Realistic rear engine suspension?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Christian G, Jul 18, 2015.

  1. Christian G

    Christian G Topological Agitator Beta tester

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2015
    Ratings:
    +2,411 / 0 / -0
    Once again I find myself puzzled by the suspension settings in R3E and racing sims in general.

    Maybe I'm missing something but I think the suspension setups for rear engine cars are simply umrealistic in that they work like front engine suspensions, having harder springs in the front than in the rear.

    The way I understand it on front engine cars this is (also) the case because here is where the engine and gearbox are mounted and hence the main portion of the weight is.

    Now in rear engine cars like Porsches this is quite the contrary, here the biggest part of the ballast lies in the back and the springs have to be chosen accordingly, meaning harder springs in the back than in the front.

    Any data I can find backs this understanding, Porsches in general have stiffer springs in the back than in the front:
    http://web.archive.org/web/20021021133618/www.pca.org/panorama/sample_article_3.html

    Even our overlords suspension company sells springs accordingly: http://docs.kwsuspension.de/ga-KWCS-71724-824_1001-12.pdf
    If I calculate the spring rates for those main springs (ignoring the pre-springs cause they are the same front and back) I get results that say the same, the rear spring rate being more than double the rate in the front sometimes (depending on type of suspension). Using this formula I end up with 36.5 to 88.9 for the one in the pdf.

    So why don't we use the realistic values and have (or are allowed to set) harder springs in the rear than in the front, at least on rear engine cars like the Pors...RUF.

    Is there anything in the basic physics engine preventing this or am I, like I already hinted in the beginning, missing something?

    Maybe @Marko Hartikainen, @Robert Holm or anybody else with an in depth knowledge of (racing) suspensions could enlighten me/us, would love to know that.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2015