A Design Comparison between Coil Springs and Torsion Bars

Although the coil springs are widely used in passengers cars nowadays, the torsion bars still have some application in the competition field, as seen in Formula 1 championship. The objective of this paper is set a comparison between coil springs and torsion bars. The study shows design features, mechanical system involved, the difference of mass, work principle, mathematical methods used and simulation on the two options. The results show which type of spring is most indicated to use in a Formula SAE car using a Pugh Matrix methodology.