Contact Area and its Relation to Friction?

[cobrawanabe1699]

Alrighty. This is where being a gearhead my entire life pays off.

FACT 1:
As a vehicle turns, the contact patch (and weight) move to the outside of the tires. re: if a vehicle makes a right turn, the contact patch moves to the left sides of the tires. That's why you see road racing cars with lots of negative camber (wheels angled inward towards the top). This keeps the contact patch closer to the insides of a tire, and when the car makes a corner, the outside tire keeps more contact with the ground.

FACT 2:
As a vehicle accelerates, weight tranfers to the rear, making the rear contact patch wider, and the front contact patch thinner. That's why FWD cars STINK at drag racing.

FACT 3:
The faster a vehicle is moving, the more it's weight tranfers in a corner. That's why cars get "body lean", or leans towards the outside of the corner. Some cars (especially Volkswagen Corrados) even lift the inside rear tire when braking and turning hard.

FACT 4:
THE MORE CONTACT THE BETTER, unless on a soft, malleable surface, such as snow.

FACT 5:
The stiffer the chassis, the more contact all tires will have with the ground at all times. Hence, a flimbsy chassis will handle MUCH worse than one that stays stiff and keeps all tires in contact with the ground.

FACT 6:
The lower the center of gravity, the better. That's why cars lowered on a good suspension setup (stiff) always handle better than stock. The higher the center of gravity the vehicle has, the more the weight will transfer. Say a vehicle is making another right-hand turn. A high center of gravity will lead to very thin contact patches on the outsides of the right-side tires, and a contact patch that may even shrink towards the outsides of the left-side tires.



These are simple terms. I am taking my first physics class, and I source all of this information from my vehicluar knowledge. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF THESE FACT SEEM INNACURATE. I see no need to break the traction of a 10 ft/s robot down into static or dyanic friction. You simply need to know where that friction is and how to maximize it.