Tools To Tune Your Handling Balance
It’s said that when a racecar hits the wall head first, that’s understeer. When it hits the wall backwards, that’s oversteer.
Having the right balance of understeer and oversteer is key to vehicle control and inspiring driver confidence that makes it easy to be fast – and staying out of the wall. There are many suspension variables that affect the balance.
The following table identifies some of the key tunable parameters that affect handling balance. These are powerful tools in the suspension tuner’s kit to adjust the handling balance.
| PARAMETER | TO INCREASE OVERSTEER | TO DECREASE OVERSTEER |
| Front Swaybar | softer | stiffer |
| Rear Swaybar | stiffer | softer |
| Front Spring Rate | softer | stiffer |
| Rear Spring Rate | stiffer | softer |
| Front Tire Width | wider | narrower |
| Rear Tire Width | narrower | wider |
| Front Tire Sidewall Height | shorter | taller |
| Rear Tire Sidewall Height | taller | shorter |
| Front Tire Pressure | increase | decrease |
| Rear Tire Pressure | decrease | increase |
| Front Camber | more negative | less negative |
| Rear Camber | less negative | more negative |
| Front Toe | less toe in | more toe in |
| Rear Toe | less toe in | more toe in |
| Front Caster | more positive | less positive |
| Front Track Width | wider | narrower |
| Rear Track Width | narrower | wider |
| Front Aero Download | increase | decrease |
| Rear Aero Download | decrease | increase |
| Front Dampers (shocks) | softer | stiffer |
| Rear Dampers (shocks) | stiffer | softer |
| Rear Differential lockup | increase | decrease |
Keep in mind that suspensions are complex systems with many interactions. Optimizing for a single objective is likely to have un-intended impacts on other aspects of ride quality, handling, and performance.