Dynamic Camber Control - F 400 Carving Research Vehicle

ginsu · Post 05 Feb 2006, 08:57

Has anybody ever seen this? I had never heard of it, but I think it's really exciting. I'd love to see this in a road car.

The main attraction in the F 400 Carving is a new system that varies the camber angle on the outer wheels between 0 and 20 degrees, depending on the road situation. Used in conjunction with newly-developed tyres, it provides 30 percent more lateral stability than a conventional system with a fixed camber setting and standard tyres. This considerably enhances active safety, since better lateral stability equals improved road adhesion and greater cornering stability.

Active camber control boosts the research vehicle's maximum lateral ac-celeration to 1.28 g, meaning that the concept study outperforms current sports cars by some 28 percent.

ginsu · Post 05 Feb 2006, 09:03

ginsu · Post 05 Feb 2006, 09:07

joseff · Post 05 Feb 2006, 09:50

On a road car, you'd need custom tires to suit that car. I don't think it's safe to do 20deg of camber correction with off-the-shelf tires. Combine this with typical consumer ignorance, and you'll have the perfect recipe for autobahn blowouts.

Too little camber correction, why bother? Too much on unsuitable tires, bang!

ginsu · Post 05 Feb 2006, 10:15

Certainly, -20 degrees is a bit much, but -5 degrees wouldn't be bad in a road car and it wouldn't require specialized tires.

Spencifer_Murphy · Post 05 Feb 2006, 17:11

didn't Renault's R23 or R23B have some sort of susension that varied the camber whilst turning the wheel?

Guest · Post 05 Feb 2006, 19:54

Spencifer_Murphy wrote:didn't Renault's R23 or R23B have some sort of susension that varied the camber whilst turning the wheel?

Caster

Seriously, has anyone actually seen the Michelin Optimum Contact Patch thing used on the Renault?

Spencifer_Murphy · Post 06 Feb 2006, 13:40

Caster

LMAO...you know what i mean!

Seriously, has anyone actually seen the Michelin Optimum Contact Patch thing used on the Renault?

Is that what it is called?! LOL...I never knew...know that I know what its called....does anybody know how it works?!

DaveKillens · Post 06 Feb 2006, 16:36

I read about this suspension method about a year ago in a racing tech magazine. it alters the wheel camber based on forces acting on the tire. On straights, the camber is set to optimum straight settings, and when it senses lateral forces, the linkages inside the uprights move and alter the camber. It has been tested on Renault F1 cars, but appears to have been an idea discarded.
This system is passive, requires no power or mechanical or driver input.

manchild · Post 06 Feb 2006, 16:43

This would work excellent with rear wheels from Moto GP bikes

Tom · Post 06 Feb 2006, 21:28

As a technician, I would hate to work on something that complex.
I draw the lines at those fantastic old Hydo-pneumat suspension Citroens.

DaveKillens · Post 06 Feb 2006, 22:14

It's purely mechanical, just some bars and rods with some ball joints thrown in to allow movement. I will try to dig up the original article and post it here asap.

Guest · Post 06 Feb 2006, 23:03

This may be old news, but I remember hearing something about a McLaren in the late nineties having an active toe-in or caster mechanism that would aid the braking system by turning the wheels inboard.

Kind of like you would do on skis to slow down on the snow.
Apparently it was tested but banned before it was ever raced.

Anyone know anything about it.

-T

Guest · Post 09 Feb 2006, 04:38

Kind of like you would do on skis to slow down on the snow.
Apparently it was tested but banned before it was ever raced.

Wow, that would absolutely destroy tires with the lateral scrub due to the toe-in. I guess it wouldn't matter in F1 though.

greenpower dude reloaded · Post 17 Feb 2006, 00:28

wouldn't matter?!?!?!? F1 is all about getting the best out of your tyres its pretty important you don't wreck them especially when we had the 1 set of tyres rule