The best Vehicle Design & Construction books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Check to see if your university has a Formula SAE team. As an AE student you can help design and fabricate the airfoils of a Formula one car. Lightweight aeropackages with a low lift/drag ratio and a large downforce win races.

Race Car Aerodynamics: Designing for Speed (Engineering and Performance) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0837601428?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

*edit: forgot to include link

Gordon P. Blair is your messiah in this case

https://www.amazon.com/Design-Simulation-Stroke-Engines-R-186/dp/0768004403

I know that Adrian Newey (Red Bull Chief) wrote a book called "how to build a car" that i just seen at my friends home. I don't know how technical is it honestly but you can take a look at sinopsis or something.

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Edit: Here you go, a simple google search https://www.amazon.es/New-Directions-Race-Car-Aerodynamics/dp/0837601428/ref=bmx_3/261-8060612-2615810?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0837601428&pd_rd_r=90dd1353-f1d6-4d48-9e93-0dd3a7bd13c1&pd_rd_w=hcxA2&pd_rd_wg=Uxjji&pf_rd_p=37575520-de40-4d12-8f23-8dd416dd87ab&pf_rd_r=YZNH96T8VJ6051VB8B6D&psc=1&refRID=YZNH96T8VJ6051VB8B6D

yes indeed about the suspension! And actually i already have a book that is well reviewed in my amazon Shopping Cart that i can't wait to get my hands on.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Your-Car-Handle/dp/0912656468/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

If you're working on turbo engines and you want to modify them, try reading this;

https://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Boost-Turbocharger-Engineering-Performance/dp/0837601606?ref_=d6k_applink_bb_marketplace

It's very simple, accessible and will give you more than you'll need to know for a long time.

Coming from someone who is very into cars and hungry to learn about them, this book was recently referred to me.

Maximum Boost was a pretty good read on turbo chargers. It goes into a reasonable amount of detail without being unattainable to the average Joe.

I'd love to find something similar for suspension work, myself.

The C5 Corvette. It was designed on the sly in violation of orders from GM management. They diverted funding from other projects to get it done. This was when General Motors was taking government money to stay in business. The Corvette guys were told to stop work on the car but they continued anyway. The plan was to discontinue the Corvette. They hit a home run despite the obstacles.

Source: the book All Corvettes Are Red by James Schefter

Google mechanic, I’ve been building performance engines and dyno tuning for 20 years. It’s not what google tells me it’s what physics tells everyone, those pipes have essentially no flow after the valve closes and what does physics say about that? The slow gas velocity is under a higher pressure, about 14.7psi of back pressure. Back pressure impedes flow and can even push exhaust gas back into the combustion chamber as well as the fresh intake out into the air cleaner. Read a book https://www.amazon.com.au/Scientific-Exhaust-Systems-Engineering-Performance/dp/0837603099/ref=asc_df_0837603099/?tag=googleshopmob-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=341743770390&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7050728797150919472&hvpone=&...

The 10x number is emperically derived by tbe team I was with over several years. That value is a solid starting point for the FSAE restrictor and thumper engine applications.

Remember that engines are just glorious heat pump systems. They resonate, they have harmonics, there are tuning frequencies and efficiencies of the system you are polishing.

Corky Bell's Maximum Boost is a good reference for high performance applications.

And then, the Holy bible of engine knowledge that your team should have on hand: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Simulation-Stroke-Engines-R-186/dp/0768004403

The book All Corvettes Are Red by James Schefter has some incredible stories about testing Corvettes in blizzard conditions. It's a great book that I regret giving to the new owner of my C5 as I wrack my brain for details of the relevant stories. Those were some brave test drivers indeed.

This got me through university.

RACE CAR DESIGN

No, an airbox is still useful. The reason is not ram air, which really is a negligible effect until you get to quite high speeds, but rather the Helmholtz effect. If you read about intake design and optimization, the Helmholtz resonance effect can be exploited to increase the amount of air relative to the RPM of the engine. Since we now have a compressor in front of the intake manifold, the resonance becomes a multiple of compressor speed and pulsing.

The compressor still faces backpressure from the intake manifold which will cause it pulse similarly to an NA engine's backpressure (or rather decrease in negative pressure, less negative) in the intake.

Here's a good read:

https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Exhaust-Systems-Engineering-Performance/dp/0837603099/

Read the whole comment again. Key words are "not the same." Again, you need to reference the compressor wheel flow ratings, peak flow capacity, and turbine wheel size vs housing size. The flow chart will show you where in the power band will be vs max boost.

