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Eibach - Traction Stations!
Santa Pod sponsor Eibach is the suspension manufacturer of choice for most discerning circuit enthusiasts, but did you know that their superb range of products can also improve your quarter mile times too?
As any Pro will tell you, the key to a good ¼ mile time is grip. Grip is basically friction and is a function of the load going through the tyre contact patch and the ‘coefficient of friction’ for the specific tyre material. So if you’ve got the stickiest tyres you can, it’s up to technique and set-up to get the rest. For the quickest times, the key is to smoothly, but quickly transfer (RWD) or preserve (FWD) the maximum possible load to the driven wheels.
When you watch a car launch, you can see that the back end squats down and the front end rises up. What is really happening is the car’s body is rotating about its centre of gravity and this is dynamic weight transfer. Effectively there is more load on the back and less on the front. Great for a RWD car, not so good on FWD as grip is reduced under launch.
There are many ways to optimise your car for ¼ mile racing. A dramatic change in the cars static attitude, i.e. front down, back up works against the natural load transfer that occurs during acceleration. However, this will dramatically compromise the on-road behaviour. So if you want to better your ¼ mile times, without compromising the on-road behaviour, fitting Eibach lowering springs is an excellent option.
For a front wheel drive car or a rear wheel drive car, the key is the stiffer rear springs and also the lower centre of gravity. On FWD cars, a stiffer rear spring and the lower centre of gravity will reduce the change in body angle during acceleration (squat) and therefore reduce the amount of load that is taken from the front axle, thus preserving grip.
For a rear wheel drive car, the load transfer is already in a favourable direction but the key here is the ‘rate’ to which the maximum wheel load is achieved. The quicker it is achieved, the faster maximum grip is achieved. Therefore a stiffer rear spring, will allow the load to more quickly reach its maximum value.
Where available, the more ‘nose down’ body attitude achieved by using an Eibach ‘Sportline’ kit, would be particularly beneficial to fwd cars in ¼ mile racing, Fully TUV approved and road legal it’s also a lovely way to drive home afterwards too!
For help with ¼ mile set up, please call Greg Kirby at Eibach UK on 01455 285851 or visit to www.eibach.co.uk.
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