Thread: Defender 110 lane change test

I should mention that the engineering stipulates 50PSI on the road. There was quite a difference in sidewall roll between 45 and 50 PSI

With 6" of lift your driveline angles must be atrocious. Its bad enough at 3?? Also, how much have you had to extend bump stops to prevent spring binding?

I'm going to put my hand up here, since it was me driving it on the runway.

The comment regarding interesting differences between engineers is true. If the standard that VSB14 is based upon is actually read, it states 80 km/hr. Having done over 100 lane change tests in the past few years, I have a considerable data set, from 5" (real) lift on hilux's, through to Jeep TJ's with significant lift, patrols on 37's (fails, all of them), I am well aware of how these vehicles will go through this testing.

Having done a significant number of tests at the VSB14 decreed speed of 100 for non passenger cars and 110 for passenger cars does not line up with ISO 3888-1:1999, which stipulates 80 km/hr. I have stated my position to the RMS and from the data I gather (with nearly $30k worth of test equipment at a 20hz sample rate), I am able to draw the same conclusions from the 80 km/hr test as I am from the 100 km/hr test.

For the record, I also go through additional steps during the test. Once I am satisfied that the vehicle can be driven safely and smoothly through the cones at 80 km/hr, I will enter each section with a very sudden full throttle opening, and then repeat with a full lift off in each section. The aim being to make the vehicle unstable, and then try to provoke power-on or lift-off behaviour from the vehicle. This has proven to be a far more useful test than driving through at 100 or 110 km/hr, as it exposes the behaviours of limited slip diffs, tyre limit behaviours and roll steer amongst other things.

To continue with the open approach, Steve's vehicle is right on the limit. There's not much more that he could do for height or weight, whilst retaining a compliant and safe vehicle. His modifications have been carried out in a controlled manner, and tested to a recognised international standard, rather than the guidelines of VSB14, whilst backed up with a significant body of evidence.

Finally, I should add that I have failed vehicles on this test. I have had some failures which were close but just not quite good enough. I've had some failures that were spectacular. The vehicles as presented can be as near as identical, and yet suspension and tyre setup is the aim of the game, to be able to allow the vehicle to handle correctly. Doing the testing is absolutely necessary to be able to establish what is and is not possible.

The differences between engineers? Well a lot of that comes down to what their experience base is, what they do to confirm if a vehicle is safe or unsafe, and how they confirm vehicle compliance. We are given a set of rules to comply with, how we demonstrate compliance is up to us - and this is where the differences come in.

Cheers,

Treeve

Originally Posted by Steve223

with the 35" and big lift only 3500 otherwise he would have gone higher.

What's the standard gvm? I just got knocked back for engineering (rangie) as I was over my gvm (2520)