

Understeer was reduced, even though adding roll stiffness to the front of a car increases front roll couple distribution and should cause more understeer.
Front suspension geometry calculator Patch#
By reducing chassis roll, more of the tire contact patch was keep flat on the track surface, allowing more contact and more grip. This was a trick used in stock-class autocrossing where rules allowed only the addition of a front antiroll bar. In fact, this is one situation where a stiffer front antiroll bar can reduce understeer. Limiting chassis roll to no more than 2 degrees reduces the camber-change problem to a minimum. Stiffer springs are not the best choice for this, but stiffer antiroll bars are. Camber change is directly proportional to chassis roll, so reducing roll reduces camber change. First you can change the suspension geometry, which is the best solution but difficult and/or expensive. There are two solutions to the camber-change problem. In other words, the car may turn in with good grip, but as chassis roll increases, grip is reduced due to camber change and the car may understeer if the problem is at the front, oversteer if the problem is the rear - less likely - or start sliding off the track if both ends lose grip equally, which is rare.

It is also difficult to feel what the car is doing. Since traction or grip levels can be changing constantly in a corner, the handling balance also can be changing, causing a car to change from understeer to oversteer very abruptly. It also makes the car difficult to drive. Less traction means slower cornering speeds and less corner-exit acceleration. So total grip of the car is changing as the car is turned into a corner, over bumps in the corners and during acceleration exiting a corner. The older the car, the more likely this will be true. This is a transient problem, meaning that the more the chassis rolls in a corner, or compresses or rebounds over bumps, the more or less the tire contact patch is gripping the track surface. This means that the angle of the tire tread compared with the ground at the tire contact patch is causing a portion of the contact patch to lose contact with the track surface, reducing traction. Strut-equipped cars typically have more severe camber-change curves during suspension travel. But there is a trio of major differences that can affect total vehicle traction and drivability. Then, by using average tire temperatures, you can balance the handling and maximize total vehicle traction in the same way. You adjust camber and tire pressures using tire temperatures. The suspension setup for a strut-equipped car is very much like that of a double wishbone “A-arm” suspension. Minimizing chassis roll in corners improves performance on any car used on the track, but it is especially important on cars equipped with strut suspensions.
