RE: Suspension question Oversteer/Understeer?

[Matthew Yip <mgyip@yahoo.com>]

--- Neal Tovsen <ntovsen@piper.hamline.edu> wrote:
> How does the tire pressure thing work? I haven't done any auto racing, but
> if you're experiencing oversteer, you want more traction on the rear to
> balance the front, right? Wouldn't /lowering/ the rear air pressure (or
> raising the front) make the tires more supple/flexible, thus giving more
> traction?
> 
> I noticed that both Andre' and Owen speak of raising the rear pressure.
> Considering that, IIRC, both you guys have racing experience, I'd believe
> what you say before my above logic. Could you explain how this works?
> 
Depending on how much you screw with rear tire pressure, raising rear pressure
will INCREASE oversteer - but the pressure would have to be rather high - 40+
lbs.  The same will happen if the rear tire pressure is too low - say around 18
lbs or so.  R-Compount tires have a specific "sweet spot" where 1-2 lbs in
either direction make a dramatic difference.  

Street tires are much less sensitive to tire pressures due to their nature -
low heat, low traction.  Race tires are very different b/c they get very sticky
when they get hot, get the picture.  
===
Matthew Yip
mgyip@yahoo.com

'87 GTi 0v
'88 M5
'99 F350
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com


--
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe scirocco-l" to majordomo@scirocco.org.
If you experience other problems, email: scirocco-l-probs@scirocco.org