 136
improving performance and, 131-132, 131f,
132/
throttle app lication and, 132-134 , 133f, 133/,
134f
Dynamic pressure, 123-1 24,124/ see also
aerodynamics
Emissivity, 160
Engine
drag and , 121-1 22, 121f, 147, 147f, 148J
dynamomet ers .B'I
HI'M , logging, 28-29, 28f, 29J
sim u lation , 1--1 1
torgue and horsep owe r, 33-3.5. 34/
see also aerodvtuun ics: ge aring; sim ulation
tools
E rror of the measurement, 150
ET (elapsed lime ) bracket racing, 4 1-42
External me mory cards, 7
FastLap Sim (ProRacingSim), 144-
F ey, Buddy, 133
Fil teling, 13-14, 1.5J
Fon td ccaba l. Buj, [osc p. 97
Fo urier, Joseph , 107
Fourier transfn rm, 107-108, IOSJ
Fou r-post rig. 106-107
Freque ncy anal vsix
defined , 104-107, 105J
mod al analysis in, 112-117, 113f, 116f, 117J
nonlin ear cons ide ration, 117-11 8
fro m sensor dat a, ]) 8-1 20, 118f, 119f, 120J
suspe nsion optimization using, 111-11 2, 112f
113J
as th eo retical analysis, 108-111, 109f, 110f,
llIJ
time-spa ce analysis us., 107-108, 107f, 108J
see also corne ri ng. shoc k absorbers
Frict ion coe fficie nt, 30
Front roll gradien ts/angle ratios. See roll stiffness
distrtbutlou
L
Foel
airbox e fficiency and, 128-129, 129J
cons umption, 149-151, 149f, 150J
Gauge pressure sensor, 16 1/
Ceanng. 2, 5 1--57
comparative analysis and, 28-29
dete rmining cor rec t gear ratios, 56-57, 57f
down sh ift ing, 54 , 55J
in drag racing , 42-43, 43f
gea r-change analysis of d rive r, 136
gear chart, .521, 54~55 , .56J
tota l gear ratio channe l, 55-56, 57/
upshifting, 5 1--53, 5 1f, 52/ , ,53f, .54J
C cforco . defi ned , 30
Goo gle Earth'nt , 139J
GPS , 165-1 66
hardware integ ration , 7-8, 8f
Race Technology DLl G PS da ta logger, 7-8,
7f, 22, 22f, 28, 139 , 139J
track map pi ng and , 27-28, 28f, 139, 139J
Grade e ffects, 83-85, 84(, 85J
Craphs , reading. See co mparative analysis; dat a
acqui sition; histog rams; time and distance
plot s; X- Y graphs
C lip, 10.5
Hai rpin s. 138
H all effec t gea rtoo th senso r, 163, 163J
Heave
fre qu en cy anal ysis of, 112-117, 113f, 116f,
117J
transfer fun ction and, 117-118, 117f, 118J
whe el load s an d, 86-93, 87f, S8f, 89f, 9Ot, 91f,
93t
Hi stograms, 10, 13J
shock speed, 99--104, 100[. lOOt, 101f, 101t,
102f, 103J
throttle , 63-64, 63t , 65J
H ooke 's law, 164-165
I Iorsep ower, straight-line accel eration and , 33-35,
34(,35
IIysrcrcsts, 155
11'DEX 179
Ideal gas law; 122
Ine rtial trackmapping. See track maps
In frared (Ill) technology, 159-160, 160f
Insta ntaneo us variance, 23-24, 23J, 241
Kinematics
simulation, 141. 142-143, 14'if. 143J, 1441
steering angle, 65, 67f
Kurt osis. de fined, 103, !03f
Lamdu se nsors, 16.5, lfi.5j
Lap marke rs
co mpa rati ve analysis of, am i segment tim es,
2130. 21J, 22f
recording secto r tim es and , 132
in truck maps, 27
J.apSim ( Bosch Motors port Cmh l I) . 144
Lase r distance se nsors , lGG- 16 7. 16 7/
Lateral accelemtlou , I:3S, 138/
co mering and. 60-53, 60J, 6 1J, 62J, 63J, 68-<>9 ,
69f
lateral g-forct' channel . defined . 30-3 1, 31/
logging, 28, :30- .11, 31f
ill track maps . 27
Linear potentionn-te rs. 1 6~r
LOlIgill . Bert . 73f 7S, iSf
Lon gitudinal accclcrutiou
co rnering and. (;(I-li.1. Ij0J, fi 1(, fi2J, 6:3f
geaJillg and, .52-5:3, .1:3j, .57!
