Now is the time to turn tuning into a "good adult hobby."
Auto Exe style, automobile culture theory.
Toward an era when the value of automobiles as a culture is questioned.
"Songs take the world, the world takes the song ...", but so does the car.The automobiles that people have longed for have changed over time depending on the region and the times, providing dreams to each society and realizing a new way of life.It can be said that automobiles have played a part in "the spiritual value peculiar to the society", that is, "culture", which goes beyond the existence of mere tools and machines.
And in recent years, the framework of this "society" and "culture" is changing.With the progress of globalization in various fields, "society" has begun to mix beyond the boundaries of regions and countries, and various "cultures" that cross the world have begun to be formed.For example, the culture that idealizes compact multipurpose cars and the culture that still aims for luxury sedans are still mixed all over the world.People who earnestly enjoy high performance and groups who consider eco as the supreme proposition continue to coexist in the same way.
Globalization in engineering is accelerating, standards and functions are standardized, and mature modern automobiles are not only good or bad as industrial products, but also what to expect from automobiles and how to use automobiles. , Maybe the relationship with our own consciousness is being questioned.No, it is not the car itself that is being questioned.The problem may be the direction of our own "culture", how to deal with automobiles.
Can tuning become an automobile culture?
To put it a little logically, in psychology there is the idea of "gradual evolution of desire".When the current situation is satisfied, human beings aim for it.For example, water, food, sleep, etc., which are indispensable for living, are called "physiological needs", and when they are satisfied, "ensuring safety", "attribution to a group", "social respect", etc. "Self-actualization" ... is the theory that the level of desire increases gradually.Of course, even here, it cannot be generalized as "human beings in the XNUMXst century ...".In Japan, it is impossible to regulate by region such as in China.To the last, various desires are mixed.And, apparently, each group (society) that has the same stage of desire has created a "culture" that embodies the values of the world.
When it comes to automobiles, in the latest advanced societies, the fulfillment of people's "attribution to the group" and "social respect" has become the energy of the majority culture and has given a certain direction.It is no longer an indispensable requirement for human beings to have an attitude of consideration for the environment and resources to be accepted and respected by the group to which they belong.
However, from our point of view, that alone is lonely.Riding in the same safe car as everyone leaves me feeling unfulfilled.Because we don't think of cars as just machines, dare to say, we love cars.This is because the car is an alter ego of oneself to realize oneself more like oneself.For us, tuning is a challenge to self-actualization.
So can it be an automobile culture?The key is "social acceptability".No individuality will be able to have a cultural expanse unless it meets the healthy harmony required by modern society.Only then can we claim the significance of tuning as a subculture that corresponds to the highest level of evolution of human desires for the first time.
The will of AutoExe to inherit the spirit of Mazda cars.
It is said that Tsuneji Matsuda, the president at that time, once said in developing the first Carroll in the early days of Mazda. "Because the roads are narrow and economically affordable, it is unavoidable to make it smaller, but that does not mean that the comfort of American cars will be sacrificed."As a result, a "water-cooled, 360-cycle, 4-cylinder" 8cc engine was born, and a body with a total length of XNUMX meters with a "cliff-cut roof and XNUMX doors" was born.Of course, the suspension was also a XNUMX-wheel independent suspension type.The same applies when I decide to develop a rotary engine. He says he was "want to put the power and quietness of a VXNUMX into a compact body."It can be said that it is a challenge that clearly regards automobiles as "culture".
Mr. Kenichi Yamamoto, the father of Rotary, advocated "Kansei Engineering" from the idea that "automobiles should not aim for self-reliant technological development. It is important to fit the sensibilities of the rider" and adopted the world language KANSEI. It is born.This can also be said to be a "culture based on human needs."
In this way, in the history of Mazda cars, there is a "stickiness" to the automobile culture and a "word" of the technology to realize it.Of course, times have changed, societies have changed drastically, and people's values have changed.Therefore, the culture to be sought and the solution method are different.But as Mazda car tuners, we want to pass on this proud spirit to the present day in the modest areas of our involvement.
New Driving Sensation.Aiming to create a true subculture.
So, the biggest problem is the method of self-actualization by tuning.Traditional tuning in Japan was often frowned upon socially, perhaps as a result of the color trends that preceded each era.It can be said that the origin was the remodeling aimed at being rather antisocial, such as the diversion of indefinite parts from motor sports and the collective demonstration running of young people.It should be remembered that as a result, car tuning was not given citizenship for a long time, revealing its cultural backwardness.
