Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

[Deuce]

Have been reading up on unsprung weight lately. Anyhow, initially my aim was to reduce the unsprung weight on the .:R for the obvious acceleration and handling benefits however, have just been reading that "ride quality/comfort" is also improved by reducing unsprung weight?



With this in mind, has anyone reduced the unsprung weight of their car (ie. lighter rims/tires/etc.) and really noticed a marked improvement in ride quality? Am trying to figure out at least qualitatively... if anyone has noticed or if the improvement in ride comfort is largely immaterial.

Thanks in advance. Cheers...

[RONDAL]

Re: Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

you're not going to notice it on a car like a VW.

it made a difference on our 400lb FSAE race car when we reduced unsprung, but you're not going to notice it through all of the softness of a car like an R32.

You'll notice the handling, but ride quality nope.
in some cases heavier wheels actually make the car feel a little better just because it tracks more. if you've ever driven a car with wide summer wheels then stock wheels you know what i mean.

[Deuce]

Re: Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

Thanks for the info. Andrew. I figured as much. Cheers...

[Silverstoned]

Re: Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

The Audi seems to be a little faster on the pickup since I dropped about 40lbs+ in wheel weight.

[Kor]

Re: Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

I went from 40lb wheels to 18lb wheels on my Cayman and I noticed a HUGE difference in ride quality, acceleration and handling. HUGE. The car is < 2900lbs though versus a ~3500lb R32.

[J-hop]

Re: Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

well added accell is just due to the obvious decrease in torque needed to spin the lighter rotating mass. But I think when he is talking ride quality/comfort he isn't including acceleration. Gains in accel are obvious going from a heavy to a light wheel but as Rondal already mentioned you likely aren't going to notice any ride quality/comfort changes.

[Khyron]

Re: Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

The rule of thumb on a car is 1 lb of unsprung is = to 4 lbs of normal weight. So is dropping 20 lbs on each wheel is like basically removing 2 x 160 lb people from your backseat. I definately noticed going from winter Avus wheels to the old 30+ lb brock b1s.

[Deuce]

Re: Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

Yes, I'm focusing on the ride comfort... not the obvious benefits of acceleration and handling.

I definitely won't be going from 40lb wheels to 18lb ones though. That IS huge.

I believe the stock Aristo's are around the 27lb mark... so would likely only be shedding maybe 8 or 9 lbs per wheel moving to a lighter wheel. Again... trying to figure out if shedding 8lbs per wheel would really yield any noticeable difference on a ~3400lb .:R?

[shconer]

Re: Question RE: Unsprung weight and ride quality

Reducing unsprung weight allows for better wheel/tire control. Less unsprung reciprocating mass means less force is exerted on the shock when the wheels travels over a bump, which means the shock requires less force to resist the wheels travel, which means less force is exerted to the cars chassis.The same wheel/tire control can be obtained with less aggressive shock valving. Increasing reciprocating mass may be beneficial in dampening the ride but usually only in parts that are engineered to flex like tires, I believe cars with wider heavier tires can ride better, nothing to do with heavier wheels. Probably the biggest reason you wont notice a significant increase in ride quality in a stock Mk4 is due to the limited upward travel of the wheel before it begins to hit the bump stop. Once the shock begins to hit the bump stop wheel control is no longer damped by the shock and is quickly transferred to the chassis. Lowering springs exaggerate this problem even further.