logging, 28, 3 1, 3 1f
lon~ittldi na] It.
hrakin g and . 45--16, .j,SJ, 46f
gearing and . 53J, 57f
longitudinal slip ratio , 3,s-39, 3.SJ, 36J, 37J,
47-18
Low-speed are-a. 1no
LTS (Lap TIme Simulation } (Milliken Research
Associates. ln c. ), 143
Manifold air pre s:mfl' ( ~ I A P) signal. 128-1 29, 129/
Math e matical chaum-ls
co lor di spla~· of 1.5
180
comparative analysis for car's vitals, 20, 21f
disp lay gro uping of, 14-15
software capabilities for, 11
Measurem en t tec hniques, 153-167
accele ration se nsors, 16 1- 162, 163f
analog-digi tal co nversion, accuracy of,
153-154, 153t
CPS, 7-8, 8J, 22 , 22J, 28, 139, 139J, 165-166
laser distance sensors, 166--167, 167/
measurement ran ge, 155
m)'gen se nsors, 165, 165f
pitot tubes. 123-1 24. 12'if. 165, 165f
pressure se nsors, 160- 1G l , IGI!
sensor se lec tion and application, 154-1 5.5.
155f
speed se nsors, 163, l fi3/
strain gages , 163-1 65 , 16.if
tcmperature se nsors , 158-160, 159J, 160f
un certainty; ISS, 156--158, 157J, 1 5~
see also se nsor technology
Mech anical Simu lation Corporation. 144
Mem ory cards, 7
Milliken Resea rch Associates, ln c., 143
Modal analysis
Fre quen cy all,~ysis and, 108, 112- 117. 11 3J,
116J, 1I7f
for wheel loads , 86-93. 87J, 88J, 89J, 90/, 91J,
931
~l oTe C
advanced dash Ingger (AD J.). 4-<>.,st
CSV HI"data export. 14, 16t
Dash l\1<lJlager fuel predi ction, 14U, 150/
Engine Muu agemen t soft ware. 3.s.3S.f
roll stiffness distribution , 73, 73J, 7S. IOJ, IU!
sessio n co nstant setup sheet , 12- 13t
varian ce, 23-24 , 23J, 241
MSC. ADAM S/M otorspo rts ( ~I SC Software), 144
Ne utral steer, 64-"7, 66J, 67f
Nonlinearity
defined , 155
Frequency analysis and , 117-118
Notes. for setup, l a-II , 12-131, 141
Nyqui st-Shannon sampling theorem. 153-154
OII, et value , 155 Reliability
Overlaying comparative analysis and ! 19
fo r co mparative analys ts, 22-26, 23f, 2Af, 25f, import ance of, 3
26f, 131, 137f, 139, 139/ Re sistive tempe ratur e de-i ces (RT Ds), 158, 159,
as softw are feature , 11-13, 15f 159/
Oversteer, 64-07, 66f, 67f see also roll stiffness Resolution, se nsor, 155
dist ribution Hoad surface, comparative anal ysts of, 26, 26f
Robert Bosch Crnbh. See Bosch
Hall
Frequency analysis, 105, 112-117, 113f, 116f,
Pacejka. H .B., 145 117f
Paccjka's magic formula, 145 mass reduction for. 115-11 6
Piezoe lectric acce lero mete rs. 162, 163/ tran sfer functions fo r, 117-118, 117f, 118f
Pic zo rcsistive pressure se nsing e le ment, 16 1/ simulation examp le . 147. 147f. 148/
PiSim ( Pi Research), 143 wheell eads. 86- 93, 87f, 88f, 89f, 90t , 9 If, 93t
Pitbox se tup. for data analysis, 16-17, 17f Hall stiffness dtstnbutt on, 2, 71-79
Pitch pitch gradient. 79 , 7~if
freque ncy analysis roll angle ratio
mass re duction fo r, 115-1] 6 front and rear, 76-77, 77f, 77t, 157, 157f
