Monday, February 19, 2007

Suspension Engineer Wanted

I need an engineers input. I've made a photo album of the most recent stuff that I've done on my car. The photo album includes chassis pictures, as well as closeups of the front and rear suspension mounting points with some temporary control arms drawn in. The reason that they are temporary is I haven't figured out the best way to set up my suspension geometry to get the best handling possible. I've also decided to use large wheels, this way I can have less suspension travel, without compromising ride quality. Just like in the old days before suspension, they had massive wagon wheels so that it would go over ruts and bumps easier.

I am obviously going to have a compromise between handling and ride comfort, because some driveability is important in any road going car. I have done some research in the area of formula suspension geometry, but I'm not sure it's exactly what I'm looking for as the weight distribution from side to side is quite different from a car to a formula racer. I also found that suspension components from these cars are far to weak to be used on a road going car. I've also tried to purchase just the suspension linkage from the Ultima GTR, but they wouldn't sell them to me separately, and I have a feeling Noble wouldn't be to excited about shipping me any of those cheaply either.

I'm currently looking into using an RSX engine and transmission. I'm going to have a transverse mounted rear mid engine sports car. Possibly a turbo in there too, but that's a future endeavor. I tried to find a gear box that was short enough to use a longitudinally mounted engine, without having part of it protruding out the rear. If you look in the photo album, I haven't left much room behind the rear wheels for a transmission. I also can't afford a racing transmission that would fit from Quaife. Quaife makes very nice transmissions.

I have all the dimensions of my car set, as in length height wheelbase and width, but they can be changed to incorporate suspension and handling improvements. Because it is a rear mid engine car, there is plenty of room in the front to have long control arms. I understand that this helps with camber change in a corner as they can have a shorter distance between them at the chassis mounting point.

If anyone know's an engineer that could help me in this area it would be much appreciated.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

If you'll email me I'll forward my usual approach

Joseph Adams said...

Hi Greg if you have a chance give me your email address. I have a project and I'd like an expert opinion