Steering Ratio Information

[lhoboy]

Originally Posted by nader

While that clip was pretty funny it is a little disturbing. First thing I do will be a set of high performance tires.

I don't think that clip is funny at all.

[lhoboy]

Originally Posted by Lewis

For the small group of performance oriented folks there's always Brabus mods.

Maybe, but not for a long, long time.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by fishrdnc

Different tires would likely help, but a little piece of motor racing practice is this: in wet weather suspensions are SOFTENED-UP, not stiffened-up. A stiff suspension transfers too much weight to the outside tires and the result is excessive oversteer.

Agreed, fishrdnc, but we're talking about a race car suspension that is already VERY STIFF and taking away alittle bit of that stiffness to make it just stiff. On the other hand with the Smart, I'm convinced by watching the video that it is VERY SOFT and shows obvious tendency to understeer. So the suspension's conditions (race car compared to Smart) are at opposite ends of the spectrum you might say. I wonder if the rear end setup in the Smart has any sway provisions of any kind and what does the front suspension have. In the video, the car was very *loose* into the turn, not being able to handle the turn radius at the speed it was going.....leaning alot.....trying to straighten out the curve....that's understeer at it's worst. And better tires doesn't mean wider tread....as mentioned, that will take away mileage and also decrease traction as there is higher weight distribution at the rear wheels due to adding width to the traction tire. The 55 series aspect ratio radials that come on it should be good but the jury is still out on that one.....Simply adding a better quality rain tire would enhance the stickiness on wet roads like the Nokian NRV or similar tire.
JMHO

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by lhoboy

I don't think that clip is funny at all.

Ihoboy,
Not sure what's going on with posting on here. I just put a post entitled *Agreed but disagree* countering fishrdnc's post and it is not here now and I am not sure where it went.
Anyway, I agree with you. The video shows way too much lean and understeer and terrible control in the curve. I wonder what tires were on the car there.....not the 55 aspect ration tires the USA Smarts are coming with I don't think. It appears to have inadequate sway provisions, doesn't it? Did you notice how much it begins to sway just as it is coming into the hammer head part of the course? I wonder if the front suspension has a sway bar or sway provisions at all? Some of this question may be answered when we finally get our cars and can drive them ourselves and see for ourselves what is what.

[jonnysan]

Yes, I am afraid that statement is correct. Look how long it has taken just to get the road show here! Test drives.....We'll be happy if performance enhancements become available in '09....unless aftermarketers get on the stick and make them first.....then there is that warrantee thing, huh......

[lhoboy]

Originally Posted by jonnysan

Some of this question may be answered when we finally get our cars and can drive them ourselves and see for ourselves what is what.

When I did a couple of quick turns durng the oh-so-slow test drive, the car has far too much lean and feels like it has an incredibly high center of gravity. With all the ground clearance it has, I would be tempted to do some substantial lowering and suspension stiffening to keep all four tires firmly seated during a turn. You'd think that MB could figure this one out for themselves.

[Old smart]

This isn

[smart_hack]

Great post on suspension. I was wondering if the EPS will be worth the extra money, if improving the tires(wider) and factory setup(lower) is the plan.