During the past 20 years, enormous progress has been made in chassis engineering and driveability. Today's vehicles are significantly safer and at the same time more comfortable than their predecessors. Among the reasons are the variety of electronic control systems on offer today, but also the fact that engineers have succeeded in making suspension and chassis design and tuning more precisely and significantly by using modem analysis and simulation methods. This allows product maturity to be assured and intensified, despite wider model ranges and shorter development times. In this context, the significance of modelling and simulation of the tyre behaviour becomes increasingly important. As the link between the vehicle and the road, the tyre ultimately determines the driving properties that can be realized, any latent safety reserves that can be activated, and the vehicle vibration comfort, at least in as far as road-surface-induced excitations are concerned.
