corner balance for Formula SAE

Hey guys,

The Formula SAE team at the UW is going well. Unveiled the car last night and the 2009 car drove for the first time last weekend. PACCAR has been helpful in lending us use of their test track as well.

That said, the team is setting up the car. I've done some reading on this over the years but never done the work myself.

How do you corner balance a car? I have always thought that you try to set the diagonals as close to equal as possible. A few students think that the left front should equal the right front and subsequently the left rear should equal the right rear. Which is it?

FYI, the car is roughly 40/60 front rear.

Also, I thought it would be valuable for the students to do a field trip to a race shop that does race car set ups professionally. Does anyone know of a shop that might be willing to take a few minutes and donate some time to giving the students a tour and a talk on car set up?

Thanks,

Trevor

Hi Trevor,

Here's a link to a discussion I was involved in that may be helpful, it's a bit of a long read, there is a lot to consider, but might be worthwhile...;

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=212875&highlight=corner+weight

Trevor,
I would be glad to show the students how to set up a Formula car. Contact me and we can set up a date.
Ken Dye
D.N.D. Fabricating
(253)435-1616

There is NO BETTER place to go then DND Fab shop and Ken Dye to see ALL there is to see about setting up and maintaining a formula car!!

Randy,
I read through 4 pages of that thead. It really, really made my head hurt !