Recognizing Common Vehicle Suspensions! First of all, we first need to know what is the role of the suspension, the main role of the suspension is to the road acting on the wheels of the various reaction force and its torque transfer to the body and frame, and cushion the impact of the road.
Differences between suspensions
Suspension on a car is usually categorised as independent or non-independent. As the name suggests, independent suspension is where each side of the wheels are individually hung under the body or frame by means of elasticated elements, whereas non-independent suspension is where both sides of the wheels are connected by an integral axle.
In layman’s terms, the biggest difference between independent and non-independent suspension is that when one side of the wheel encounters a raised road surface, only the wheel that encounters the raised road surface of independent suspension will jump, and the other side of the wheel will not be affected; while non-independent suspension encounters the raised side of the wheel will drive the other side of the wheel jump.
Suspension type
There are many types of suspension on modern cars, such as double wishbone independent suspension, double wishbone independent suspension, multi-link independent suspension, MacPherson independent suspension, torsion beam non-independent suspension, multi-part spring non-independent suspension and so on. Today we’ll take a look at the most common MacPherson independent suspension, multi-link independent suspension, torsion beam independent suspension, double wishbone/double wishbone independent suspension on the market.
MacPherson independent suspension
MacPherson independent suspension is one of the most widely used front suspensions in modern cars, and its emergence was a trans-historical event. In the 1930s, the popular front suspension was the leaf spring and torsion bar spring front suspension, such a front suspension occupies a large space, the structure is more complex, until the emergence of McPherson type independent suspension to change the status quo.
1950 Ford launched the first McPherson type independent suspension as the front suspension of the commercial car, and then the McPherson type of suspension is gradually recognised by everyone, until we can see that the majority of cars on the market are equipped with McPherson type independent suspension. Most of the cars on the market are equipped with MacPherson independent suspension.
MacPherson independent suspension is a simple structure, mainly composed of coil springs, shock absorbers, triangular lower arm, and it occupies less space, low cost, and is very suitable for the chassis arrangement of small cars. On the other hand, MacPherson independent suspension has good responsiveness and manoeuvrability, while MacPherson independent suspension occupies little space in the engine compartment and is light in weight, making it ideal for sporty vehicles with large engines.
McPherson-type independent suspension has many benefits, but the shortcomings are also very obvious, due to the McPherson-type independent suspension shock absorbers and coil springs are only for the vehicle up and down swing and buffer, so the lateral support is insufficient, when the cornering lateral tilt will be more serious, so some of the positioning in favour of high-end and comfortable models will be used as the front suspension of the multilink independent suspension, such as Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
Multi-link independent suspension
Multi-link independent suspension,Having talked about the suspension commonly used in the front suspension of a car, let’s now talk about the type of suspension commonly used in the rear suspension of a car. Multi-link independent suspension, as the name suggests, consists of multiple links. As mentioned earlier, multilink suspension can be used not only as the front suspension, but also as the rear suspension of the car, but due to the control of cost and chassis space arrangement, most of the models equipped with multilink independent suspension use multilink independent suspension as the rear suspension.
Multi-link independent suspension used as rear suspension in the market nowadays are mostly 4 or 5 links. More rods means more balanced forces on all aspects of the frame, and more comfort is guaranteed. We all know that multi-link independent suspensions are all about comfort, but did you know that multi-link suspensions are great for handling stability? Multiple links can make the wheels and the ground to maintain the maximum possible perpendicular, and at the same time can reduce the body when cornering side sway.
That’s why models that are positioned for comfort and luxury, but also for sportiness, are equipped with multilink independent suspension as a selling point. Multi-link independent suspension has a lot of advantages, but the shortcomings are also very obvious, that is, the structure is complex, high cost, and occupies a large volume, so small cars in order to more space inside the car will rarely use multi-link independent suspension.
Tesla
The Tesla model 3 and model y also utilize Multi-link independent suspension to support the car, but since the shock absorbers haven’t been improved much, they need to be equipped with magnetic dampers in order to increase the car’s comfort level to 100%, learn more about magnetic dampers for Tesla.here
Torsion beam non-independent suspension
Torsion beam non-independent suspension is now like a street rat – everyone shouts, everyone will be equipped with torsion beam non-independent suspension models of manufacturers are called “black heart manufacturers”. This has led many manufacturers to call them torsion beam semi-independent suspension. Is torsion beam non-independent suspension really that bad? Not really, French cars have always been very fond of torsion beam non-independent suspension. To be honest, there are quite a few advantages of torsion beam non-independent suspension.
First of all, the structure of torsion beam non-independent suspension mainly consists of a U-shaped or omega-shaped crossbar to connect the two wheels, originally such a crossbar has a very good resistance to torsion, so we can see a lot of iconic sporty small cars equipped with torsion beam non-independent suspension, such as the Honda Civic TYPE R. At the same time, the torsion beam type of non-independent suspension occupies a lot less space than the multilink independent suspension, on the “supercar” GK5, the amazing space in the back is largely due to more space for engineers to squeeze.
For example, the amazing space in the back of the “supercar” GK5 is due in large part to the torsion beam suspension, which gives the engineers more room to squeeze. The biggest shortcoming of torsion beam non-independent suspension is the lack of comfort, due to the natural structure of the problem of comfort has not been a perfect solution.
Double Cross Arm / Double Transverse Arm Independent Suspension
Double Cross Arm / Double Transverse Arm Independent Suspension,Compared to the above mentioned suspensions, double wishbone and double wishbone independent suspensions are less common in the market. The main reason for this is because they are less suitable for small cars. Double wishbone independent suspension structure mainly has two V control arm composition, its structure compared to the McPherson type independent suspension more than one upper control arm, resulting in its occupies a larger space, the structure is more complex, manufacturing and tuning cost is higher, so generally do not double wishbone independent suspension as a small car suspension.
However, the benefits of having an extra control arm are high lateral stiffness, excellent anti-roll performance, good grip performance and clear road feel. That’s why many models that focus on sports will choose to carry double-wishbone independent suspension.
Double wishbone independent suspension is structurally very similar to double wishbone independent suspension, with the control arm changed from a V-arm to a wishbone. So the overall structure is a simplified version of the double wishbone independent suspension, its comprehensive performance, manufacturing cost is lower than the double wishbone independent suspension, but also higher than the McPherson independent suspension. So more manufacturers will give their main sports models with double wishbone independent suspension.
In fact, the most important thing for the suspension is the tuning of the manufacturer, which directly determines the driving experience of the car. The above mentioned are the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of each type of suspension, and nowadays manufacturers will optimise for the disadvantages of different suspensions. Therefore, to judge whether a car’s suspension is comfortable and whether its handling is excellent, it is still up to you to experience whether the car’s driving experience suits you or not. Meanwhile, readers are also very welcome to share their own cars and their driving experience with the suspension in the comment section below, so that other readers can provide references.
