Panard Bars and Handling

The simple Panhard bar does a lot more than hold your car’s axle laterally. It also affects tire vertical loads and thus the car’s balance in the turns.

Shock Absorber Ratings

The amount of dampening force produced by a hydraulic shock absorber depends on the speed the shock’s shaft/piston is moving and the valving within the shock. The faster oil is forced through the orifices and valves, the greater the resistance to motion and the greater the damping force. Most racing shock manufacturers use a simple numbering system to identify the …

A Comprehensive Review of Air Pressure Gauges

One of the most important adjustments you can make to your race is tire pressure. An inflation pressure change in bias ply tires adjusts circumference and with it stagger and weight distribution. Radial tires do not change size appreciably with small inflation pressure changes. However, radial stiffness, or spring rate, changes which effects understeer/oversteer balance. Because even relatively small tire …

Leaf Springs

“Simple” can be “faster” with new leaf spring suspension components and strategies.

How to Read Spark Plugs

An engine’s tune-up is often overlooked after it comes off the dyno. For Saturday night racers this is an important aspect of performance. There are several contributing factors when it comes to tuning your engine at the track. Weather parameters, such as relative humidity, air density, and temperature all play a part of how much fuel your engine will see …

Front End Setup

Coordinating the affect your race car’s handling can make you faster.