This only is about oval cars with a solid axle and stagger. I'm going to do it on here because I feel like it and there's a spell checker to work with on my pc when I do. It's too involved to handle in one sitting and I'll fix stuff along the way especially if someone points out the errors or additions needed to provide a general theory of how SLM's work and need to be used with the track. I don't look at any type of car as anything special, for me there all machines with tires and it's about how they need to be used. Someone else can figure out or know about how to adjust them for use, all I care about is what's needed to make them go around an oval efficiently.
I need to start at a beginning and here is the beginning I choose to use. All cars need to accelerate, slow down and turn while doing both. When I watch cars on the track and in this case SLM's I see a general way there being used in terms of how their being made to work mechanically and how aero is contributing to how they are used. The previous sentence is about what's being done to use each tire at all parts around the track. It's a given tires can be adjusted to either offer more or less grip. I will only deal with how mechanical actions I see on the track and aero is shifting the cars ability to apply weight to and remove weight from from each tire and most importantly 'why' it's needed.
To try to set my mind while writing this I'll start by saying in all staggered solid axle cars turning is done with the front two tires, stagger in the back or a combination of both. The major difference between types of staggered solid axle cars is how much turning ability they are able to get from the front tires verses stagger. There are some other generalities which must be understood. One is what ever turning ability you cannot get from stagger must be made up with additional turning ability from the front tires. Another is how much turning ability you need from either the front or the back varies with what portion of the track your traveling over. What type of car your using will first determine your ability to turn with either the fronts or the back staggered solid axle and secondly determine the extent of use you must get from each of your four tires at all places around the track. To understand SLM's I'll bring in an obvious comparison between Winged Sprints and SLM's. Per rules SLM's can't run as much stagger as Sprints. Because rear tires are closer to being the same size you cannot get as much steering from the back on a SLM then you can get from a sprint. But both sprint and SLM must turn while accelerating or maintaining a speed. The result is to do so and over come both rear tires accelerating there are just two options. You either need to get more turning ability up front or limit the amount both rear tires are wanting to driver the car straight. Grip is grip up front with each and to gain more acceleration at the back all you need to do is gain grip in the front to oppose the back wanting to go straight. Your other option is to control grip at each rear tire placing maximum grip on one tire to make it easier for the front to turn one tire over having to turn both tires. That's a hard concept to understand so I'll make a comparison between SLM's and Winged 410's to help with understanding. The comparison on a high grip track is between a SLM being able to dump weight on the right rear and go applying hp and a Winged 410 towards the end of the straight with it's right front hiked up dumping weight on the left rear. The SLM on the straight is there dumping weight on the right rear because the high grip track is allowing for it and the application of torque and hp. The 410 on the straight is dumping weight on the left rear because it's easier to turn a smaller left rear at 150mph at the end of the straight then it is to turn it's big right rear.
I have a question of SLM drivers about the last few sentences I wrote. There are two weaknesses with winged sprints. One of them is the driver isn't secure behind the wheel at the end of the straight until they have the right front again available to them. I suspect but don't know because i've never asked this in general of SLM drivers so I'm asking now. Could it be said with a SLM that the driver is not secure and back in control until the "left" front is back working well with the track? Then this question too. I can and will say good sprint setup limits the time it takes to get the right front back and working with the track, could I equally say good SLM setup limits the time it takes to get the left front back and working with the track?
In either case back working with the track could include how fast a front tire is brought back to working or how far from the track it is initially carried. I'll throw out a general observation of both. It's a feeling right now I have that both accepted good drivers and well setup cars both sprint and SLM will be fast even though they do not carry a front tire high. That being the case or better put if that's the case then there's more to good setup then dumping maximum weight on either rear tire. And repeating for clarity it's about SLM's carrying a left front tire and winged 410's carrying a right front tire.
That's enough for not even though I do like to write it is tiring to this old fart and I need a break. I sure hope I get some constructive comments on what I wrote.
If you got this far, thanks for reading and nothing I put down on here is something I"m saying is "the way it is". I've been doing this long enough and see it as complicated enough that it's tuff to say anything is cut in stone.
dirtstudent2
