CHAPTER 8.
1 Types of suspension and drive
Fig. 8.1-35 On a front-wheel drive (left) the vehicle is pulled.
The result is a more stable relationship between the driving
forces FX,W,a and the inertia force Fc,V Conversely, in the case of
driven rear wheels an unstable condition is theoretically evident;
front axle settings ensure the necessary stabilization.
the considerable need for stability of the bodywork in
the region of those points on the front bearings at
which complex, superposed forces have to be Fig. 8.1-37 The front rigid axle on the Mercedes-Benz light
transmitted. commercial vehicle of the 207 D/308 series with recirculating
ball steering gear and steering rod 1 parallel to the two-layer
parabolic spring. This rod has to be slightly shorter than the
front side of the spring, so that both parts take on the same
8.1.4 Front-mounted engine, motion curve when the axle bottoms out (see also Fig. 9.1-6).
rear-mounted drive The brace 3, running from the steering column jacket 2 to the
body, bends on impact.
The T-shaped axle casing 4, which is cranked downwards and
In passenger cars and estate cars, the engine is approxi- to which the springs are fastened, can be seen in the section.
mately in the centre of the front axle and the rear wheels The elastomer spring 5 sits on the longitudinal member of the
are driven (Fig. 8.1-32). To put more weight on the rear frame and the two front wheels are joined by the tie rod 6. The
axle and obtain a more balanced weight distribution, Alfa safety steering wheel has additional padding.
Romeo, Porsche (928, 968 models) and Volvo integrated
the manual transmission with the differential. This is also gives hardly any other option. Articulated lorries, where
the case with the Chevrolet Corvette sports car (1998; a major part of the trailer weight – the trailer hitch load – is
Figs. 8.1-33 and 8.1-34). With the exception of light carried over the rear wheels, have the same configuration.
commercial vehicles, all lorries have the engine at the On buses, however, the passengers are spread evenly
front or centrally between the front and rear axles to- throughout the whole interior of the vehicle, which is why
gether with rear-wheel-drive vehicles. The long load area there are models with front, central and rear engines.
Front-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive Rear engine
front rear front rear front rear
Empty 61 39 50 50 40 60
2 passengers at the front 60 40 50 50 42 58
4 passengers 55 45 47 53 40 60
5 passengers and luggage 49 51 44 56 41 59
Fig. 8.1-36 Average proportional axle load distribution based on drive type and loading condition. With the standard-design saloon,
when the vehicle is fully laden, the driven rear wheels have to carry the largest load. With the front-wheel drive, however, with only
two persons in the vehicle, the front wheels bear the greater load.
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Types of suspension and drive CHAPTER 8.1
A long exhaust system with good silencing and cata-
lytic converter configuration.
Good front crumple zone, together with the
‘submarining’ power plant unit, i.e. one that goes
underneath the floor panel during frontal collision.
Simple and varied front axle designs are possible irre-
spective of drive forces.
More even tyre wear thanks to function distribution
of steering/drive.
Uncomplicated gear shift mechanism.
Optimum gearbox efficiency in direct gear because
no force-transmitting bevel gear is in action.
Sufficient space for housing the steering system in
the case of a recirculating ball steering gear.
Good cooling because the engine and radiator are at
the front; a power-saving fan can be fitted.
Effective heating due to short hot-air and water paths.
The following disadvantages mean that, in recent years,
only a few saloon cars under 2 l engine displacement
have been launched internationally using this design,
and performance cars also featured the front-mounted
design:
Unstable straight-running ability (Fig. 8.1-35), which
can be fully corrected by special front suspension
geometry settings, appropriate rear axle design and
Fig. 8.1-38 Front hub carrier (steering knuckle) on the
Mercedes-Benz S class (W40, 1997) with a large effective suitable tyres.
distance c (see also Fig. 8.1.4). The upper transverse control The driven rear axle is slightly loaded when there are
arm 6 forms the casing for the ball pivot of the guiding joint, only two persons in the vehicle, leading to poor trac-
whereas the lower supporting joint 7 is pressed into the hub tion behaviour in wet and wintry road conditions –
carrier 5. The ventilated brake disc 34 (dished inwards), the linked to the risk of the rear wheels spinning, partic-
wheel hub 9, the double-hump rim 43 with asymmetrical drop
ularly when tight bends are being negotiated at speed.
centre and the space for the brake caliper (not included in the
picture) are clearly shown.
This can be improved by setting the unladen axle load
distribution at 50%/50% which, however, is not
always possible (Fig. 8.1-36). It can be prevented by
[Link] Advantages and disadvantages means of drive-slip control.
of the front-mounted engine, A tendency towards the torque steer effect
rear-mounted drive design (Fig. 10.1-53) and, therefore,
complex rear independent wheel suspension with
The standard design has a series of advantages on chassis subframe, differential gear case and axle
passenger cars and estate cars: drive causing
restrictions in boot size
There is hardly any restriction on engine length, making The need for a propshaft between the manual gear-
it particularly suitable for more powerful vehicles (in box and differential (Fig. 8.1-32) and, therefore,
other words, for engines with 8–12 cylinders). a tunnel in the floor pan is inevitable, plus an unfav-
There is low load on the engine mounting, as only the ourable interior to vehicle–length ratio.
maximum engine torque times the conversion of the
lowest gear without differential transmission has to
be absorbed. [Link] Non-driven front axles
Insulation of engine noise is relatively easy.
Under full load, most of the vehicle mass is on the The standard design for passenger cars that have come
driven rear axle (important for estate cars and onto the market in recent years have McPherson struts on
trailers (Fig. 8.1-36). the front axle, as well as double wishbone or multi-link
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