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- Brian Minkin - 02-21-2008
Michael Levitas, TPC Racing team owner, chassis tuning engineer,
professional race car driver(Daytona-24 GT Champion, multiple Daytona-24
GT podium finisher, multiple Grand-Am Series winner), also founder of JRZ
USA. Michael is one of the very very few pro drivers who is also a chassis
tuning engineer. This gives Michael a distinticve advantage of translating
his driving feedbacks directly and instantly into an approach for set up
changes. Michael is highly regarded by many pro racing teams and tire
manfacturers as he can indentify chassis behaviors and come up with
solution(s) for improvement in only an outlap. On a side note, Micheal had
either driven with and/or engineered for some of the best factory drivers
in the world like Randy Pobst, Mike Rockenfeller, Bill Adam, Bill
Auberlen, Darren Law, Andy Lally, John Morton, and more.
Tom Chan, TPC Racing team manager and crew chief, winner of the 2004
Grand-Am crew chief of the year award.
Bryan Hise, Mechanical Engineer specializing in race car set up. Bryan had
engineered for championship-winning GT teams. Bryan had also engineered
for Ryan Briscoe in Indy Car.
professional race car driver(Daytona-24 GT Champion, multiple Daytona-24
GT podium finisher, multiple Grand-Am Series winner), also founder of JRZ
USA. Michael is one of the very very few pro drivers who is also a chassis
tuning engineer. This gives Michael a distinticve advantage of translating
his driving feedbacks directly and instantly into an approach for set up
changes. Michael is highly regarded by many pro racing teams and tire
manfacturers as he can indentify chassis behaviors and come up with
solution(s) for improvement in only an outlap. On a side note, Micheal had
either driven with and/or engineered for some of the best factory drivers
in the world like Randy Pobst, Mike Rockenfeller, Bill Adam, Bill
Auberlen, Darren Law, Andy Lally, John Morton, and more.
Tom Chan, TPC Racing team manager and crew chief, winner of the 2004
Grand-Am crew chief of the year award.
Bryan Hise, Mechanical Engineer specializing in race car set up. Bryan had
engineered for championship-winning GT teams. Bryan had also engineered
for Ryan Briscoe in Indy Car.
UNDERSTANDING BASIC CHASSIS TUNING
TPC Racing has been involved in professional motorsports since 1999. We have accumulated 26 professional wins, 42 professional podium finishes and multiple Championships. The contents of this seminar are held closely and regarded as a black art by professional race car engineers. TPC is pleased to pass this education to enthusiasts.
The basic seminar and literature is designed to help an average enthusiast understand the basics of chassis tuning. While we can write thousands of pages and use very technical terms, this is just an introduction so we kept it short and informative. A more in depth seminar and technical article will be available in the coming months.
This seminar will introduce:
-
- • Tires [/*]
- • Tires [/*]
- • Differentials [/*]
- • Springs [/*]
- • Sway Bars [/*]
- • Dampers [/*]
- • Alignment [/*]
- • Aerodynamics [/*]
To improve the handling of your car you must understand the following components. The following components are listed in the order of their importance to your car’s handling.
TIRES- the most single most important component to your car’s handling. Everything else you do, i.e. springs, sway bars, dampers, and aerodynamics are to optimize the grip of your tires. Tires are your only mechanic connection to the road. Conditions such as oversteering or understeering are functions of the tires when they have exceeded their maximum grip or g-load. Achieving proper "hot" pressure readings as recommended by the tire manufacturer is of pinnacle importance.
DIFFERENTIAL- regulates torque to each drive tire. We will discuss the differential in a more advanced tech session.
SPRINGS- you spring rate must be within a window in which they will support the weight of your car and transfer the load to your tires. Having too soft or too stiff of springs will upset your car’s handling on the track. Other components cannot compensate if your spring rates are outside of the window for the car. Next to your tires, your spring will dictate how hard you can drive in and out of a corner. So selecting the proper spring rates for your car is very important and you should ask an experienced race car shop for a recommended starting point.
ANTI-SWAY BARS- are torsional springs which limits body roll in order to maintain a more even tire contact to the road on both left and right side. Sway bars that are too soft will not have enough body roll control. This will over work the outside tires. Too stiff will cause the lost of independence between the left and right side, which will reduce tire grip. Adjustable sway bars with proper window of torsional spring rate for your specific vehicle will allow users to tailor their cars to limit body roll without hurting the independence of both left and right side.
SHOCK DAMPERS- work together with the springs to control the speed and motion of which the suspension travels. Damper valving has a direct effect on the amount of load transfer to each tire. Which means it can change the maximum grip on each tire. Having adjustable dampers allow the user to fine tune the chassis to achieve better balance, assuming the tire pressures, spring, sway bars, and etc. are in the "window". With "sealed" or non-adjustable dampers, the user cannot change the balance of the car with the dampers. In this case, there is no fine tuning. Balance relies mainly on spring rate selection and sway bar rate.
ALIGNMENT- is the adjustment of the wheel angles relative to the chassis. A proper alignment adjusts the camber, toe, and caster to the need of the entire chassis package relative to maximum tire grip. Sometimes an alignment is used to fine tune the balance(similar to dampers).
AERODYNAMICS- influences greater grip for higher speed cornering and braking if tuned properly. Too much aero grip to one end of the car will upset the balance.