Improving Suspension Kinematics

To obtain good vehicle handing there are many aspects to consider, one important aspect is suspension kinematics. For accurate handling on a driving simulator this is important, poor suspension characteristics for camber and toe control can lead to a vehicle that is difficult to drive in certain circumstances. The image below shows an example where the "Old" poorly parameterised suspension model didn't result in desirable camber compensation characteristics, this combined with insufficient roll understeer resulted in vehicle that was very difficult to drive.

In some simulation packages it may not be possible to easily analyse suspension kinematics in detail, this was the case in the example above which was found within an unofficial Assetto Corsa vehicle model. To get around this problem Lamerton Simulation Ltd's Double Wishbone kinematic model was parameterised to match the Assetto Corsa vehicle model. This enabled detailed analysis of the suspension kinematics, the parameters of which could then be adjusted to provide the more desirable "New" camber and roll understeer characteristics. Once these parameters have been defined then they can be updated within the model and subjectively evaluated, in the case above a massive improvement in vehicle handling and realism was reported.