Factors that Affect Car Handling & Tips to Improve
Several factors affect car handling. It involves the movement of the vehicle on the road as well as how it handles curves and swerving. An efficient car is good at handling or else there are chances of control loss. A car must be exceptional at handling to drive smoothly and avoid accidents.
Factors Affecting Your Car Handling
There is a range of factors responsible for car handling. Here are some popular ones:
1. Improper suspension
If you notice that the wheels do not move vertically, or the car is steering to the right or left, the problem is in the suspension system. Suspension plays an important role. It keeps the tires on the road all the time even on bumpy rides. The car must not run out of ‘suspension travel’ – which is the total distance between the top and the bottom. Keeping the appropriate space between the two is crucial or else the car will lose control.
Structured by 3 main components including elastic parts, shock absorbers, and springs, the suspension system will limit jolting when the vehicle moves, bringing comfort to the occupants. In addition, this system is installed above the front and rear axles, to transmit force and moment from the wheels to the frame or tire.
2. Wrong tires
Most standard tires for cars are not big and soft, usually, come along with them. If you want to increase a car’s handling, high-performance tires are what you need. However, make sure that there is tread on such tires, as less tread offers less fraction leading to bad handling.
Car tires have the function of absorbing shocks from the road surface and absorbing shock when the vehicle moves. Combined with the vehicle’s suspension system, tires when inflated to the correct standard pressure help your vehicle ride more smoothly, minimizing vibrations and shocks when operating the vehicle on the road, especially when driving on bumpy roads. Additionally, car tires play an important role in steering the vehicle, it will help determine the exact direction, creating stability when driving. You can easily control and drive in the direction you want
3. Poor shock absorbers
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One main factors that affect car handling is poor shock absorbers. Absorbers relate to absorbing energy, which the car produces while driving. With poor shocks, the car will incur more up sprung weight – no good for road handling. Do change them if they are not working properly.
Shock absorbers help absorb impacts and vibrations from the road, minimizing unwanted movement and vibrations in the cabin. This provides a smoother driving experience for the driver and passengers, especially on poor, rough, or uneven roads. It also enhances traction and vehicle control. Maintaining the vehicle’s gravity over the wheel helps increase friction and avoid wheel slippage in situations of sudden braking, fast turning, or sudden obstacles.
Tips to Improve Car Handling
Driving safely should be your key priority and thus, here are a few maintenance tips for better road handling.
1. Improve car suspension
First, overhaul the suspension of the car. For this, you need to cover three important levels of repairing to start with. It is imperative to take into account all three aspects.
Lower the springs
The center of gravity is very important for the car for making it fast in round corners. With a lower corner, it will easily handle the round-shaped bend. The best way to do this is to fit lowering springs.
Coilovers
Coilovers offer an extra bit of control to balance the car handling. With height-adjustable suspension, coilovers are perfect for tuning projects. For an ultimate handling setup, a good level of adjustability is what you need.
Sports suspension kit
To fix the lowering springs properly, the best way is to fit a replacement kit. The good thing is that most kits come with a ready-to-fit facility and these are easier to fit too. Its benefit includes car getting faster on the road due to reduced body roll.
2. Re-align your wheels
To enjoy a comfortable ride, vehicle manufacturers put in a lot of hard work. But over time, bearing rough roads, potholes, etc. wheel alignment is eventually disturbed. Bad precision of the tires fouls up the car’s handling condition, increases fuel consumption, etc. Therefore, wheel alignment is essential. Take your car to a professional automobile mechanic to help re-align the tires.
To drive smoothly and comfortably, keep your car handling in its best condition.
