Customer Reviews

Competition Car Suspension: Design Construction Tuning

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As early as 1961, Michael Costin and David Phipps recognised, compiled and published the principles which govern the design of high performance cars. Their book, "Racing and Sports Car Chassis Design", is still considered a milestone in the science of performance car engineering.(though now, unfortunately, out of print). The principles remain,...the practise has gained in sophistication through years of development. In 1988, Allen Staniforths' own book, "Competition Car Suspension. Design, Construction, Tuning." was published. His acknowledged expertise in the field, and the easy-to-read style of his book, made it a prime reference book for race car constructors, suspension engineers, drivers, and team managers in their pursuit of that elusive 'winning edge',... a new "Suspension Bible". Since the first edition, advances in technology and toughening of the rules governing the sport and industry of car racing have compelled revolutionary changes in suspension science. These developments are reflected in this, the third edition. His clear, concise, easily absorbed explanation of the theory and practise of competition suspension design and engineering make this book a premium addition to your automotive library. Lots of other books provided 'crumbs' of the information I needed to confidently begin building my first 'clubman' race-car. This book is the bread and butter! If, like me, you want to refine your knowledge and skills, and gain that winning edge, I highly recommend this book.

I already owned "High Speed, Low Cost" and "Race and Rally Car Source Book," both by Staniforth, so when I saw this latest book I was excited. Both are really good, with the latter being very, very useful for designing your own race/sports car suspension.

Let me preface this with saying I'm interested specifically in chassis/suspension design so my comments are limited to that portion of the book. (Of course, since the title is about suspension disign, that's pretty much the whole book.)

After reading his latest book, I felt let down by the lack of new information. I guess there's only so much to automotive suspension design, yet assumed the new book would have "new" information, necessitating it's publication; I just don't see it.

My advice: If you don't have any of his books, then get this one. It's very good and includes everything from his previous works. But if you already have "Race and Rally Car Source Book," don't bother.

[...]

This book offers quite a bit of history on the progression of auto racing suspension and it talks about the differences between various suspension types. I was disapointed because I wanted a book that went into the details of tuning a suspension. This book didn't do that for me. A good book if you're not actually looking for information you can use in your car.

This book was worth the purchase for the photographs within alone. It also gives you a great overview of suspentions, perfect for those that are interested but don't want to be droned down by the specifics. It doesn't really get into geomety, but thats where "tune to win" comes in handy.

Another good one is "race car engineering & mechanics" which goes into more detail and is probably a better book. I really love the pictures in this book though... If your planning on actually building a car you'll still need "tune to win" along with either one. as for "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics" that ones still on the wish list($)...

He has hit the nail on the head with this book. Well organized, logical progression and interesting. The pictures were in the right places at the right times and supplimented the text beautifully. The program and detailed formulas in the latter portions of the book were right on and helped immensely in calculating needed suspension geometries. I folded them into Excel and fiddled with the numbers to better understand the finer points of changes to suspension and handling.

By the time you have completed this book, you will have a true understanding of all aspects of a well designed and implemented suspension system. Well done and highly recommended.

As a Mechanical Engineer and amateur sport car designer and racer, I found Allan's book excellent!
I have read seven or eight design books and along with Costin's 40 year old work, Len Terry's 30 year old work and Fred Puhn's book, Stanforth brings my collection into the 21st century.

Well written text that explains the engineering behind suspension choices without getting bogged down in the math. Inciteful and well illustrated with historical references on every type of suspension used and the component parts.

Big Dave

This book is pretty much garbage. Useless. A lot of generic ramblings with no substance whatsoever. It tells you very little about desing and setup of suspension. The only somewhat useful part if in the chapter about the shock absorbers, and even that is a reproduction of a Koni chart. The rest is, as I've said before, generic stories, about English formulas and Formula-1 of mid-80s. Which might be an entertaining reading but tells you nothing about how to develop the suspension for your car. Even if you race a formula car, there is nothing for you in this book, much less if you race a production car. Get a Puhn's book instead if you're interested in the suspension design.