What's The Best Suspension - Soft or Stiff Springs?
Why Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange recommends it
Mechanics Stack Exchange users link it when they need a clear explanation of how springs and shocks affect tire contact, grip and handling.
Recommended by 2 people across 2 different months, 2016 to 2016.
What it is
An Engineering Explained video by Jason Fenske on whether soft or stiff springs make a better suspension. It explains that softer springs keep tires in contact with uneven road surfaces for more mechanical grip, then explains why race cars still run very stiff suspensions.
What people said
Strong rec Robert S. Barnes · 2016-02 · Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange · on “How Important Are the Rear Shocks / Struts”
When people talk about changing the shocks or struts, it's usually the front ones due to comfort, handling and safety reasons. But what about the rear ones? How much of a problem are worn out rear struts / shocks and what are the implications to comfort, handling and safety? EDIT 26/4/2016 While this video doesn't specifically answer the question, it's got some great info on the physics of springs / shocks and how they work. What's The Best Suspension - Soft or Stiff Springs? [this video]
Recommends Matt · 2016-04 · Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange · on “Why is there a trend towards cantilevered rear wheels in recent motorcycle designs?”
It'd be difficult to identify a trend without some heavy-duty statistical analysis, but the "cantilevered" rear wheel is all about suspension travel. This design is for off-road bikes, BMX bikes, etc. that need a lot of vertical travel in the rear wheel. Part of the reason for the need for lots of travel is the need for softer springs. There's an interesting video here [this video] , about why softer is better, but the idea is that a softer spring can keep the wheel in contact with the ground much longer than a stiffer spring. More contact with the ground is obviously better, but the softer spring requires more vertical travel distance. As to "why is there a trend," I'm not sure there's an answer
Cites Jason C · 2016-03 · Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange · on “Effects of sway bar stiffness on rough, uneven roads”
I just read a really nice write-up on sway bar physics [LINK] . I also watched a video discussing suspension behavior on rough roads [this video] . Let's assume the following: A front-wheel drive vehicle being driven around a corner at a speed which, on a dry, smooth, level road, would be just about the maximum speed it could take before beginning to understeer. For simplicity, any sway bar changes would be done to the front and rear in such a way that the TLLTD would not be affected. Shocks, struts, springs would not be changed. By "rough" roads I mean typical non-perfect driving conditions that you may encounter on a daily basis: Think patches, seams, and potholes on highways, think ripple, rut