Racing Suspension in Rally Motorsports

This thesis was conducted to demonstrate how suspension choices significantly impact the performance outcomes and competitiveness of rally racing cars. The exploration begins with a historical overview of rally racing, tracing its evolution to the present day. The study delves deeply into suspension models, examining both their design and practical aspects. Real-life data from the preparation of a rally car for a world championship race, personally undertaken under the guidance of Motortune Racing's race engineer and team leader, Roger Feghali, using MoTec ECU racing data analyst software on Mitsubishi EVO X Grp.N and Skoda Fabia R5 EVO 2 rally cars, is thoroughly analyzed. The assembly design, computer-generated to illustrate the racing suspension's shock absorber and its components, is included. Additionally, a mathematical model of the racing suspension system is presented, elucidating the various parts and functions of the suspension systems. Rally racing data is then presented to showcase the suspension system's impact on a rally car. MoTec rally data sheets played a pivotal role in the comparative analysis. Drawing on my experience as a support race engineer, examining the data sheets and understanding the suspension setups used led to the outlined results. The study highlights the McPherson strut system as the most suitable foundation for rally motorsports, particularly when paired with high-quality suspension springs and coilovers from manufacturers such as Ohlins' and K&W. In conclusion, this thesis affirms the hypothesis that suspensions play a paramount role in controlling a rally car. However, it also emphasizes the ability of racing manufacturers and teams to amalgamate elements from different suspension systems, maximizing effectiveness by leveraging the unique properties of diverse elements across various systems. Debrecen,

Department dc:contributor.department

DE--Műszaki Kar

Author dc:creator

• Ghanem, Marcel

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Menyhárt, József

• Rally
• cars
• suspensions

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2437/365138

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dea.lib.unideb.hu:2437/365138