Effect of the Nonlinearity of the Suspension Roll Stiffness on the Vehicle Handling

The nonlinearity due to the deflection of bump stopper in vehicle suspension is an important factor to influence on vehicle ride and handling. While it reduces the heavy shock transferred from the road to the vehicle body and hence gives a good ride comfort, it may also give a bad effect on the vehicle handling at high lateral acceleration.

In this paper, a simulation program for the handling analysis of a passenger car with nonlinear tire and suspension has been developed and used to study for several design changes of roll stiffness in the same vehicle. The results are well consistent with the general concept in vehicle handling theory.