Customer Rating: Summary: Great book to learn Comment: Great book to learn the basic concepts of tuning the suspension of a racecar. Very easy to read! All Carroll Smith books are a must for any race engineer.
Customer Rating: Summary: Section on braking is a little weak, but useful nonetheless Comment: 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. Customer Rating: Summary: very good but... Comment: This is a very good book and I found a lot of useful information in it but I have to be honest and say that Race and rally car source book is a much better book on this subject. This book is much better organized though. I have built 3 Locosts so far and I own almost all the books on the subject and honestly found very little practical hands on info in tune to win. Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent book Comment: I dont have much of a basis for comparison while rating this book, however, I did find it very useful. Tune to Win covers all facets of tuning race cars. It covers everything from theory to application. This book is a little older and therefore relates to older vehicles and designs, but, the theory is universal and will always be useful to beginners. The book is very easy reading and easy to follow (baby steps). It is also divided into logical chapters which makes quick lookups easy. I found this book to be extremely beneficial. This book has actually helped me to tune and setup my own formula car. I would recommend this book to anyone intersted in sportscar or racecar tuning and racing. Customer Rating: Summary: Great book for those just starting Comment: Carrol Smith's book does a great job of introducing suspension design. The book also does a good job of giving you an idea of the amount of planning and work it takes to get a race car to perform well. The book will not teach you everything you need to know, but it will get you started. I recomend this for anyone who is interested in making their car handle better or even getting into racing. It's a must for anyone doing FSAE. While reading rememeber that Carrol Smith does have a sense of humor.
