Quote:
Originally Posted by DFRESH
Steve, why did you choose the torque arm suspension? I know you mentioned ride quality, but what else, in your opinion will you be gaining or hope to gain from going that route? I know many of the guys here are very loyal to DSE, Lat Dynamics, etc. and feel that they are the best respectively, however I've learned from years of mostly drag racing that "best" doesn't necessarly fit all conditions and driver types. I've seen leaf spring cars at open car events across the country hammer the other setups, and vice versa. Driver and car setup is obviously a huge factor.
I was hoping Rupp was going to use the new BMR setup on Track Rat so we could see how that would actually work out since it is a mix of torque arm and watts link. Since you are using a similar (same?) setup and you actually use your car at the track and on the street, I am really curious about your choice and why. I have some friends who work or have worked with torque arm suspensions and swear by them for applications like yours (mine) but I haven't made the purshase yet. With SpeedTech and BMR coming out with these, I am anxious to see some testing and get opinions on them. Frank at Prodigy was going to be doing some testing with the SpeedTech setup at some point, but I am happy to see that you are going this route so that we can see your opinions also, if you are willing to share them.
Love your car and the products you offer, especially the new guage bezels.
Thanks Man.
Doug
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Thanks Doug,
I want a system that's easy to install, tunable and solves my car's current performance limitations namely, understeer at the auto-X, wheel hop at the drags, and poor ride quality. I'm not a good driver. I need a system that will help me get the back of the car around. I need a system that will help me get back in the throttle sooner. I like that a torque arm bolts right to the front subframe--the strongest point on the car--as opposed to stock or welded in sheetmetal points. Torque arms will flourish because they offer great handling without floorpan intrusion. As a hot rodder, real world packaging is a higher priority than anti-squat percentages. That's a worthwhile compromise--and I think most hot rodders will agree. Torque arm brake hop is a non-issue on our cars. Wheelbase is sufficiently long and so is the length of the torque arm itself.
It's ALL compromise.
The Lateral Dynamics 3 link gets top praise for its kinematically free design. It deserves that praise. On the way to earning that praise, fear mongers had us believe that roll bind--inherent to a four link--would cause our cars to flip over and burst into flames. In other words, handling with a four link is somehow unacceptable. I think its safe to say that Detroit Speed has thoroughly, frequently and publicly dispelled that pile of nutty brown bull$#!t. The same holds true for Air Ride's tri-four bar arrangement. On paper, the tri four bar is a step below a parallel four bar, but our own house car has shown that it can run with DSE in the turns. And it kicks ass at the drags. A torque arm setup can also be kinematically free, so detractors will hyper focus on anti-squat percentages and hypothetical brake hop.
I think we should delete the word "best" from these conversations because our cars embody compromise. The best geometry might yield the hardest installation or the highest cost factor. Best here, worst there. A tri-four bar is cake to install, but the geometry is not "best". Replace that word with "priorities", and for me a torque arm rises to the top. Great handling, tune-ability, excellent packaging (i.e. exhaust and no floorpan intrusion). And if severe wheel hop at the drags becomes wheelspin? I'll be happy. I've wanted a torque arm forever. I'm like a kid on Christmas eve waiting to open his present.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
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