Quote:
Originally Posted by ermax
I'm not sure where ZDan said the wheel is fixed and that only the sprung weight is a factor.
IMO lighter wheels would need less dampening. The more mass the more inertia. Once the wheel hits a bump and changes direction it's going to continue in that direction longer and farther before the spring can push it back down therefore it seems you would need more dampening to control this motion. Surely this has been debated somewhere else.
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Only if the bump is sharp enough to get the wheel airborne. Idk about you, but my wheels remain on the ground most of the time except the occasional big frost heave. Suspension is intended to separate the main weight of the car from the ground specifically to prevent the wheels from getting airborne.
The car is the counterweight that the spring acts on. The wheel has a hard restriction to the ground except in cases when it is airborne. On modern suspensions, that simply does not happen often. Think about it a bit. If you still don't believe me, give me real spring and damping rates with wheel and car weights and I'll do the math at some point this weekend to prove it.
Sprung weight is what needs to be controlled by damping. If you've ever seen an underdamped car rolling around you'd know what I mean. The car is rolling around, the wheels remain on the ground.