This Car Handling Guide explains some of the theory behind car handling and racing. If you want to understand the technical secrets behind a winning setup, this the place. Because its highly technical detail is probably not something you are used to reading, you'll have to give the guide more study than you normally would a web page. Of course, you can have fun without car handling theory, but you will always be wondering why everyone else's car is faster!

This picture shows one of the roll center (the red circle) of a car. Notice how it moves up and down with body roll (cornering forces).

 

This picture shows roll center (the red circle) of the suspension because of a bump.

This web guide was marketed through RC Mania (now defunct) as a book called "Intuitive Racing" in AZ in the mid '90s. It's many sales prompted the decision to post it on the web. A software program was sold with it. The information is timeless, because it is the very basics. In late 2000, Team Associated was offered the chance to post it as part of Associated's web site. Now, I'm retired and posting it again on my own website. This picture is off the original cover. This information is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding car handling dynamics. For more in-depth research, I suggest you get a copy of the 890-page Race Car Vehicle Dynamics by William and Douglas Milliken. Being able to make the right adjustments for the right reasons makes racing more fun! Once you get a feel for how the Outputs of the program relate to on track performance, huge changes in chassis and gearing can be done with no fear that they will not work. If the Roll Couple Distribution is the same the car will drive the same provide the track is the same.

Finding Topics

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Intuitive Racing - The Software

I wrote this DOS program in 1994. I found it on an old floppy. :-) I was shocked when it actually copied to my present hard drive. I was more shocked when the program still worked; this is a pre-mouse program; to stop the program you have to do a Alt-Ctrl-x. Printing is totally different now days; if it fails, select ignore.