Thanks guys, I am enjoying the dialog. My primary focus regarding suspension configurations was to try to lower the rear roll center in a way that would force the rear of the car to do more work without making the car unusable on the street. NASCAR did it by putting the outboard panhard bar mount VERY low and close to the ground -- probably wouldn't work well on the street. With a Watts linkage, the moment center is at the pivot point of the link, so it is hard to move that down and keep reasonable geometry or to not get it too close to the ground. The roll (moment) center is very easy to control/change with an IRS. An "old style" set-up with a low front roll center and high rear, with stiffer roll resistance in front, can be set up well for specific dynamic conditions (lateral g, basically), but is not necessarily perfect for slinging the car back and forth in various turn radius turns at varying speeds (road course). There are lots of drawbacks to various IRS systems, and many can be outperformed by a well set-up 3-link; however, a properly designed, well sorted (not necessarily a bolt in deal) IRS should give the results I want (to answer Greg's question). Like most of you, I've had many early Chevy hot rods - 55-57s, Camaros, Chevelles - but as you know I'm also kind of a Corvette guy. I've had a couple of Vipers and I'm on my second C-6 Z-06 (a 2011 Z07 big brake car), and I see the geometry and tire changes they have made and the handling is beyond excellent. I am, by choice, stuck in the 60's, but I still want the cornering and braking ability of the new stuff. There is a lot of bantering about the IRS in a PT car, and its not for everybody, but I think you will find that a large percentage of the good handling first and second gen Camaros already have C5/C6 based front suspensions. Since I'm so slow at getting things finished (ackowledged,Todd), I am looking for IRS PT cars that are a little further down the road in making the handling improvements that I believe are possible.
Pappy
|