HELP, NEED OPNIONS AND ADVICE

[geo3@earthlink.net]

jon dossey <jon_3000gt@hotmail.com> wrote:

>What in the world is a "shock dyno" ?  i've never heard of this before.  Any
>links? Sounds very cool :)

<http://www.roehrigengineering.com/>

One of my best friends works *almost* exclusively for them now.  He writes the
data acquisition software for them.  Lucky bastard went to the Autosport show
recently, and then went to the AMG factory to help their touring car team, and
then to Sachs to help them sort some things out with the dampers they provide
to the Toyota F1 team.  No joke.  Bastard. :-)

Anyway, a shock dyno it very important to top level racing teams.  The things
we enthusiasts do with our adjustable dampers is just monkeying around.
Dampers are a *critical* element of suspension set-up and pro teams spend a
lot of time working on the response of their dampers to many varied
situations.  I don't even profess to understand how pro teams use this info
and manipulate the set-up, but they spend significant amounts of time and
money on it.

On a side note, one of the things that has been credited for Rick Mears'
meteoric rise and success in Champ Cars is his knowledge of dampers.  It was
way beyond even what Penske was doing.  The reason we have Penske shocks today
is because of Mears' push for development that went beyond what they were able
to get from their suppliers.

Why are dampers important?  Because they are a major factor in keeping the
tire in contact with the ground and affect the load that tire sees on the
ground.

George Roffe