Mechanical engineering, and engineering discipline born of the needs of the ind- trial revolution, is once again asked to do its substantial share in the call for ind- trial renewal. The general call is urgent as we face profound issues of productivity and competitiveness that require engineering solutions, among others. The - chanical Engineering Series is a series featuring graduate texts and research mo- graphs intended to address the need for information in contemporary areas of - chanical engineering. The series is conceived as a comprehensive one that covers a broad range of concentrations important to mechanical engineering graduate education and - search. We are fortunate to have a distinguished roster of consulting editors, each an expert in one of the areas of concentration. The names of the consulting editors are listed on page vi of this volume. The areas of concentration are applied - chanics, biomechanics, computational mechanics, dynamic systems and control, energetics, mechanics of materials, processing, thermal science, and tribology. As a research advisor to graduate students working on automotive projects, I have frequently felt the need for a textbook that summarizes common vehicle control systems and the dynamic models used in the development of these control systems. While a few different textbooks on ground vehicle dynamics are already available in the market, they do not satisfy all the needs of a control systems engineer.
