Suspension Set-up

     Not quite sure if this is the best place to ask this, but after a failed google search i felt like this was my next best option.  I was really interested in learning some more about race suspension (as in handling and corners not drag racing), weight distribution, and power.  Did you already have any articles written about this?
     So i was wondering what kind of suspensions are best like a front clip from this or mustang II.  Something that you could take off that and apply to anything.  Also i could only really assume that and IRS is best for handling.  Are there any particular IRS setups that are good for handling/cornering that can also handle a good amount of horsepower?  Does more horsepower mean less handling and vise versa?

     Anyways any kind of information would be cool or if this isn't the right place for this then thats cool too. 
 
-Lee

 

There have been several threads started on here about handling, but we only really touched on it. I haven't written any articles about suspension desing from a pure corner handling standpoint because most of the minitruck world is only concerned about going up and down. A few of them care about a truely nice driving vehicle and most of them frequent my forum page.   I would initially suggest reading Carroll Smith's Tune to Win, it is a great book to get the basic theory of A-arm suspension design.   I DO NOT like the Mustang II suspension for anything. Even the original designer is bewildered as to why everyone has embraced it as the go-to suspension. The new Corvette is the only suspension that I have ever dealt with that completely impresses me. There are so many tricks that you can do to make a suspension feel good and handle good and the Vette uses them all. They are capable of as much horsepower as you can throw at them. The downfall to them (besides cost and avaiability) is that the chassis is an integral part of the suspension. You would need to do some serious homework to mimic the factory geometry is you started with a front and rear sub-frame.   More horsepower means that you need to be a better driver in order to keep the power under control. You can have a perfect handling chassis (actually you can't, there is no such thing) and goose the throttle and throw away all of the cornering traction that you spent so much time designing.