The suspension bridge

As the link between the wheels and the chassis the suspension is obviously a crucial aspect of any racecar, but how does it work and what does each component in a system actually do?

- JAHEE CAMPBELL-BRENNAN

Aracecar’s suspension is defined as a system of components mechanically connecting the road wheels to the chassis of a vehicle while allowing relative movement between them.

The suspension’s job is to communicate and manage all the forces generated at the tyre-track interface (the contact patch) into the chassis of the vehicle. Undulations in the track surface, lateral accelerations experienced in cornering, longitudinal accelerations due to braking and throttle, as well as steering inputs, all pass through the racecar’s suspension components. In reverse, the suspension system also defines how forces are transferred from the chassis into the contact patch through aerodynamic loading and weight transfer.

Load and balance

The manner in which the suspension system is designed and then set up is imperative in influencing not only the peak cornering loads of the racecar, but also cornering balance. It is therefore an area of substantial investment and R&D and sits alongside powertrain and aerodynamics as an extremely pivotal consideration for a racecar’s performance.

A conventional suspension system consists of wheels and tyres, structural components such as control arms, spring-damper systems and, more recently, further specialised and unique solutions in hydraulic systems –and a neat piece of technology known as an inerter.