Joe Curry wrote :
> I have however toed the front wheels out about 1/8" so that it will
> turn in faster.
Hmm. Why would toe-out increase turn-in speed? My own epxerience on
the road, admittedly not an autocross course, has been that too much
toe-in makes the car squirrely tracking a straight highway, a very
disconcerting feeling. And conversely, toe-out makes it sluggish to
turn but seemingly more stable in a straight line. My explanation to
myself has been that the start of a turn shifts weight to the outside
wheel. If the wheels are fighting each other and the outside wheel
is pointing too far in, the weight transfer to it will increase its
contribution to the lateral G's w.r.t. the other wheel. Conversely,
the weight transfer to a wheel pointing away from the desired turn
will make the car turn less. This effect is most pronounced over the
first fraction of a second beginning a turn, including small shifts
to stay centered in a lane.
Perhaps your toe-out is merely to reduce the Ackerman effect at the
amount of steering lock typical of an autocross? Perhaps it works
because your car has been lowered and so has less weight transfer
than a stock car?
--
Jim Muller
jimmuller@pop.rcn.com
'80 Spitfire, '70 GT6+
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