Needless to say, our basis is normal evolution from mass-produced cars.While acknowledging the value of eco = the desire to gain social recognition and respect, we want to foster a heart-warming relationship between people and cars that goes beyond eco.In a mature Japanese society, I would like to aim for tuning that makes people nod as "a person with a good taste" rather than looking at it.
All cultures have always been mature and changing.Recognizing the values of the majority and aiming for further individualization without stagnation and staying there must lead to the creation of a richer culture.We want to sublimate tuning into a "subculture" in that sense.
Our tuning method, which identifies the design concept of mass-produced cars, cuts excess margins for the majority, and creates a new driving feeling, is unchanged regardless of the old or new model.Please pay attention to "New Driving Sensation", which is always stable, and AutoExe's Mazda car personalization project.
■ The "taste" of running.At its core is footwork.
A person makes full use of the sensory organs of the whole body in a car.You can feel vibrations and forces on your skin and muscles, and information from your eyes, ears, and semicircular canals is added to that.From such a situation, I feel the movement of the car and the feeling of stepping on the road surface, just like when walking with my own feet, and I find the feeling of "taste" similar to the act of "food" in the characteristics of each car. It is.
Of course, everything that happens in the driving and movement of a car, including the subtle "something" that brings out the taste of driving, is a physical phenomenon.But even the average person, the ability of humans to perceive intricate details is still far beyond what can be expressed by measuring instruments and numbers.In other words, it is still difficult to replace "taste" with a concrete numerical value and reproduce it.In this respect as well, "running taste" is common to "food."
However, where do humans find the individuality of the car strongly or deeply among the various elements that shape this "driving taste"?The tires roll on the road surface and step on various irregularities.The frictional force generated by the front-back and lateral slips on the ground plane creates vehicle motion.It exerts an inertial force on the car body.And human beings physically perceive the various vibrations and mechanical phenomena.I would like to call all of this process "footwork".And what qualities are "loaded" into that footwork, and how comfortable it is for drivers and passengers.The cooking process of "cooking" this "taste" is suspension tuning in a car.
Of course, as with cooking, the ingredients are important for good taste.In this respect, Mazda cars, which are our material, have a strong commitment to driving ability and quality, and have been highly evaluated in Europe, where the taste is firmly established as "culture".However, for driving on the roads of Japan, the cooking method as it is in Europe is not always the best, and on the contrary, it can be said that Japanese-style seasoning that is too "Japanese" conscious is sometimes too Yawa. ..So far, I'm sure the older brothers who understand AutoExe's claim will be able to guess. Our tuning, which advocates "New Driving Sensation," is exactly "a sporty feeling that goes beyond the boundaries of mass-produced cars."As I often mention, it is a tuning that cuts off the excessive margin of mass-produced cars set for an unspecified number of users and utilizes that amount for people who enjoy driving.And we believe that if we talk about that as an aspect of automobile culture, we will continue to create "the joy of driving faster and more beautifully."
■ Running materials and recipes.Understand the basics.
In such discussions, if we do not go beyond sensualism to logical and scientific content, we will step into a maze of going back and forth.Here, for the time being, the basic knowledge to unravel the maze about the role and function of each element of the suspension that forms the footwork is described below.
1: Tire
Needless to say, it is the one and only point of contact between the road surface and the vehicle.The key to using a tire, which is a viscoelastic body, is to maintain a state in which the load is distributed neatly over the entire contact patch, suppress small load fluctuations, and utilize the deflection from the contact patch to the tire skeleton.Then, it is basic to make it stand upright against the road surface (ground camber = zero) and roll it straight (toe = zero).
2: Link layout
A suspension link is a swing arm that connects the vehicle body and wheels.When the legs expand and contract (stroke) up and down, the pivots (support points) on the wheel side and the vehicle body side cause relative movement.On the design drawing, it is thought that the vehicle body side is fixed and the wheel side pivot draws an arc with the link length as the radius, but when the tire is firmly in contact with the ground, the wheel side does not move and the vehicle body side moves in an arc. While doing so, the phenomenon of pushing and pulling the wheels occurs.In the strut or double wishbone format, the point where the line connecting the pivots is extended and crossed from the wheel side to the vehicle body side is the momentary swing center, that is, the momentary center of the vehicle body roll movement (roll center) in front view. is assumed.Similarly, in the side view, the instantaneous swing center of the link is assumed to be the pitching center.
