Slalom vs Skid pad?

OnyxEros · 09-01-2007, 11:27 PM

So I always wondered this
What do each of these tell about a car's handling?

Example a Honda Fit (rear beam) stock suspension can go over 67mph in the slalom (faster than an EVO) but it won't hold the same on the skid pad...not even close.

So what do each of these tests truely measure about a car's performance?

Car and driver quote

Quote:

We later confirmed this when the Fit sailed through our lane-change test 6 mph faster than anything else here — faster, in fact, than a Corvette Z06.

98sr20ve · 09-02-2007, 10:42 AM

This is my thoughts just based on logic, and my small amount of autocrossing exp.

Slalom is transient response and grip, skidpad is purely grip (and balance as a function of grip). You can get a truck with massive tires to do well in a skidpad but it will suck in the slalom. A perfectly smooth skidpad loads the suspension and then requires very little out of it in the end.

OnyxEros · 09-02-2007, 12:55 PM

Transient response can be mainly modified by sway bars and bushings correct? Not so much outright tire grip (as evident by the 195/55/16's on the Honda Fit)

So which is more important when it comes to real life performance?

Based on thinking outloud I would say it has to be Slalom...very rarely will you ever have a perfectly smooth patch of pavement to run circles around

gkd · 09-02-2007, 02:34 PM

Double Post

gkd · 09-02-2007, 02:41 PM

Correct. Slalom is more important for everyday driving as the combination of steering response, vehicle roll rate, yaw rate and grip(along with small size) produce a good result. The skidpad favors grip and good front-to-rear balance. But, if you set-up a car to deliver great skidpad numbers it will probably have too much oversteer for everyday driving. Along the same lines, an understeering car will produce good slalom results, so a car needs to be checked in both tests to be a good handler.

Transient repsonse is mostly affected by shock damping, alignment, spring rates, suspension bushing stiffness and finally sway bars. Sway bars do contribute a lot to front-to-rear handling balance and therefore steady state cornering.

George

98sr20ve · 09-02-2007, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnyxEros

Transient response can be mainly modified by sway bars and bushings correct? Not so much outright tire grip (as evident by the 195/55/16's on the Honda Fit)

Everything effects transient response. Outright grip is still important of course.