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basic, and they work well enough for the relatively unburdened rear
wheels of a front-wheel drive car.
Solid axles on either type of car do have one distict advantage,
though. They keep the wheels straight up and down no matter how
much the body rolls. Assuming everything else is designed properly,
this can be a distict advantage.
So what is this "multi-link beam" and what makes it so great? In
reality, every beam axle rear suspension must have some system of
links to allow the wheels to travel up and down without moving front
to back or side to side--the multi-link beam just does an exceptionally
good job of it. Nissan's multi-link beam falls under the general
category of a twist beam. Front-to-back location is accomplished with
a single trailing link on each side that pivots where it attaches to the
car, but is mounted solidly to the beam. This solid mounting of the
trailing link to the beam means that if the wheels do not move
together relative to the car--such as when the body rolls--the beam
itself must twist to accomodate the different angles of the two trailing
links. So in a twist beam, the beam itself acts as an anti-roll bar.
Side-to-side location on beam axles is most commonly done with a
Panhard rod--a long link that attaches to the car on one end and the
beam on the other. The most obvious problem with this arrangement
is that it is asymmetrical. Since the beam is located by a link that
swings through an arc, there is a slight side-to-side movement of the
beam as the suspension moves up and down. This is not at all good
for high-speed stability. Another side effect of the asymmetric
Panhard rod is different jacking force depending on which way you
are turning. Since conering forces are transmitted from the wheels to
the body through a not-quite-horizontal rod, a portion of that
cornering force will be translated into a vertical force jacking the back
of the car either up or down depending on what direction you are
turning.
The Scott-Russell
linkage used on the
multi-link beam has
none of the
dissadvantages of the
asymmetric Panhard
rod, and is simpler and
more compact than a
Watts linkage.
and beneficial for such mundane goals an increased trunk space and
low road noise, makes it seem just plain wrong to match it with
something as sophisticated and mysterious as a multi-link front
suspension. They are, in fact, a surprisingly good match. Both the
multi-link front and multi-link beam rear suspension layouts have
been paired with struts on other Nissans. The current Sentra and
Maxima both use MacPherson struts on the front, and the multi-link
beam at the rear, while the old G20 ('91 to '96) used the same multilink front suspension as the new car, but paired it with struts in the
rear. Neither combination is as effective as the multi-link/multi-link
beam combination on the current G20.
For the purpose of this discussion, the most important fact about a
simple strut suspension is the fact that as the body rolls, the wheel
and tire roll with it. On the Sentra or Maxima, that means that as the
body rolls, the front wheels roll over while the rears remain
perpendicular to the ground. This gives the rear wheels more grip,
accentuating the front driver's propensity to understeer. One of
Nissan's reasons for replacing the rear struts with the rear multi-link
beam on both these cars was that the increased grip in the rear
allowed them to increase roll stiffness in the rear (or reduce roll
stiffness in the front), which forces the rear wheels to take more of
the cornering forces. This takes advantage of the beam's extra grip,
and decreases the burden of the front wheels. Even with the change
in roll stiffness, the multi-link beam's grip is underutilized by being
paired with struts.
On the old G20, the rear wheels rolled with the body while the fronts
were held perpindicular to the ground. To prevent this from causing
oversteer, front roll stiffness had to be increased (or rear stiffness
reduced) to force more cornering work onto the front wheels. The
new G20 can share the cornering load more evenly between the front
and rear wheels. Drive the G20 hard and you can feel both the front
and rear tires being fully utilized in a corner. It's a relatively rare
feeling in any front-wheel drive car, but especially one designed to
have totally safe handling for even the most ham-fisted driver.
The Future of the G20
While the G20's suspension it its technological high point at the
moment, another year may bring even more innovations. The rumor
mill is strongly suggesting that the 190-hp SR20VE engine featuring
variable valve timing and lift may show up in the G20 next year
mated to a unique continuously variable transmission with a
sequential six-speed shifting option. These rumors are so strong, in
fact, that we would almost call them definite if it weren't for Nissan's