Quote:
Originally Posted by babydriver
Since the wheel is part of the sprung weight of the suspension, it seems to me that changing the mass of the wheel+tire would require changing the factory springs (and their rate) also. Less mass in the wheels will result in a lack of full compression of the springs and I suspect that the ride will become rather stiff and paradoxically you could lose some control and contact with the road. Am I misunderstanding something here?
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Info inbound.
http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/unsprung_weight.html
You'd end up with a softer suspension as the unsprung assembly that creates traction with the ground requires less force to 'follow' the road.
http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/sprung-c.htm
Quote:
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The unsprung vs. sprung weight percentage also affects ride comfort, since lighter springs are needed to maintain traction and control with lighter unsprung components (alloy wheels, independent rear suspension, alloy calipers, composite springs, in-board brakes, etc.), the chassis is less disturbed by wheel movement and road surface irregularities.
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Basically if you envision the body of the car sitting still and it's traveling over a bumpy road the wheels and suspension work like mad to stay in contact with the road, if the wheels and suspension are heavy they react slowly because they have high inertia and require a lot of force to change direction so you would need stiff suspension to 'push' them into the ground while simultaneously being soft enough to 'absorb' the rises in elevation, a tough compromise. With a lighter setup there's less inertia, the wheels 'track' the road with less effort, increasing traction overall. That's a very simplified explanation but the fundamentals don't change when talking about an F1 car or an off-road buggy.
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