Car Suspension: – over 120 years of ride and handling

Product Description

Covering every decade from the 1890s until now, this book reveals an incredible array of fascinating and advanced vehicle suspension designs.

Meet the people and ideas behind Packard’s Torsion Level suspension, BMC’s Hydrolastic and BMW’s semi-trailing arms.

Understand the outcry over the Corvair’s ‘unsafe at any speed’ rear suspension design… marvel at the McLaren F1’s extreme handling…. and be amazed at the Citroën 2CV’s interconnected innovation.

Meet the world’s first vehicle suspension designer – and read his biting replies to his critics. Discover how Maurice Olley persuaded General Motors to spend half a million dollars in the middle of the Great Depression to build two suspension test cars. Understand the technology of the Porsche Panamera air suspension and see how the engineers built body stiffness into the C5 Corvette.

Researched on three continents and containing more than 500 photos, diagrams and graphs, this book will forever change how you view car suspension.

“An excellent, extensively-referenced book that covers many successful suspension designs. From horse-drawn buggies to Benz, to flat ride, interconnection and air suspension, this is a fascinating read.”
– Douglas Milliken, co-author Race Car Vehicle Dynamics

Review

“An excellent, extensively-referenced book that covers many successful suspension designs. From horse-drawn buggies to Benz, to flat ride, interconnection and air suspension, this is a fascinating read.” 
– Douglas Milliken, co-author Race Car Vehicle Dynamics

“It’s a great book!  It summarizes a lot of technical knowledge and history in a readable and understandable manner. It’s not just for enthusiasts, professionals should become familiar with the info too.” 
– Gene Lukianov, vehicle dynamics specialist, VRAD Engineering and former Vehicle Dynamics Manager, Chrysler. 

“A fascinating and thorough look at the history of this important subject. Julian Edgar’s ability to convey technical information in an easy-to-understand manner makes this book a must-have for anyone interested in vehicle suspension.”
– Jon Young, car enthusiast

About the Author

Julian Edgar, who has written more than 25 books, worked as a secondary school teacher for eight years before leaving teaching and becoming a full-time technical writer.

He edited a national Australian automotive print magazine before becoming editor of an online car magazine. Along the way he wrote extensively for electronics hobbyist magazines, while also contributing articles to publications in Australia, the UK and the US.

He has owned cars with two, three, four, five, six and eight cylinder engines; diesel, petrol and hybrid petrol/electric drivelines; front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations; and cars with single turbos, twin turbos and superchargers.

Over the years he has carried out numerous suspension modifications, including altering springs and dampers, building and installing a custom air suspension system, and electronically modifying an all-wheel drive torque split controller and stability control. He has also built several human-powered vehicles with suspension systems of his own design, including one with an air-over-fluid spring/damping system.

Julian has an extensive home workshop that is equipped with a chassis dyno; lathe; mill; MIG, TIG and oxy welding gear; metal folder and other tools.