[s-cars] Understeer vs. oversteer?

[Theodore Chen]

--- Joseph Pizzimenti <pizzoman at yahoo.com> wrote:
> List,
> Our cars understeer like pigs (not unlike my date this
> weekend) because all the weight's on the nose, right?

right.  also, production cars are always set up to understeer for
liability reasons.  most people tend to panic when the tail comes
around on them.

your date understeers?

> Understeer is caused by front wheels losing traction
> before the rear, so the car plows.  Adding a Rear Sway
> Bar should increase the rear traction.  Hap, wouldn't
> this make understeer worse?

no, the addition of the rear antiroll bar (the preferred term) increases
rear roll stiffness.  this means the rear tires will take more of the
load, and front traction improves at the expense of rear traction.

you should realize that antiroll bars work by levering on the inside
tire.  as the suspension compresses on one side (the outside) in cornering,
the antiroll bar levers against the inside wheel, effectively resisting
body roll by pulling up on the inside wheel.  it's noticeable when
people go caveman on the antiroll bar because the inside wheel comes
off the ground.

my '92 has a rear antiroll bar, and it still understeers quite a bit.
it really needs more negative camber in the front.

-teddy


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