With nothing better to do than surf the web while not working on getting my car finsihed, I came accross this site http://www.smithees-racetech.com.auI had seen before, and read through the articles. In one of the articles http://www.smithees-racetech.c....html, the author says this:

"And in our shock section, we show you how, with a generalised approach which will work with any movement of the race car. Every book I have read on suspension has missed this point. Only Mark Oritz, in his excellent articles in Race Car Engineering Magazine showed the way. The concept is fascinating, because for the first time road racing cars can use a set up that performs like an asymetrical one, such as a speedway car might use, yet the car is still square (performs the same in RH and LH corners)."

There are also these articles on damper setup: http://www.smithees-racetech.c....html and http://www.smithees-racetech.c....html

Now I have all of the articles from Mark Ortiz available from this web site
http://www.pds.i8.com/Ortiz/Ortiz.htm

and from this one which starts with article #118 from May 2000

http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...ebase
PS You can also get the Brian Beckman Physics of Racing Articles from this site.

and I had a look through them again, but I did not see which article(s) are being referred to (but perhaps I missed it).

Does anyone with old issues of Race Car Engineering know which issue they are in or have copies?

We all need to know more about damper setup.

 

So there is no one who has found this potential Holy Grail of shock tuning?? Anyone here have old issues of Race Car Engineering or know at what date Ortiz's column started.

 

the big yellow one is the sun

 

Holy Grail?

RaceCar Engineering?

Mark Ortiz?

Scott, who thinks shock tuning is a crutch for people who don't have the ballz to run stiff enough springs..."I got your Holy Grail right here...it's about 6 inches long, 2.25 inch ID, with 3000 engraved on the bottom"...motion ratio is teh suck!

 

haha Brian Regan

oh yeah and get smooooooooth!


and on a serious note, I do not know where to find it. I've googled now for about 20 minutes and got nothing. But thanks a lot for the good links

 

We have some number of Race Car Engineering on the shelf here at the office. If you have a date, I'll look to see what it is.

Holy Grail of Shock Tuning? Maybe more like yet "another article on shock tuning" that hopefully is based on good information applied correctly to as to lead the reader to some beneficial end. Lots of articles don't necessarily succeed to that point.

 

Shock Tuning is like the 100 mpg Carburettor...it's "out there"...but "They" wont let you have it.

The Elves of the old country and their minions prime the pump of the pulp industry as they print another and another tawdry article promising to release the secrets and unleash the power of the Racing Damper.

BAH! It's just another game show based reality. They get my $5 when I buy the magazine, and then the elves send them a percentage when I buy the Grail, and then the music starts again and we all get up and start going round the chairs again. The music stops - I'm outta money - ain't got no place to set my *** down.

Scott, who when they told me there was a supercomputer in my head I opened it up to see it...couldn't see a damned thing!

 

An article on damper tuning would not be complete without also including a section or two on driver tuning.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Johnny Mac &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">An article on damper tuning would not be complete without also including a section or two on driver tuning.</TD></TR></TABLE>

But how many drivers are truly competent to tune themselves?

Scott, who want's to do less with more...at least I think I do...today...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RR98ITR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

But how many drivers are truly competent to tune themselves?

Scott, who want's to do less with more...at least I think I do...today...</TD></TR></TABLE>

How true. That said, maybe the only drivers who not only have a seat of the pants feel for what the car is doing and an understanding of how their own driving is effecting the handling of the car could be helped by such a tuning article.

Can't tune the car if you can't tune the driver.

 

Solo-x gets the prize for figuring out which article was referred to on that Smithees site. Read this, and learn about quirk and even how to tune those four way adjustables. The good stuff is in the second half of the article.

Shock and spring forces and their effects on tire loading, by Mark Ortiz, April/May/June 2003
http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...1#153

Also look at this older one for a handy chart:
Chassis troubleshooting chart, by Mark Ortiz, July 2001
<A HREF="http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?
Cat=0&Number=132&an=0&page=3#132" TARGET="_blank">http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...3#132</A>

Analyzing shock traces, by Mark Ortiz, December 2001
http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...3#137

Suspension natural frequencies, by Mark Ortiz, January 2002
http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...3#138

Shock dynamics by Mark Ortiz, August 2000
http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...4#121

Load transfer basics, by Mark Ortiz, August 2003
http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...1#155

Shock research update, by Mark Ortiz, Sept/Oct 2003
http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...1#211

Roll centers, by Mark Ortiz, August 2004
http://www.auto-ware.com/ubbth...0#489

Now I am planning to combine all these ingredients and come up with a new secret weapon. If you have any more ingredients to add to the mix, jump in.

 

I just got rid of some out of date Race Car Engineering mags. I have seen and read his articles. I will see if I have some that you are looking for.

Barry H.

 

anyone think maybe we should change the title of the thread and make it a sticky? There is a ton of links here for really really good information

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Wacked2882 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">anyone think maybe we should change the title of the thread and make it a sticky? There is a ton of links here for really really good information</TD></TR></TABLE>
I bookmarked it, but now that you mention it, this might be a good addition to the FAQ.