Miles better - He is an ex-Formula One driver; he's a ride and handling consultant to Lotus; and now he writes for Testing Technology International on best evaluation practices

摘要

Finding the ultimate ride and handling compromise is the bane of every chassis test engineer's life. Should the car turn-in to corners more Keenly? Perhaps the ride should be more compliant or would the smooth-riding motor handle the twisty stuff like the average cat handles a mouse? I suggest that knowing how to evaluate a vehicle's behavior correctly is a good starting point to solving the above dilemmas. And so to revealing the Key to improving the ride and handling of an existing vehicle: identify the prime cause of the chassis deficiencies in the first place. For any decent-sized chassis development program, the first requirement is usually to benchmark the rivals subjectively. Before development starts, the client may ask for objective handling tests to be carried out on the best competitor vehicle, and the development vehicle as received. We always try to put the two best cars on the K and C test rig to measure suspension Kinematic and compliance characteristics, lateral, fore/aft/vertical stiffness, plus roll stiffness distribution; again comparing results with the tests on the client vehicle as received. These tests should give a basic understanding of the systems, and highlight any unusual suspension characteristics. Modal tests may also be carried out to look at specific suspension mount performance, or local body mount stiffness.