Suspension in cars

pog it

I just have a general question this time and it's about how the suspension in a car works. I know the effects of bad suspension and its effect on the smoothness of a drive, as in how it buffers you from the surface of the road but I was just wondering what else it has an impact on from the point of view of driving and also, what actually makes up the suspension in terms of the mechanics?

Is it hard to get right?

SleeperService

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-suspension.htm

jimgoose

The function of suspension is to keep the tyre in contact with the road. It does this by controlling and slowing sudden, violent weight-transfer. This is known as "damping", and is done via hydraulic oil within the shock absorber using a system of channels and valves. The spring is there to allow the suspension to move and absorb/damp shocks, and should be of the correct strength for the weight of the car and roughly the sort of driving it will do.

CJhaughey

And there have been other variants of the coil/leaf spring and Damper along the way as well.
Like Citroen and their hydropneumatic versions.

biko

Imagine a bicycle pump that you block the hole in.
You can still push it down a bit but it springs back.

Instead of air there's a fluid and complicated set of channels (and magic).