Paul Zandbergen

Ford Motor Company’s New Rear Suspension Architecture for the Global CD Platform

The objective was the development of a new suspension architecture for Ford’s global CD platform. This suspension architecture was required to improve vehicle driving comfort and noise without compromising the high level of steering and handling performance of the Ford Mondeo to date. Moreover, the new suspension architecture had to fulfil a number of challenging package requirements. The newly developed rear suspension is an integral link suspension. This is an independent suspension system connecting a wheel carrier to an isolated subframe by means of a lower control arm, a camber link and a toe link. The wheel carrier is directly connected to the lower control arm via a pivot point and indirectly via an additional link, the integral link. This link decouples castor compliance from longitudinal compliance and prevents the need for a trailing link or control blade. The most important result is a substantial reduction of cruising interior noise. Impact harshness, noise and aftershake have significantly improved. The improvements in vehicle comfort have not affected the vehicle steering and handling performance. As a result, the new Ford Mondeo suits both relaxed and sporty driving styles.

CAE-Based Driving Comfort Optimization of Passenger Cars

Excellent vehicle dynamics performance has strongly contributed to the appealing driving experience of Ford vehicles. This is achieved via application of advanced suspension concepts, high structural stiffnesses of body and chassis components and extensive tuning work on the vehicle proving grounds. One of the key challenges in vehicle engineering is to optimize vehicle driving comfort without degrading the steering and handling performance.