Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics

By Thomas D. Gillespie

Book Overview

This book attempts to find a middle ground by balancing engineering principles and equations of use to every automotive engineer with practical explanations of the mechanics involved, so that those without a formal engineering degree can still comprehend and use most of the principles discussed. Either as an introductory text or a practical professional overview, this book is an ideal reference.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560911999
• ISBN13: 9781560911999
• Release Date: February 1992
• Publisher: SAE International
• Length: 520 Pages
• Weight: 1.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

If you are into equations, knock yourself out, this book has a lot of them, and for me, it explains them enough to understand them. I had to remember my days at the university, but it has definitely what I was looking for. I guess is a must for anyone trying to build a car seriously

Good Intro to Vehicle Dynamics

Most dynamics books are kinda hard to read or dont give adequate examples/problems. I found this book to be useful and easy to read. It covers nearly every topic of the automobile from tires to ride and handling, braking conditions and aerodynamics. All pretty concise but worthwhile. The $100 or so will definitely be worth it. Makes a great reference book for any basic auto dynamics needs.

Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics

Thomas Gillespie is able to explain the fundamental principles of vehicle dynamics in his book. For those new to the subject of vehicle dynamics, this work will lay the foundation for more advanced reading. Those with science, math and engineering degrees, or those familiar with technical literature, will find the reading easy to understand in comparison to some other works. This allows the reader to focus their attention on understanding the "big picture," and not getting lost in particular formulae. However, for those doing research in the field or pursuing this as a career, there are more advanced texts available.

A solid foundation

My background is in computer engineering. As such, I have a basic understanding of kinematics, but approached this book with little knowledge of physics as specifically applied to vehicles.I found this book to be a perfect first step into the field. It picked up essentially where my knowledge left off and provided solid coverage of the topics discussed. Due to the nature of the book--an introductory text--simplifications often had to be made; in these cases the simplifications were pointed out, often with references to publications covering the areas more fully. Furthermore, I felt that all topics were evenly covered--no one got undue attention.Basically, the book was just what I was looking for.My only significant pet peeves are the use of English-system measurements (I am more comfortable with metric), and a few cases of unexplained 'magic numbers' in formulas (it took me a minute to realize that 57.3 is the number of degrees in a radian). And plot and character development were pretty thin (grin).

Excellent yet easy to comprehend overview of vehicle dynamic

This book provides a thorough yet easy to understand overview of vehicle dynamics and how they affect performance. The mathematical basis for all concepts are provided, as are graphs , illustrations, sample problems, and solutions. I highly recommend this text for anyone interested in vehicle dynamics