Re: Spider Suspension

[Richard Welty <rwelty@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 10:58 PM 8/19/98 -0700, Alan Lambert wrote:

>I thought stiffer rears INCREASED oversteer, not decreased it--have I got 
>it backwards?

as a rule of thumb, you're correct: stiffening one end of a car reduces
traction on that end. it is, though, a rule of thumb, and thus isn't always
strictly true. i'm not familiar with the 88 spider situation that's being
discussed here, but in my 1973 GTV, a heavier front bar allowed wider tires
(195 width) to work correctly, and thus improved grip in the front -- which
is the opposite of what the rule of thumb, but which makes sense once you
understand the dynamics.

suspensions are pretty complicated things, which is why simple rules of
thumb don't always explain what is going on.

>On Wed, 19 Aug 1998, USER wrote:

>>     Oh, I also added the larger 5/8" rear swaybar, this corrected the
>> oversteer problem that I was experiencing.

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