Understanding Vehicle Dynamics is key to unlocking the performance of any racecar. So here’s how it all works. 
CREDIT: Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

A less understood but fundamental branch of motorsport engineering is racecar vehicle dynamics. Vehicle dynamics can often seem like a ‘black art’ that is sometimes feared by engineers and enthusiasts alike. So to de-mystify this vital area of motorsport engineering, we have written an exclusive series of articles, explaining everything you need to know about racecar vehicle dynamics. 
First, let’s obtain a clear definition by breaking it down into it?s constituent words – ‘Vehicle’, self explanatory, and ‘Dynamic’, which is an adjective indicating something that is in a state of change. So, vehicle dynamics refers to the characteristic behaviour of a vehicle in response to a change in its external environment. That change could be in the form of longitudinal or lateral acceleration, roll due to a steering input or a wheel deflection due to a road input – anything that induces the car away from its equilibrium can be classified as vehicle dynamics.
The fundamental task of a vehicle dynamicist when optimising a vehicle’s performance is to ultimately maximise the longitudinal and lateral accelerations the vehicle is capable of generating. This can be done through maximising the tyre forces.
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