transfe r fun ction . 117-118, 117f, 118f as setup tool, 78 , 7St
Freque ncy analys ts and. 105, 112-117, 113f, roll gradients
116[, 117f front and rear, 71-74, 71f 72t , 73f, 73t, 74f,
g radient, 79 , 79f (see also roll) 157, 157f
simulation example , 147, 147f, 148f as setup tool , 74-76, 741
w heel loads. 8G- 93, 87f, 88f, 89f, 901, 9 1f, 93t suspe nsion trouhleshooti ng, 78 , 79/
Pi Toolbox, 15f, 16f see also chassis
Pitot tubes, 123-1 24, 124f, IG5, 165f Rotary pot e ntiomet ers , 162f
Potentiom ete rs, 162/ RPM . See gearing
Powershift syste ms, 5.3
Pressure m easure m ent
brake balance , 48-49, 49f
sensors , 160-1 61, 161f SAE
Pro Raci ngSim . I-14 J1263 standard, 126
Vehicle Axis System, 30, 30f, 73
Safe ty, 3, 19
Sampling frequencie s, 153-154
RaeeSim (D. A.T.A.S. Ltd,), 144 Sate llite technology. See CPS
Race strategy 14g.-152 , 149f, 15Qf, 151f, 152f, Se nsitivity ratio, 155
1521. see also data acquisition Sensor technology, 2, 153-167
Race Tech nology accele ration, 161-162, 163f
DLl C PS dat a logger, 7-8, 7f, 22, 22f, 28, 139, freq ue ncy analysis fro m, 118-120 , 118f, 119f,
139f 120f
time slip/time slip rate , 24 lase r dista nce , 166-167, 167f
Random errors, 156 oxygen , 165, IG5f
Hear mil gradients/angle ratios . See roll stiffness pressure, 160-161, 161f
distribution se lection and application, 154-155, 155f
Rebound . 93-- 104 . see aim shock absorbers sen sor prep, 15
Red ligbt , 41 speed, 163, 163f

INDEX 181
 temperature, 158- 160, 159f, 160f
wheel loads measurement and , 93
see also measurem en t techniqu es; indi vidual
names of pro duc ts GIl d manufactu rers
Sera-CD, 144
Setup notes, 10-11, 12-131, 141
Shift duration , 52-03, 54f. see also gearing
Shifting point , 51-52, 51J, 521, 53f see also gea ring
Shock absorbers , 2, 97-120
dam ping analysis and, 9i-99, 9iJ, 98J, 99t
fre qu en cy analysis and , 104-1 20
shock speed bistogra m, 99- 104, 100f, lOOt,
!OIJ, 101t, !O2, 102f, 103f
sec also co rn eri u u; frequ e ncy analysis
Signal variatio ns, 11/
Simulation tools, 2, 3, 141-142, 14 1-] 48
Computational Fl uid Dynamics (C F D ), 14 1
engine simulation, 14 1
lap time simulation, 143-1 45 , 144/
simulated example. 145-148, 14iJ, 148f
suspe nsion kinematics simulation, 141 ,
142- 143, 142J, 143J, 1441
vehicle d)11a111 icS simulation, 141-142, 141/
Skewness . define d, 103, 100f
Smoothing. 13-1 4 , 15f
Softwa re. See data acq uisition
Speed
aerodynami c drag and, 34, 40
da ta display, 9- 10, 9J, IOf
data overlays for, 11- 13, 15f
e ffects of: on co rnering, 62-63
logging, 28, 29, 29f
se nsors, 163, 163f
orwheels
HPM [ S. , 56f
in simulation example, 14i, 14iJ, 148f
in track maps, 27
see also braking; gearing
STACK Ltd , 6-8, 6f
Standard deviation , defined , 102-103
Standard uncertainty, 15i
Statistical hias, 156
Steady-state corn erin g, 98-99
