Third spring/damper

[vis]

When third spring to control ride height was introduced?
And what team had the brilliant idea?
Was it born in F1 or in other racing series?

10x

[benjabulle]

PENSKE team in CART, in 1994.

[BreezyRacer]

In F1 I think it was the Stewart team. Isn't it nice how you can count on the young hungary teams to intro lots of new stuff?

[Ciro Pabón]

Thanks, benjabulle, I've never had guessed. Do you have any links to read about it?

[benjabulle]

Thanks, benjabulle, I've never had guessed. Do you have any links to read about it?

no links but good readings : Racecar engineering magazines from that year (or every issue since the beginning, 1992), book "Inside Racing Technology" by P.Haney with words about it and how the trick was discovered.

[Ciro Pabón]

Thanks again! Mr. Haney has a nice site, with the same name of his book:

http://insideracingtechnology.com/

It has an interesting interview with Rob White. Check the "IRT contents" page. There are some interesting things for a Sunday afternoon...

[zac510]

So, back to technical issues, maybe..

I'm hearing some noises that Ferrari have a new 3rd spring/damper assembly at the rear of the car.

Anyone know anything about it? I imagine it's just a new type of damper?

[NickT]

Bravo Zac, anyone got any pictures?

[FLC]

This is the best I have. First 2 are from Monza, the other one is earlier, I think Montreal:







There's an obvious difference in that area but my knowledge wouldn't be enough to determine if it is only cosmetic or track related.

[zac510]

Thanks FLC!

[Minicucci]

I definitely see it also, but my technical knowledge is limited, so my best guess is probably wrong, but here goes, I think I see the third damper in the first two pictures, right below the main one.
Could it be what the so called 'driver error' was in Kimi's crash? and what forced Massa to retire?
Maybe they solved the issue for the glorious spectacle that was Spa?
Sorry, my Italian pride is getting the best of me.

[zac510]

The funny thing is the top two look like what Ferrari have had in previous years but the bottom one does not!

[scarbs]

I suspect the team are playing with the third dampers rebound settings to ratchet the rear end down at speed, this woud back off the rar wig and reduce drag\increase top speed. The difficulty is in changing the damper settings according to speed without it being regarded as a active device.

[Spencifer_Murphy]

I've heard a lot of talk recently about problems that the Scuderia are having with this 3rd damper. Things like having it lock in position, making the car feel like it has a puncture -i don't know how it would cause that sensation, but apparently that's the case. Apparently this is what caused Massa's retirement @ Monza, and some suggest it's what caused Kimi's Ferrari to twitch off track in Monza Practice.

[mx_tifoso]

I read an article in RCE yesterday, written by a certain Sam Collins, about the new '08 spec GP2 chassis, and in one of the insert pics it included the addition of a third damper to the rear suspension, much like Ferrari's recent addition.

But what I haven't understood completely is the function/purpose of this third damper. What does it do or add to the suspension's overall function?
How does it work and how does it work in conjunction with the rest of the suspension components already there?

If anyone could help me understand that a bit more it would be of great appreciation.