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RE: Do it yourself alignment question (TR3A)

To: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Subject: RE: Do it yourself alignment question (TR3A)
From: "Jim Muller" <jimmuller@pop.mail.rcn.net>
Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 21:14:34 -0400
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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