I am looking for a book on suspension theory and set-up. Is Puhn's book 'How to Make your Car Handle' still the best out there? Any other recommendations?

 

I've been looking on ebay for used copies of Carroll Smith - Tune to Win.

 

Hmph. After reading a portion of it, I put it down realizing that it's...

1. Out of date.
2. Not that informative, which is a result of #1.
3. Not that great even if it was written in the same century.

 

So is 'Tune to Win' the better book then?

 

Right now I'm reading "Going Faster: Mastering the Art of Race Driving: The Skip Barber Racing School"

Haven't gotten to suspension tuning but so far its excellent, very detailed and informative. .

Are there any FWD specific books out there? -(Sorry didn't mean to highjack)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by p0pe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Right now I'm reading "Going Faster: Mastering the Art of Race Driving: The Skip Barber Racing School"

Haven't gotten to suspension tuning but so far its excellent, very detailed and informative. .</TD></TR></TABLE>

That is a great book. I've already read that one...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flux &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am looking for a book on suspension theory and set-up. Is Puhn's book 'How to Make your Car Handle' still the best out there? Any other recommendations?</TD></TR></TABLE>

for what any book can offer, it's as good as any other. these books can only offer theory, and everything should be taken with a grain of salt. for example, Puhn says to remove the front swaybar on fwd cars. i'd like to see him try and convince mark daddio of that. the point is that, just like advice on this board, taking advice blindly isn't always the best approach.

i haven't read it yet, but M & M is supposed to be one of the best.

nate-reads for theory, asks a lot of questions, does a lot of testing, still considers himself at the "knows enough to get himself in trouble" level

 

If you're looking for a copy, I got one for you. $10 shipped (USA)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eliktronik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you're looking for a copy, I got one for you. $10 shipped (USA)</TD></TR></TABLE>

For which book?

 

While we're on the topic....

I've been planning on picking up some books very soon.

- There's the Carrol Smith books (drive to win, tune to win, etc)
- Millikin
- Puhn
- http://www.sae.org/servlets/pr...R-300
- Smokey Yunick set (for *****, supposed to be interesting)
- Peter Egan (side glances) set

What am i missing of significant value here?

 

I just finished this book http://store.motolit.com/highanhaniby.html High Perfomance Handling Handbook.....I found this to be very informative...Don't know if anyone else read this one or not.

 

For "How to make your car handle", sorry.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What am i missing of significant value here?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Mark Donahue's <U>The Unfair Advantage</U>.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ponyboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hmph. After reading a portion of it, I put it down realizing that it's...

1. Out of date.
2. Not that informative, which is a result of #1.
3. Not that great even if it was written in the same century.</TD></TR></TABLE>

A little out of date, yes but still very relevant and an excellent resource. I don't know anyone who is at all serious about motorsports who hasn't read it. Would you care to elaborate on why it isn't that informative?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What am i missing of significant value here?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I second the M. Donahue book. Quite eye-opening and made me laugh more than a few times. I'd also throw both of Ross Bentley's books.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Angry Joe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A little out of date, yes but still very relevant and an excellent resource. I don't know anyone who is at all serious about motorsports who hasn't read it. Would you care to elaborate on why it isn't that informative?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The book is older than dirt. And people, including me, read it b/c they wanted to glean as much info on suspension as possible. If you got some good relevent info, then good for you. For me, it was, at best, a book to complete my libary.

 

Robert Bentlys book 'sports car' is pretty old but very interesting. More of an overview of performance oriented car and how it all work together. Plenty of detail but unfortunatly he uses old british and sweedish cars as illustrations. I thought it was pretty cool

 

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

The book is older than dirt. And people, including me, read it b/c they wanted to glean as much info on suspension as possible. If you got some good relevent info, then good for you. For me, it was, at best, a book to complete my libary.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why are there no more recent and modern books on suspension theory and tuning?

 

Try this!



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obi...lance

 

Fundamentals of vehicle dynamics/Thomas D. Gillespie.

Also in Racecar engineering "The Consultant" by Mark Ortiz has some pretty good information.

Some links if your too lazy to search on SAE
Race Car Engineering & Mechanics
Race Car Vehicle Dynamics Book and Problems, Answers and Experiments Set
Car Suspension and Handling, 4th Edition
The Carroll Smith Race Car Set

 

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

Why are there no more recent and modern books on suspension theory and tuning?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Because the fundamentals haven't changed much...

 

I like the Herb Adams book, and the excellent suspension design book (shown three posts up) from Staniforth.

Here's my complete list from my webpage:

http://members.***.net/kimini2....html




Modified by kb58 at 9:17 PM 11/8/2003

 

I have the book in the title. I thin kits a little outdated. It needs to address new modern suspension setups and talk more about the differences for autox and road racing. Especially autox..

Not a bad book otherwise.. Just dull as hell!

 

How dull could it be written by a guy who wears plaid pants and cowboy boots? You can see them in some of the photos... He's an engineer, need I say more?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Want2race &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have the book in the title. I thin kits a little outdated. It needs to address new modern suspension setups and talk more about the differences for autox and road racing. Especially autox..

Not a bad book otherwise.. Just dull as hell!</TD></TR></TABLE>

'Modern' suspension setups? Like what? I guess double wishbone is getting outdated. I'd bet quite a bit that no one on this site has fully mastered the basic suspension design and tuning addressed in the book. I certainly haven't.