Steady-state weight tr ansfer, 93-94, 95f
Steering
Acke rmann steering angle. 65 , 6if
angle, lo~<ing, 28, 30, 30f
corne ring and, 64-£i, 66J, 6iJ, 69f
182
driving style and, 136-13i , 13if
steering wheel angle gradient, 65, 6if
see also roll stiffnes s distribution
Straight-line acce leration, 2, 33-43
ABs rrc s and slip ratios, 38-39, 38J, 39f
co rner exiting speed, 40, 4 1f
d rag racing and, 4~3 , 41J, 42J, 43f
time us. distance, 39-40, 40f
to rqn e and horsepower, 33-35, 341
traction and longitudinal slip, 3.5-38, 3.5J, 36[, 3if
see also gearing
Stra in gages , 163-16.5 , 164f
Suspe nsio n, 25
kinematics simulation , 141 . 142-1 43 , 142.[.
143f 144{
logg ing , 32. 32/
me asuring wheel load s with suspens ion ce lls,
93-94 , 93f 95f
op timi zati on usin g fre qu e ncy analysis ,
111- 112, 112J, 113f
troubl e sh oo ting, 78 . 79/
sec also frequen cy analysis; roll stiffnes s distri-
buti on ; shock absorb e rs
Sus Prog3 D (so ftw are package ), 7 1, 721
Te mperature
ae ro dyn amics and, 122-1 23, 123/
sensor s, 158- 160, 159J, 160f
The rmis te rs, 159, 1.59f
Th ermocouple temper ature sen sors, 158- 159. 15S/
Th rott le
blipp ing, 54 , 55J, 56f
driver application, 132-134, 133J, 133t, 134f
histogra m, 63-£4, 631, 65J, 133
position of, logging, 28, 30, 30f
see also accelerati on
Tim e
comparative analysis oj, 23
lap time simulation, 143-145, 144f
plots, dat a display, 9-10, 9J, 10[
straig ht-line acceleration, distance vs. tim e ,
39-40,40[
time-space analysis, lOi-l08, lOiJ, 108f
see also simulation tool s
Tim e and dis tance plots, 9-10, 9f, 10[
TIme slip/time slip rate, 24
TIres
cornering and , 66
dampi ng analysis and, 104-107, 105f
frequ ency analysis and. lIS-I20.ll8/. lH!f. l20f
lap tim e si mulatio n and, 143-145
pressu re and ae rodynamics, 126
spring rates . 87 . 94, 126
tire drag, 33
traction and straight-line acceleration , 35-38,
35/. 36/. 37f
wear of. and race stmtegy. 151-152. 151/.
152/. 1521
see also damping rate; downforce; frequency
analysis; roll stiffness d istribution; shoc k
absorbers. wheel loads
Tole rance , 15.5. 156- 158. L57/. 158f
Top Fuel d rag raci ng. 42 . 42f
Torque. straight-line accele ration and, 33-35, 34/
Total gear ratio channel, 55--56. 57! see also gearing
Track maps. 7~ . 8f
C PS an d. 27-28. 28f
inertial track mapping, 26-27, 27/
Traction , straight-line accel eratio n and, 35-38, 35f,
36/. 37. 37f
Traction circle
cornering and , 60-<>3. 60/. 6 1/. 62/. 63f
de fined . 136
Transfe r functio n
freq ue ncy analysis. 110- lI 2. llO/' 11 II. 112f
measu remen t. 154-1 55, 155/
Uncertainty, 15.5 , 156-158. 157I. 158f
Unde rsteer, 64-67, 56J, 67/ see also roll stiffness
distribution
Upshifting. 51--53, 5 II. 52t. 53I. 54f see ,,(>0 geari ng
US B cables. 7
Wallinder, Magn us. 37f
Warp
frequen cy analysis, 105. 112-117. 113/. 116I.
