Steven Carter wrote:
I read it about 6-7 years ago and recently reread sections of it. Jackie just finished up her master's degree in mechanical engineering at GA Tech and is starting with Michelin in a few weeks as a tire performance engineer, so I gave her a copy of the book a few months ago, and she dissected it from every angle. I would say it is very helpful to have a background in mechanical engineering to fully follow significant parts of the book (or at least have taken basic classes in statics, dynamics and maybe stress analysis). It is a very enlightening read although it is not up to the standards of a "professional" book imo as it is poorly edited in spots, rambles on in sections, etc. It has more the flavor of a self-published book in that respect.
However, I think you'll learn things about tire traction though that you simply can't find elsewhere. There are VERY few books written on this subject, and it is still a hidden art in some respects where tire companies hold their knowledge (or at least the knowledge they think they have) very close to the vest. This is especially true for the subject on compounding, but also applies for general design knowledge for tire-road interaction.
The author, Paul Haney, has a web site where he published errata, so that's worth printing out before you read it.
You're welcome to borrow my copy, errata already included.
I also have Tires, Suspension, and Handling, Second Edition:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560918314/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00. It's not nearly as interesting as Haney's book and actually doesn't cover some aspects of tire traction he covers as his book is more focused on racing and this one is more general about tires. In fact, this second book is basically boring although it does have significant content I suppose. I read it after Haney's.
Speaking of which, I talked with Paul Haney a few years back about presenting his seminar here in Raleigh. My idea at the time was to involve NCSU mechanical engineering students and Formula SAE team coupled with those involved in HPDE, autocross, club racing, etc, in the area to support the seminar. I just did an e-mail search, and here was part of his reply about the seminar:
Quote:
If you think 20 or 30 people would pay $100 to $200 for an all-day seminar let me know. The events I've done never fails to blow people away about how little they know about such an important component of racing. The book was just a start, I've learned a lot since and have refined some of the explanations. There's really no other source for this information.
I ended up dropping the idea when after talking to numerous people I got the reply they weren't up to $100-200 for an all-day seminar on technical mumbo-jumbo. I think the only way to make it happen is to get sponsorship from someone willing to support the SAE team and/or MAE dept at NCSU. Perhaps involving Duke also would work too. I'm guessing Paul charges about $3k or so plus expenses.
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. RCVD was quite brief and vague on tire performance and engineering. Mostly empirical studies.
