Quote:
but need help to understand the advantage of a connection between front and rear wheels. What is the additional advantage of this connection?
Gerd,
Not sure what you mean by "additional advantage...", but two advantages are:
1) When one front wheel encounters an "up" bump at some speed, the twisting force on the main bar is almost instantaneously transmitted to the rear suspension on the same side. This causes the rear wheel to be pushed down (opposite reaction to the twist), but since it is already on the ground, the physical reaction is to lift the body some. The same is true on encountering a pot hole ("down" bump).
In the front bump case, the entire chassis lifts over the bump rather than just the front rising and the rear not reacting much as it would in a conventionally sprung car, IRS or not. When the rear wheel encounters the same bump, the same thing happens. If there is enough speed, then the chassis "magic carpets" over the bump rather than pitching up and down like a boat going over a wave on the ocean.
2) Because the front and rear suspension are connected to the single bar, the spring rate seen at the wheel is half what it would be if two half-length torsion bars were used fixed at the middle. This results in a softer ride, but still retains (for the period), superior road handling, particularly over rough roads.
Craig
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