Customer Reviews

Inside Racing Technology: Discussions of Racing Technical Topics

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Inside Racing Technology is a good primer on race car suspensions and aerodynamics. While Haney's writing style is annecdotal, and his interviews are pure transcripts, the information to be found in here is second to none. Jeff Braun in acknowledged to be one of the foremost engineers in professional racing. Gifted not only with a keen analytical mind, but also the ability to communicate that knowledge, Braun and Haney illuminate much of the black art of race car setup.

At time, the text gets mired in details, and the overall flow makes for a difficult read. However, the content makes this a reference work for anyone wanting to get a fundamental understanding of topic.

Not for everyone, but if you're a race fan and technically/mechanically oriented, you'll find this worthwhile.

I'm the author and publisher of this book. It sold 13,000 copies which is a lot for this type of book. I have a few left and sell some every month. I still get emails from people who enjoyed the book but I won't print it again.

I don't appreciate the reviews that badmouth the book as out of date when it's obviously been eight years since it was written. It's easy for somebody to post a negative review even if they don't have a clue.

And it was never intended to be an engineering text, just some understandable explanations of a few complicated topics. The damper (shock absorber) section is still the most comprehensive and understandable explanation available.

I'm proud of the book and pleased that I had the courage and motivation to put it out there.

Paul Haney, 12/22/03

This book discusses racing technical topics in a very friendly manner, without complicated formulas that you can find in numerous "vehicle dynamics" books. The latter books have little practical value for a beginner racer, because 95% of their graphs and formulas are nowhere to apply.

The author brilliantly uses his favourite style of describing complex topics in a form of interview with appropriate experts. There are very noteworthy discussions with tire compounders from Goodyear and Firestone, and the other tire experts. These interviews motivated the author to create the entire new book dedicated exclusively to the tire, as the most complex component of the car. I highly recommend "Racing & High Performance Tire" by Paul Harney in addition to this book.

The chapter on shock absorbers is the best piece of information I ever read about dampers. It's very easy to understand, but covers every important aspect of a shock absorber: bump and rebound, single-and dual-tube design, cavitation, emulstion and gas-bag shocks, washer stacks and external adjustments, different valve types, high-speed vs low speed damping, shock dynamometer, and so on.

The book finishes with a very impressive interview with Carroll Smith, the author of "Prepare to Win" and the respective titles. Carroll answers such complicated questions there like what are the two things that the best drivers feel much better than the mediocre drivers: "It's real simple. They're feeling two things. One is the slip angle of the tire, and the other is the self-aligning torque of the tires, on all four tires".

I got to know Paul Haney through a monthly motorsports guide he used to publish. In each of those guides he'd include a small technical article. I found myself looking forward to those monthly guides for the technical articles more than the listing information. When this book was first released I got a copy right away. I was already comfortable with Paul's writing style so it was an easy read. It was great to have all the information at once rather than waiting for another monthly installment. Other reviewers have said things like this book won't turn you into a champion. That's probably true. If such a book existed I think most of us that consider ourselves a racer would've read it and burned all the other copies to eliminate the competition. This book will fill in the blanks for someone who's interested in technology as it relates to race cars. It you understand why a tire reacts to a certain suspension setting then you'll begin to tune your suspension to suit your driving style. If you understand how air reacts upon various surfaces then the shapes of race cars will make more sense to you. What you do with this information may or may not improve your racing. The information is all in this book and it's up to you to apply it.

I thought this was an excellent book. Those who say this won't turn you into a champion overnight, I've got news for you - NO book can do that. Only you can...I've raced (retired now) for most of my adult life including some pro races, some of my crew have gone onto Champ cars, NASCAR, and F1, I was lucky enough to be associated with a team that won the Champ car title and my engineer was from that team. This book gives excellent information and if you can read between the lines you will learn quite a bit that can help you in your racing career. Those who can't learn anything from this book are advanced enough they don't need to buy any books, but most of us don't have last names like Andretti, Senna, Unser, etc. If any of you have ever read Senna's book on driving you might also say it's nothing special but you need to read between the lines and figure out what he is alluding to, not what he writes directly about. Few people will directly give you the "secrets" to motorsports.

After e-mailing Paul Haney numerous times, I found myself subscribing to his newsletter and visiting his website frequently. He always showed me respect and answered my questions promptly. His book, Inside Racing Technology, was suggested to me from the Forsythe Racing team. I must say that it is aging a little bit, but that its basic concepts are a must to anyone who wants to understand Champ car dynamics at all.

The book is easy to read, however, the information does not feature the theoretical clarity and depth of a real engineering text. The content is interesting, however, there is zero chance of it turning you from an also-ran into a champion.

Uninformative.

Over simplistic, out-dated and lacking sufficient relevance to anyone except the uneducated and the inexperienced.

Deeply dissapointing in many respects.