Depends, DB....
Examples by experience....
Years ago, I used my Sprites to commute at least once if not twice a week
between my
home in Stamford and "office" at either LaGuardia or Kennedy. The name of the
game was good stability at limited access
highway speeds. A 3/4" front bar did the
trick by limiting oversteering tendencies
to well past 80mph....heavy front bar = massive understeer (or less oversteer) =
hi-speed directional stability.
While this made for a very directionally
stable car, it cut down on the normal
low, mid-range "tossability" the design is
famous for, moving this range to the 80+mph end of the scale. So the steering at
lower speeds became more "truck-like". Not a case of "black & white" but more in
the way of "shades of gray".
Since retired, I use the car for town and
country driving only. No more high speed
work. So I pulled the bar and now run
without, returning all the fun of low speed
oversteer to town driving. The car now
darts around in town traffic with aplomb
having a very "light" wheel, with all the
low-speed oversteer originally intended within the original design. This
"tossability"
(quick "turn-in" accompanied by a tendency to oversteer) is what made the
Spridget such a ball to drive in the first place and gave the car it's original
go-kart reputation.
Now of course there is more to it than just
the bar. Tire/rim types/combos and differing shock/spring rates can enter into
this as well. And the bar's affects can be
"trimmed" by judicious balancing of fore/aft tire pressures as well within
reasonable parameters.
But basically, the heavier the front bar gets,
the heavier the steering becomes at lower
speeds as directional stability increases
and oversteering tendencies decrease and
"tossability" goes to a higher speed range.
Cap'n Bob
Basic Frog
|