Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Leaf Springs vs. Coil Springs

[LS (lashdeep]

Mike, you've had a Vette and can make the statement that they are
effective with credibility. Please add some more firsthand thoughts of
yours on the track and on the street.

Why is it always hear praise of coilovers but never the cons? And, vice
versa regarding the TLS setup.

On paper and from a technical standpoint, the Vette setup looks awesome. 

50/50 weight distribution, SLA arm suspension front and rear, 8 lb
composite spring with a majority of that weight unsprung.

I'm not going to name any names, but there are a lot of other cars that
look rather inferior. 

Engine behind the rear axis of the rear wheels, MacPherson strut front
suspension and coil springs as sprung weight at each wheel.

It makes you wonder if the crew cheif contingent has been right all
along...cheap shocks and crappy rubber bushings are what keep the Vette
from feeling perfect on the track? It certainly isn't the actual design of
the chassis.

I'm with Hans, the coilovers are perfect for a dedicated race car that
sees different tracks, drivers and conditions on a regular basis. The
increased sprung weight of the coilover would be offset by ultralight
wheels, lightweight slicks and carbon brakes on the racer. Also, the
harmonizing of the wheel movt from left to right sharing the TLS can also
be paralleled to the effect of a swaybar on a coiled car. Yes, it can be
potentially doubled on a TLS setup, but that is left to tuning. How many
people measure sway bar endlink preload? Prob not many...and if they do,
they aren't using it as a parameter to tune their spring rates, and other
settings.

It sure does get interesting when you pick it all apart.

LS

PS-(Not a Vette owner (or even a potential Vette owner) and all of my cars
have coil springs!)

PPS-Love the recent tech on the FList!

--- Mike <themightytoe [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> I think this is a "Vette heritage" thing.  Kinda like making the cars
> out of
> plastic.  
> 
> Personally I think the leaf springs used in the Vette are pretty
> effective,
> though in My Z06 I think the spring loading on the rear end would be
> quite
> high when both left and right were under compression, same goes for
> under
> braking, the car overall handled extremely neutrally but hit a rough
> spot on
> the street and the rear end tended to hop very badly as there is left to
> right coupling in the leaf spring.  Coilovers would give more tweaking
> and
> adjustability and you could replace springs to adjust spring rates also
> so
> they have significant benefits over the leaf spring setup.  If I were to
> track a Z06 again it would get trans and diff coolers, a real set of
> brakes
> and ducting for them, a cage, harnesses, tires and wheels and lastly a
> coilover kit, and maybe an upgraded oil cooler and power steering
> cooler.  
> 
> My $.02
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LS [mailto:lashdeep [at] yahoo.com] 
> Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 11:01 AM
> To: Mike Fleischer
> Cc: The FerrariList
> Subject: [Ferrari] Leaf Springs vs. Coil Springs
> 
> I'll admit to being inspired by Prof. Bowser's recent posts on ORR and
> his
> 308 tech.
> 
> What are the peanut gallery's thoughts on the pros and cons of using a
> transverse leaf spring vs. coil springs?
> 
> This is an interesting discussion:
> 
>
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/technical-forums/13582-corvette-leaf-sp
> rings.html
> 
> LS
> 
> 
>  
>
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