3: Main spring (main spring)
It receives and stores the inertial force due to movements such as acceleration / deceleration and turning applied to the vehicle body and the impact when the tire steps over the protrusions on the road surface, stores it, and releases it by stretching.This "ability to receive load (weight and force)" is expressed by "spring constant", and how many kg of load the spring contracts by 1 mm is expressed by X [kg / mm].The higher the spring constant (harder), the higher the natural frequency.That is, the pitch of shaking and the load fluctuation become faster.Therefore, the "strength" of the spring to be incorporated is determined by the upper limit of the load applied during running.In addition, the main spring also produces the force that pushes the tires against the road surface when the road surface is dented or when the vehicle body is lifted.That is, the free length of the spring needs to be longer than the extension stroke limit.
4: Damper (shock absorber)
Generally speaking, it is a mechanism that absorbs the energy stored in the spring and causes vibration when it is released and converges the movement.But as the car runs, it's crucial to the quality and taste of footwork, controlling the "speed" of the suspension stroke in all situations.For example, the damper starts to move in response to the constant expansion and contraction of the legs while running, and whether or not the damping rises cleanly there are various tastes such as the feeling of stepping on the road surface, straightness, and the response of the rudder transmitted to the hand. Appears.It goes without saying that the seasoning of damping characteristics directly appears in situations where the vehicle body and legs move significantly, the vehicle body rolls, and the transitional behavior of cornering.
5: Stabilizer (anti-roll bar)
A torsion bar spring that is twisted when the left and right wheels are stroked in the opposite direction.That is, when the vehicle body rolls, one side contracts and the other side expands.By generating a reaction force of the spring in response to the movement, a part of the inertial force in the lateral direction is received, and the roll amount can be reduced without hardening the main spring.However, when the stabilizer is twisted by stepping on the protrusion on the road surface on one side, it also has the effect of pulling up (shrinking) the leg on the other side, which can spoil the suppleness of the suspension movement.
6: Other
Needless to say, the elements that make up the "taste" of driving are not limited to suspension.The rigidity of the body that supports the movement, the geometric geometry of the part attached to it, and the tuning of the steering, brakes, and drive train that are the input devices to the tires also greatly change the taste.For that matter, the steering wheel and driving seat, which provide a direct interface with the driver, cannot be removed.I would like to talk about these recipes at another time.Begging, stay tuned.
■ As a spicy "gourmand".As a tuning that bears the automobile culture.
In this way, when considering the feeling that human beings experience with the body and the technical elements that create it, people who are pursuing driving ability (however, it is not a circuit specification far from practicality, it is a street vest to the last. As), various things can be done.
For example, for lowdown, as the body side pivot of the lateral link goes down, it enters the area where the position of the instantaneous roll center drops sharply.In this case, even if the height of the center of gravity of the car body is lowered a little, the roll center will be lowered further, and when the distance between the two is increased, the arm of the lever that causes the roll due to the inertial force will be extended, and the roll moment will be increased to catch it. The spring constant of the main spring (and stabilizer) will have to be increased.Most of our lowdown kits focus on this geometric principle, so that most of them stay within 30mm.In addition, in the system including the main spring, the spring that can obtain the load characteristics that does not lose the suppleness of the legs while responding to the increasing roll moment is carefully selected.
The same is true for dampers.However, simply by increasing the damping force and "tightening" the movement, the movement at the moment when the load is applied becomes stiff, and the load fluctuation of the tire, which is important for mobility, becomes rough and large.Furthermore, all the "speed" and "fitting" of the movements of the legs and the car body are cooked.This is the principle of tuning, and of course we are pursuing its delicacy and best performance while checking the actual running from the basic configuration to the details of the oil passage.In addition, suspension is a system in which so many mechanical elements are interconnected and move.In it, the connecting arm should receive the force in an efficient manner and the connecting point should slide smoothly.This geometrical / mechanical relationship will always have other effects if something (for example, vehicle height) is changed.A mechanism to correct it is also included in our extensive lineup of AutoExe.
The process of scrutinizing each part (material) and deciding the specifications after assessing the characteristics of the base car, not the absolute performance of a single product, is exactly the same process as cooking.As a result, it blooms as a taste of running.As a result of excessively increasing the manners and comfort margin at low speeds for everyone, the slightly lighter mass-produced seasoning has been given a clear spice for drivers who enjoy driving. It is a specification.Although it is the ultimate in gastronomy, we are proud that it is a tuning that plays a part in automobile culture as a healthy food that has nothing to do with metabolic syndrome.Please try it once.