117f
dynami c natu re of. 115. 116-117
transfer function. 118. 118f
wheel loads . 86-93. 87/. 88/. 89J, 901. 9 1I. 93t
Water vapo r pressure , 122-1 23 , 123f
Weathe r
aerodynamics and. 122-123. 122/. 123f
el apsed tim e and. 41-42
" 'e ight transfe r, 100S
lateral. 8 1-83. 8 1I. 82I. 9.5f
lo ngitud inal. 83 . 95f
steady-state . 93-94, 95f
see also frequ ency analysis; wheel loads
Wh eel loads, 2. 8 1-95
aerodyna mic downforce and, 126-1 28 , 127f,
128f
ha nk;ng and grade effects. ~. 84/. S5f
calculating total of, 85--86. 85I. 85t. 87t
chassis torsion and, 94-95 , 95f
late ral weight tra nsfer and. 8 1--S3. 8 1I. 82/. 95f
lo ngitudin al weight transfe r and. 83. 95f
measuring. with suspensio n load ce lls, 93-94,
93/. 95f
modal analysi s for. 86-93. 87I. 88/. 89/. 90t.
9 1/. 93t
lire spring rates and, 94
see also co rn e ring: frequen cy analysis; shock
abso rbe rs
Wh eel mass, ios-iu. 109I. lIOI. ll1f
wheel speed
RP M cs., 56f
in simulation example. 147. 147/. 148f
in track maps, 27

x-r graphs. 10. llf

for gear chilrt s. 55. 56f
Variance . 23-24. 23I. 24J, 102-103 for roll stiffness dist ribution , 73 . 73f
Vehi cle dyn amics simulation. 141-142. 14 1f see for tra ction circl e. 60 . 60{. 62f
also simulation too ls
Video images
dnving line analysis using. 139. 140f
s~ll(.:hronizing with audio and data, 7 Yaw ra te , 68 , 68I. 69
Virtual beaco ns. See lap marke rs

IXDEX 183
184
 ~
o
I
r-
::)
«
w
Tile au tllor [pic tu red I
left ) in til e co mpany of
Ped ro IAmy lit the
w id er 201 Hou rs
r-
iu 2004.
r-
::)
\Vith an educational background in automotive engineeri ng. Jorge Segers
has been involved with racing disciplines such as CT and sportscar racing, single
seaters, and touring cars since 1998. lI e starte d with an apprenticeship at GLPK
Carspc rt, a Belgian team active in international GT racing. Mr. Sege rs became
o
en
the team manager only th ree years later.
After fini shin g his stud ies . he was e mployed at BP H Competition
Engineering as tra ck enginee r in the Intem ational Sports Hacing Seri es and
«
later as develop ment manager at Eurotech Racing. At Eurotech, he was respon -
sihle for the CT racing activities of British sportscar man ufactu rer Marcos
Cars,

In 200 1, Mr. Segers beca me the youngest tea m manager ever in an F IA

organized cha mpionship. At G LPK Carsport , he is still responsihle for the team's
activities and the FIA GT Cha mpionship. Subseq uently, he has been wor king
for other teams such as Henrik Roos Motorsports (F IA GT ), Racing for Holland
( Le Mans 24 Hours). and Carsport Modena.

His interest in technical writing was triggered when he was asked to write
part of the manual for a computer racing game for Simbin Developm ent. A spe-
cial interest in data acquisition and racecar pe rformance optim ization led him to
write this book.

ABOUT TI lE A UTH O R 185