<<While adjusting the tire pressures at the track/auto-x course is a time
honored method of tuning the balance of the car, in the final analysis
you are DECREASING the grip on one end or the other to achieve that
balance.
Nomex underwear on - Flames may begin
Rick Morrison>>
Why do you expect flames? I would have thought that what you said would be
obvious. You can set the grip for any given end of the car to best grip most
easily with a tread temp gauge (and we do use this), but this does you little
good if when both ends are set to optimum grip, one end hangs on better (this
is the norm) while the other end attempts to become one with the weeds.
On any vehicle with two ends, you have to tune for best handling, which (I
thought obviously) means that you balance the ends by reducing the grip at one
end (not much point in reducing both ends, is there?)
So my MGA, for instance, which has a Quaife LSD, has a front end that pushes
like a pig in certain corners, and needs high (read optimum) pressure in the
front, and reduced in the rear to get around fastest. But you also have to try
greater than optimum in front, which I grant you will reduce grip, but also
resists tire roll, and therefor you can use closer to optimum in the
rear.....et. bloody cetera.
And that doesn't even begin to deal with tracks where you purposely give up
cornering force in one direction, by asymmetric tire pressures, so as to
optimise grip coming out of another 'important' corner, i.e. one that enters a
straight.
And then there are the guys that think that they can do it all with tire
pressure rather than proper suspension geometry. Tire salesmen love them, as
they get to sell more tires to them. Of course they like me too, as I need to
buy about 2 front tires to every rear tire.
Bill S.
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