There are nominal air pressures, and lowering the car by lowering air pressure DOES NOT (necessarily) improve handling

So is what your saying the amount of air, higher or lower, does not usually contribute to the improvement or non improvement in the handling.

The way I understand it, and I am by no means an
 

expert on the subject. You select an air spring that will give you pounds of compression you are looking for at the ride height you want. By nature an air spring is progressive, more compression the higher the rate. What makes the air spring so cool is when you are not thrashing around the track or street you can air them down and get the cool low look, air them back up and drive off. You do not drive it to the track then lower it 3 inches to drive fast...


There is also benefit in a little tunning at the track. Adding or subtracting air to dial in the handling characteristics...kind of like putting wedge in a Cup car on the fly. When ART had Boris Said drive one of their cars he bumped up the pressure in the rear to get the car better suited to his driving style.

You can also vary the damping rate and spring rate of just the bladder by changing material thickness/composition, geometry/folds, etc. The spring rate of an air spring is NOT just a simple function of air pressure. It is one variable in the equation but it is far from the only one. There is a lot more going on in an air spring than most people think, and to really sort one out you have to have a good working relationship with the bladder manufacturers, know what you want and what you want it to do, and then go do some data gathering & testing.

There is a "nominal" height & pressure range for each given air spring configuration, so given the corner weight of the vehicle and desired ride height you have to choose the proper spring for the application such that when at its intended operating pressure range it is at the right overall length for the intended ride height in that vehicle.

Yea, what he said....
 

I for one and liking the idea of the air spring

Makes more sense. I knew there had t be alot more to it than the air. Cool stuff.

So I'm sitting in the office at 5:30pm, cruising Lateral-g and I run across this thread. I can't wait to dig into this one, and let all the guys here at ART know we are once again being challenged. This is not a negative thing. It actually drives us to develop even better suspensions just to take it to the track and prove to everyone an air spring can be used for performance.

I don't have a lot of time right now, but I'll jump back on tonight when I get to my shop and explain how we got those numbers, what tires we used, and how we get our suspensions to work (ok, I can't tell you everything, or I might not have a job when I come in tomorrow. But I can explain general theories.)

talk at you all after a bit.

-Britt-

Other than lowering the COG which usually helps to some serious degree.

I know that when I am lower to the ground I handle better (in a UPS truck kinda way)

Ok, the 1.2G: This number was achieved in our 1966 Chevelle (http://www.ridetech.com/companyprojects/66chevelle.asp)
-430HP 383 stroker
-Bowler 700R4 auto
-225/45/17 front BFG KD street tires, Billet Specialties Outlaw wheels
-275/40/17 rear BFG KD street tires, Billet Specialties Outlaw wheels
-StrongArm tubular upper and lower control arms front
-StrongArm tubular upper and lower control arms rear
-Shockwave 1000 v3 front; double adjustable dampers
-CoolRide 9100 air springs rear; double adjustable dampers
-MuscleBar sway bars front and rear
-Fatman Fabrications G-Max Spindles
-RidePro e2 compressor control system
-Bear brakes all around
-Boris Said driving
-recorded on Racepak G2X
-at Putnam Park Road Course

The racepak data shows a 1.1G average over the graph, with multiple readings in excess of 1.2G, and a peak of 1.32G. I forget who was there, but the Racepak was installed by the Racepak crew (if you guys are on this thread, please chime in). We also had multiple media members there to drive our cars and record the session. We also invited a bunch of our customers to come out and "beat" their cars on the track with us. Great fun!!!

All suspension was "off the shelf" parts. No special weave air springs, no Penske or Ohlin dampers. Just stuff anyone can buy on our website.

I am hunting a 66 chevelle right now. That car is beyond wicked. Thanks a million for all the info and not hiding behind computer generated "what it ought to do" scenarios.

Real world stuff. Dig it.