Quote:
Originally Posted by 911st
Would not stiffer springs do the same thing as stiffer sways?
As John has in his sig line above:
"Any suspension -- no matter how poorly designed -- can be made to work reasonably well if you just stop it from moving." -- Colin Chapman
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Yes -- and no. Stiffer springs will make the car handle worse over a bumpy track due to the sudden loading/unloading of the suspension against the bumps. A softer suspended car will be more forgiving and easier to handle. A car with stiff springs while cornering on a buming track will have all 4 wheels affected by bumps, but a softly sprung car with stiff sway bars will essentially have a softer spring rate on the inside wheels since the sway bar will subtract spring force on those wheels -- so they will be more compliant and hold the road better (all other things being optimal).
The other thing to keep in mind is that most folks who are racing or doing track events are using wider, lower profile tires. These tires are less forgiving of camber issues then let's say 70 series tires. So even a little bit of positive camber with wide, 50 series tires will most likely remove a substantial portion of the tire's contact patch from the pavement.
Keep in mind that Colin's musing in my signature was somewhat tongue-in-cheek.