6.1.21 Stabilizer bar
While turning one way or another, the car tilts in the opposite direction of the turn, because centrifugal forces act on it. There are two options to minimize this effect: make a very rigid suspension or install a rod, which connects the wheels of one axle in a special way. The first option is interesting, but in order to overcome the car's roll in turns, one would have to make a very rigid suspension. This would negate the car's comfort indicators. Another option is to install a complex electronically controlled active suspension, which would make the outer wheel suspension more rigid in turns. But this option is very expensive. Therefore, manufacturers made the simplest decision. They installed a rod, which was tied through the racks or directly to the levers of the wheel suspension on both sides of the car (see Figure 6.19). Thus, in turns, when the wheels that were located on the outside relative to the center of rotation, rise up (relative to the car body), the rod twists and, as it were, pulls the inner wheel to the body, thereby stabilizing the position of the car. From this and the name - "stabilizer bar".
The main disadvantages of a conventional stabilizer bar are a deterioration in ride comfort and a decrease in overall suspension travel due to a small, but still connection between the wheels of the same axle. The first flaw affects luxury cars, the second one affects SUVs. In the era of electronics and technological breakthroughs, designers could not help but take advantage of all the possibilities of engineering. Therefore, they invented and implemented an active stabilizer bar, which consists of two parts: one part is connected to the right wheel suspension, the other to the left wheel suspension. In the middle, the two ends of the stabilizer bar are clamped in a hydraulic or electromechanical module, which has the ability to twist one or another part, thereby increasing the stability of the car. When the car moves straight, it “dissolves” these two ends of the rod, thus enabling each of the wheels to generate the suspension travel assigned to it.
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