Why does a stiffer rear exactly cause the car to have an oversteering bias? I think I have it worked out right in my head but I want to make sure. This is how I see it, I assume the car starts at the same ride height and same weight F/R and the geometry is the same so that the same amount of weight either in the front or rear makes the suspension compress the same amount.

So set up like this in a steady corner, the car would have the same amount of weight on both inside and both outside tires, but of course more on the outside tires. The suspension would have compressed and extended by the same amount on the outside and inside respectively. Also ideally speaking, the front and rear would be generating the same cornering force at any speed and would exceed that limit at the same time making the car perfectly neutral. (I'm sure how much the front tires are angled to steer makes some kind of dynamic difference, but bear with me).

Now when you make the rear stiffer in relation to front, this would cause in the same corner at a steady speed for weight to transfer forward on the outside, because since the front is softer as the car corners the front suspension compresses more making the front lower and shifting weight to the front, and since there is more weight over the front there is more grip in the front and less in the back, creating an oversteering bias. On the inside tires since the front is softer it will allow that suspension to extend more keeping more weight on that inside tire whereas the stiffer rear will not extend as much keeping more weight off that tire and generating less grip, also shifting weight to the front and generating more front grip.

So as the car is pushed harder the more and more weight transfers to the front which give the front more grip and causes the rear to want to break loose first. A swaybar does the same thing basically but allowing more front articulation and less rear artliculation creating the same effects. Excuse the ramble, but is that how it works more or less?


Modified by ED9man at 8:01 PM 7/18/2006

 

paragraphs are you freind. Im not even going to read it all but i think i have an answer to whatever your question is.

search for a thread by this guy 'RR98ITR' its an archived thread about the rear suspension on a DC2, and he explains what a stiffer rear does

 

If the front end happens to be supple
It does not resist the roll couple
And its grip is increased
Compared to the rear end at least
Multiply by 4 and you have a quintuple

 

http://www.turnfast.com/tech_h...shtml