Tune to Win: The art and science of race car development and tuning Paperback – June 1, 1978

Let me start off by saying this is one of my favorite books on chassis tuning and dynamics. This book uses simple diagrams and explanations to explain why a vehicle does what it does when pushed to the limit. The equations used can be navigated with Highschool math excluding upper level math like Calculous which is required for books like "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics".This book is essential for not only learning the elementary principles of vehicle dynamics but also the science/physics that goes along with it. This book is for tuners. This is not really meant for the person looking to build a car though it does have information to help influence your decision making in that process. If you are an engineer looking to build a race chassis then Race Car Vehicle Dynamics is probably more well suited for your needs though it is a College level text so don't say I didn't warn you.I do a lot of simulation driving and knowing how to tune a chassis is essential to being competitive just like it is in the real world. Chapter 3 for example goes over Weight, Mass Load and Load Transfer and Carroll helps you to understand the relationship of weight vs engine TQ and traction vs engine TQ. His conclusions help you to understand what to tune first and what to leave alone and which aspect of tuning will yield the most return without limiting the the rest of the vehicle.While he does give some explanations for certain vehicle behavior conditions and what to do to correct those situations. The bulk of the book mostly explains why vehicles do what they do while at the limit and what characteristics make a vehicle fast. If you can take the principles and explanations expressed in this book and understand them which is not hard to do, then you will have all you need to make informed decisions to tune your chassis given you know what each adjustment on your vehicle does.

One of the best resources for understanding the complex relationships involved in setting up and adjusting double A-arm suspensions. This book does not give you alignment numbers for your car, it teaches you to think through the all the aspects that are affected when you make a single change. The book has pages of diagrams showing how decisions about roll center height affects camber gain during roll and bump in much more detail than you will find on YouTube. I wish I had bought this book 20 years ago, it would have changed my career. This is not a book for beginners, but if you already have the vocabulary to follow the topic or are involved in autocrossing, you need to buy this before you buy springs and sway bars.

good book if you're interested in vehicle dynamics

It is a treasure trove of good information on how to set up a car. I was particularly interested in the suspension section. It is very helpful.I wonder if there is better that just covers that topic, isn't so dated and that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?The other thing I wish for is searchability. This is a dated book and the index seemed to be the least of the author's concerns. I can't find anything about this book that has been digitized or is being offered in digital format. It is a hard book do do a search in. Try and find references to instant roll centers...

As an student of mechanical engineering, the book makes this complex topic very approachable. I will warn any potential buyers that you should have a good understanding of physics to fully appreciate the depth of this book. Uses a lot of physics terminology such as angular acceleration and moment of inertia. Great for engineering students, and FSAE. Not for "Tuners" or "Street Racers"

I was the "brake man" for a recent FSAE team. I used Carroll Smith's _Tune to Win_ and _Engineer to Win_ to learn about designing and tuning the braking system.In retrospect, I can say that his books were useful but by no means a "one stop shop" for braking info. This is mainly because the book was written in a different era and for a different size car, so some of the recommendations don't apply. And if you are hoping for the equations necessary to do an actual engineering analysis on your system then you'll need Milliken's highly-celebrated _Race Car Vehicle Dynamics_ instead.More importantly, however, is that Smith doesn't define any of his terms, which is pretty rough if you're a newbie ("castellated dog discs," anyone?). You have to be "in-the-know" beforehand if you really want to get a lot out this book. I present this as a criticism/warning only because SAE does market this book to undergrads who, like me, aren't gearheads.Overall, even after I had a solid grasp of the braking system, I found myself learning a lot more by talking to others (forums, other teams, former teams, etc.) than reading this book.The braking section probably deserves three stars but I'm still giving this book four stars because I know that the section on suspension were very useful to our suspension team. I just don't think the braking section is the books strong point.We did model our bias bar based on his design, however. And, of course, he does give some solid maintenance advice.

I bought this book to help me learn more about the components of a race car and hopefully aid me in better understanding how to tune a car as an avid Sim-racer. A very approachable book and goes into enough detail to help one understand possible solutions, and their potential consequences, when tuning a car. Certain sections go into more detail than necessary for a Sim-Racer, but always provides enough information to help one understand each component of a car.