Any helpful books on suspension designing and engineering?

[fly-s30]

As the topics states, are there any reliable and modern/recent books regarding modifying, tuning and engineering of suspension that are out there that we can use as a reliable reference tool?

The book "How to make your car handle" by Fred Puhn is from 1987, and im surmising that it is already outdated, has anyone read it?

Any other options?

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

[dat2kman]

Fred Puhn book is not outdated

Get it.

The next books you should look for are by Carroll Smith, he was the tech guy that Moffat brought out from the states

He has three in a series

Tune to Win, Engineer to Win, and (something else) to Win, all are xcellent.

 

Another is "Formula car suspension technology"

[C.A.R.]

What Jason said ^

 

Or if you are feeling confident - "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics" by Milliken.

[PZG302]

And you could also try to find the "how to Modify your Datsun" bible as well. A search on Ebay should turn something up. It was originally written in the late 70's and updated in the 80's and goes through engine and suspension mods for early Datsuns like the 1600 and Zeds.

[DAZDA]

Unless you are chasing electronic controls theory and feed-back loop algorithms for active suspension, none of the books listed above are out-dated.  The physics principles that apply to the dynamics of a vehicle during cornering have been the same since the first motorsied carriage in the late 1800s...  the only difference now is how they are applied.

 

These are all good books;

• Allan Staniforth - Competition Car Suspension: Design, Construction, Tuning
  
• Fred Puhn - How to make your car handle
  
• Milliken & Milliken - Racecar Vehicle Dynamics    This book is more like a university text book, and by far the most in-depth
  
• Carroll Smith - Tune to Win, Drive to Win, etc
  

 

 

Once you've read all these, you'll work out two things,

[*]Suspension design and set-up is all about compromises and making the right ones

[*]In some cases there is more speed to be gained by spending money on the driver (and improving his skills) than the car 

[Agno]

In some cases there is more speed to be gained by spending money on the driver (and improving his skills) than the car 

 

Someone should write this in big red text and paste it all over the internet! Too many people I know pour money into their cars to make them faster before they get a handle on how their car drives, only to be disappointed when their PBs stop improving because they have reached the limits of their own skills.

[260DET]

Depends on what you know now and what you want to learn. All the abovementioned books are useful but are general purpose, except the Datsun specific book of course.

[luvemfast]

 

In some cases there is more speed to be gained by spending money on the driver (and improving his skills) than the car 

Someone should write this in big red text and paste it all over the internet! Too many people I know pour money into their cars to make them faster before they get a handle on how their car drives, only to be disappointed when their PBs stop improving because they have reached the limits of their own skills.

I always laugh when guys are talking about making there car lighter, spending lots of money on it.

Then look at their girth........  they're carrying about $5,000 worth of weight savings on their belly!

[dat2kman]

OR,,,,, all the "gunna's"

Preparing a car for eleventy years, that sits in a garage, never sees the light of day,,, but,,, apparently, it is already the fastest thing since whenever.

 

To the OP,

Where have you gone?

You got on here, asked a question, got some pretty good answers, but zip from you.

 

Why do we bother?

If you are lurking, get back on here and let us know what you are planning.

[1600dave]

I'd echo the above - best way to go faster is to get on the track, and do it regulalry.

 

I've been heading down to Wakefield Park at least a few times a year for the last 6 years or more, but my best single improvement in lap times came about after the "Masters" program at the Festival of Sporting Cars meeting earlier this year. I did a "track walk" with Mal Brewster, had Ray Gulson both drive and passenger in my car. Both old racers, what I learnt from a few sessions of training with them dropped my lap times by close to 2 seconds.

 

Prior to that, fitting an LSD, close ratio box, better engine, suspension tweaks, etc, etc over the years only dropped lap times by fractions of a second for each modification.

 

I have the  "Fred Puhn" book, and the "Staniforth" book, there's more in them than I reckon I'll ever need to know (Puhn even uses a few Datsuns as examples, both Z and 1600).

[fly-s30]

Wow, this is an unexpected amount of replys!

 

 

Once you've read all these, you'll work out two things,

[*]Suspension design and set-up is all about compromises and making the right ones

[*]In some cases there is more speed to be gained by spending money on the driver (and improving his skills) than the car 

 

DAZDA you make me laugh, point 2 is for real.

 

OR,,,,, all the "gunna's"

Preparing a car for eleventy years, that sits in a garage, never sees the light of day,,, but,,, apparently, it is already the fastest thing since whenever.

 

To the OP,

Where have you gone?

You got on here, asked a question, got some pretty good answers, but zip from you.

 

Why do we bother?

If you are lurking, get back on here and let us know what you are planning.

 

Yeah sorry bud, I leave home early and get home late, so my breather time "now" is when all is caught up.

Haha yeah the topic needed "maturing", to get a good answer as iv had no luck at all on other forums...seem like most people arn't interested in turning

 

Well a brief intro is in order I guess;

Sitting in my garage, the better part of a decade is a 260z 2 seater, fully stripped...a roadworth repair taken to the next level hehe.

Together with my bro, we have plans of doing: s/blast, a SR20det conversion, with suspension transplant (maybe?) and all the fabrication ourselves and im game to finish the bodys imperfections too, but ill see about painting it.

This is a first for us both but im gathering a wealth of knowledge to make a calculated decision on all aspects of it. Being a boilermaker myself, the  fabrication side wont be a problem.

Next to it is a Mazda Rx4 hardtop, that has seen too many years in the rain. Plans for that is Cosmo 13B-RE, rust repair/respray, and set it up for tough street maybe even tarmac rally.

 

The reason for this post is a need to revamp the handling and robustness of the front end on the Rx4 (conversion to rack and pinion, wishbone?), and to do a 9 inch swap with minimal mods, with proven yet simple methods to stop movement of the rear and aid traction.

 

All this should go ahead in the new year...Datsun first.

 

Fellas thanks for the directions, but holy sh!t, $205 for a new copy of "tune to win". time to start saving.

 

 

[DAZDA]

... but holy sh!t, $205 for a new copy of "tune to win". time to start saving.

 

http://www.pitstop.net.au/view/products/page/query/plu/9224/    $40.  And maybe $10 postage and its usually next day delivery to capital cities in Oz. 

[fly-s30]

Great link!

Got "how to make your car handle" & "tune to win" in santas sack so all is well for summer reading.

Thanks again!