Figure out your goals vs what hp your engine can handle, and get a forced induction unit sized to your goals.

There's an excellent book for those who are just starting out: https://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Boost-Turbocharger-Engineering-Performance/dp/0837601606

Same as any design job. List the requirements. List the constraints. Come up with a design(s). identify where it/they breaks constraints or fails to meet requirements. Start all over again. Then optimise

If this is for FSAE then plenty of teams have trod that path, and your job is massively simplified because the rules allow you to reconfigure the car for different events. So basically you want a body with minimal drag and a couple of wings for more downforce for the circuit event (if they are worth it). Bear in mind that typically the wings operate post stall, so a lot of conventional thinking is irrelevant. Don't forget cooling.

However it does sound as if you are starting from scratch. If so the bar is not especially high. Perhaps you could answer these questions

1)Can you link to the rules?

2) do you have an existing car?

3)what is your timeframe?

4)open wheeler or enclosed wheels?

Of the books Katz is probably the best for an overview, and it has a great list of references. And it is cheap. Milliken is good but Katz is better for this.

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https://www.amazon.com/Race-Car-Aerodynamics-Engineering-Performance/dp/0837601428

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How did you guys learn car mechanics, aka how suspension, brakes, diff and other stuff works? I want to learn it so I can be a more complete driver. I am on the edge of buying this book

https://www.amazon.com/Chassis-Engineering-Building-Performance-Handling/dp/1557880557

and it looks promising, although hearing other opinions does not hurt.

Edit: I am a sim racer.

Rollover from last week:

>How did you guys learn car mechanics, aka how suspension, brakes, diff and other stuff works? I want to learn it so I can be a more complete driver. I am on the edge of buying this book https://www.amazon.com/Chassis-Engineering-Building-Performance-Handling/dp/1557880557 and it looks promising, although hearing other opinions does not hurt.

Edit: I am a sim racer.

by u/MusaDoVerao2017

Came he to say the exact same. I did a lot of research back in the day and settled on a 64' but iirc the best options were around the 1960 - 1968 but I couldn't tell you the reasons. I spent a lot of time on the samba (as the rest) but I also pretty much memorized the book Baja Bugs and Buggies. https://www.amazon.com/Baja-Bugs-Buggies-VW-based-off-road/dp/0895861860

This book has some simple calculations to get you started. Other books with info are Milliken obviously. The to win books aren't that great for actual design but still have value, Tune to Win specifically. https://www.amazon.com/Race-Car-Design-Derek-Seward/dp/1137030143

In my Build Diary I posted a lot of weld photos, I have been documenting my welding skill from No Skill to today (a little skill).

I suggest you read the "Buggy Bible" http://www.amazon.com/Baja-Bugs-Buggies-VW-based-off-road/dp/0895861860

http://www.amazon.ca/How-Make-your-Handle-HP46/dp/0912656468/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425964238&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+make+your+car+handle

Great book, just reading it now. It covers everything you need to know.

I wanted to build a baja bug with my dad for my first car, but they're just too damn slow to be a decent daily. He had this book that explained pretty much everything. It's probably cheaper than building a hot rod, since this will basically be a beater and all you have to do initially is adjust the ride height, cut down the fenders a bit, and get some off road tires. Then just go crazy from there.

CFD is a drop in the bucket when it comes to Intake and Plenum Design.

Look at the top 5 teams design try to understand why they run that. By looking at current designs you can learn why they do something, the way they do then improve on it for your design.

Search the FSAE Forums, lots of info there. Maybe not always directly but its helpful.

Google FSAE Intake Paper, use other key terms there are a few papers that you can find that talk about plenum design. Also before buying or complicating your self google the SAE Papers name you can find many of them for free.

Tip: Just because something flows better does not mean it will perform better. You might get higher power but throttle response suffers.

Reccomended book http://www.amazon.com/Design-Simulation-Stroke-Engines-R-186/dp/0768004403

Jesus Christ son, I certainly hope you never tell this to anyone in a car forum or at a track.

RTFM: http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Boost-Turbocharger-Engineering-Performance/dp/0837601606/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280731744&sr=1-2

All Corvettes are Red by James Schefter. It's a truly inside story on the design of the 1997 Corvette. Reads like a novel, but with real characters. Even if you're not so much a fan of Corvettes, but like cars in general, it's pretty interesting.

Once you get through the basics and start looking into performance, I would suggest "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell. It is pretty much the gospel of turbocharging. Amazon link