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Delphi Suspension Technologies for Sedans Helping in Quest for Indy 500 Win

18 May 2000

Delphi Suspension Technologies for Performance Sedans Helping Team Kelley in Quest for Indy 500 Win

    INDIANAPOLIS, May 18 In a switch on the race track's
traditional role as a test bed for advanced automotive technologies, the
Kelley Racing Team will be qualifying two of the hottest cars in the
Indianapolis 500 with the help of lessons learned from high-performance street
cars.
    The Team Kelley cars are being tuned with suspension system testing and
analysis technologies developed by Delphi Automotive Systems , a
sponsor of the team.
    The technologies include sensors developed by Delphi for road-sensing
suspension systems used in high-performance vehicles like the Chevrolet
Corvette and Cadillac STS, and a unique portable computer-controlled "track
simulator" that can instantly analyze a car's aerodynamics and suspension
performance in every conceivable racing condition.
    The simulator is modeled after a permanently installed computerized
four-post testing device used by Delphi to develop and test advanced
suspension systems at the company's engineering center in Dayton, Ohio,
according to Scott Badenoch, manager of Vehicle Performance.
    "The beauty of the test rig is that it allows us to modify the car in the
pit prior to running it to make sure it's going to corner, maneuver and
negotiate the turns precisely as the team intends," said Badenoch.
    Initially, the racecars are driven through a variety of maneuvers under
all types of conditions to gather comparative suspension and chassis
performance data for use in developing testing programs for the simulator,
explained Badenoch.
    "The rig allows us to run the car through its aerodynamic and suspension
system paces while applying different loads and forces from cornering,
banking, accelerating and braking," he said.  The car is mounted on the rig
and forces exerted on the vehicle are simulated by cables attached at various
points, which pull on the car to duplicate real-world conditions.
    "We measure the forces in real time ... how hard the car pushes down going
into a turn, how pressure is distributed over the four tires, wind forces
exerted on the vehicle, and how all these forces differ from bank to bank and
corner to corner on the track," he said.
    "By measuring all these factors to determine how the suspension system is
reacting, we can then very precisely tune the entire system -- the springs,
shock absorbers, chassis -- for optimum performance at any given speed," said
Badenoch.
    The sensors range from relatively simple potentiometers and accelerometers
to laser-based ride-height sensors, he added.
    Suspension tuning and its effect on the ride height of the car at various
speeds in cornering, on the straightaway and distance from other cars is
critically important, explained Badenoch.
    "The clearance between the ground and the car must be controlled
accurately because even a 0.015 inch variance can mean the difference between
winning and losing," he said.  "You want to be able to exert great downward
force in a turn but balanced against minimum drag in the straightaway.  It's a
constant trade-off."

    About Delphi
    Multi-national Delphi Automotive Systems, with headquarters in Troy,
Mich., USA, Paris, Tokyo and Sao Paulo, Brazil, is a world leader in
transportation and mobile electronics components and systems technology.
Delphi's three business sectors -- Dynamics & Propulsion; Safety, Thermal &
Electrical Architecture; and Electronics & Mobile Communication -- provide
comprehensive product solutions to complex customer needs.  Delphi has
approximately 213,000 employees and operates 176 wholly owned manufacturing
sites, 41 joint ventures, 53 customer centers and sales offices and 30
technical centers in 38 countries.  Delphi can be found on the Internet at
http://www.delphiauto.com .