Customer Reviews

Race Car Engineering & Mechanics

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

 

 

Mr. Van Valkenburgh has succeeded in getting across a great deal of technical information, and presenting it in such a way that the non-technical reader can understand and apply it. From tires and shocks, to suspension geometry and slip angles, all of the nuts and bolts info. is covered. No muss, no fuss, no useless information that won't help you win races, just factual, useful information. I take it with me every time we go to the track, and I use it every time.

A very useful book, perfect for race engineers, and a good launching platform for an engineer just starting to delve into the field of racecar engineering. Mr Van Valkenburg has a very unique view of racecar engineering that makes his writings a pleasure to read.

I love this engineering book, and I own several. But the thing is, I'm no engineer, and as one reviewer put it, this book is a pleasure to read.

The author sticks to the basics, and the version I have is a revision of an older work. But proof that his basics are down-to-pat, the theories haven't changed. He just updated the pictures and some anecdotes.

Full of useful information, a racecar engineer might want to delve deeper by getting more technical books, but this book is still full of the basics -- what's really important. And for the race car driver or car enthusiast, this book will help you understand more about vehicle dynamics, suspension, etc.

Overall, highly recommended.

It's a good book, but a little thin on actual math (ex: calculating motion ratios, natural frequency, damping factor, etc). It's also thin on practical applications like setting up corner weighting, or the effects of compression/rebound settings, shock technology, etc. It's a good read, but not the end-all reference.

One of the best books about race cars and vehicle dynamics I've read. You should have more theoretical sources if you really want to learn about all this, but this one is easy to read, cheap, and has huge amounts of useful information. You really feel the author knows what he is writing about, and he takes advantage of every single word to communicate it.

This is probably the best book I have read about the general problems with engineering a race car. I gave the book 5 stars but actualy it deserve 4.5 stars because the soul of the book is out dated (1986) update in 1992 and the computer information update is from 2000.
Anyway it is a great read, and if you are in this stuff on a race track you will understand more why it went wrong when it go's wrong and what to do about the problem.
If you can get the book for a nice price.... get it.

Br. Arnoud.