Theory of Ground Vehicles, 5th Edition

Preface to the Second Edition

Since the first edition of this book was published in 1978, it has gone through 10 printings. A number of engineering schools in North America, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere have adopted it as a text for courses in automotive engineering, vehicle dynamics, off‐road vehicle engineering, agricultural engineering, etc. It was translated into Russian and published in Moscow, Russia in 1982, and into Chinese and published in Beijing, China in 1985. Meanwhile, significant technological developments in the field have taken place. To reflect these new developments and to serve the changing needs of the educational and professional communities, the time is ripe for the second edition of this book.

With the growing emphasis being placed by society on energy conservation, environmental protection, and safety, transportation technology is under greater challenge than ever before. To improve fuel economy and to reduce undesirable exhaust emissions, in addition to improvements in power plant design, measures such as improving vehicle aerodynamic performance, better matching of transmission with engine, and optimizing power requirements have received intense attention. To improve driving safety, antilock brake systems and traction control systems have been introduced. To provide better ride comfort while maintaining good roadholding capability, active and semi‐active suspension systems have attracted considerable interest. To expedite the development of new products, ...