Why is body roll such a bad thing

[thexav]

Most suspension mods are designed to reduce or minimise bodyroll, why is this such a bad thing?

Surely the same amount of weight is put through the tyres whether the car is level or rolling to one side.

What am I missing here?

 

[obi_waynne]

Cars tend to lift a wheel under heavy cornering when there is lots of bodyroll, so 3 tyres in contact gives much worse control and traction than 4!

You also have to take into account the angle of the tyre, as the body rolls so do the tyres so you end up only using a very narrow contact patch when cornering.

 

[HDi fun]

That's a bit of an over generalisation Waynne.

Som suspension designs are very good at maintaining wheel chamber regardless of body roll. Nissan's multi link beam axle rear suspension is one such example. Very good at keeping the wheels vertical.

 

[T9 man]

Suspension geometry plays a massive factor in controlling wheel camber regardless of body roll.

It does indeed Paul, in fact for me, I would say pound for pound, it was one of the more noticeable handling improvements that I made to the car.

 

[obi_waynne]

That's a bit of an over generalisation Waynne.

Som suspension designs are very good at maintaining wheel chamber regardless of body roll. Nissan's multi link beam axle rear suspension is one such example. Very good at keeping the wheels vertical.

It's a massive over generalisation, but in the spirit of a forum like this if we all our little bits we get a good overview of the subject .

You could argue that a car setup nicely to keep the wheels vertical you have got minimal bodyroll anyway! Again I know there are exceptions to this.

 

[HDi fun]

"You could argue that a car setup nicely to keep the wheels vertical you have got minimal bodyroll anyway! Again I know there are exceptions to this."

Minimal bodyroll and minimal compliance resulting in the wheels bouncing all over the place and the ride quality of a solid wheel trolley-jack.

 

[obi_waynne]

 

[RobBentley]

Excessive body roll causes the driver to slide out of his seat, thus compromising control of the vehicle? lol

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Some cars can corner better/faster on 3 wheels ( no I don't mean a Reliant Robin LOL ) when a FWD has a stiffer rear bar that helps reduce the inherent u/steer and race cars that have negative camber on the front which helps keep the heavily loaded front tyre square to the road when cornering.
I have - 2 deg on the front which is not good IF it was a DD car as it would wear out the inside of the tyre prematurely.

 

[HDi fun]

Mk2 (mid 1980s) Golf GTi was liable to lifting an inside rear wheel under savage cornering. This never seemed to upset the handling.