Suspension

From Trevipedia

Front suspension

The front suspension of the UniSA prototype used unequal length wishbones. It was designed to allow 60 mm of upwards movement and 40 mm of downwards movement. In practice, the suspension "bottomed out" too easily [1]. Narrowing the footwell would allow room for longer suspension arms.

The front suspension of the prototype was mounted to the sides of the chassis using large plates to spread the load. A better approach would be to mount the suspension on a subframe made from folded aluminium or steel that cradles the tub structure.

Air springs are a low-mass alternative to conventional springs and dampers [2].

The approximate geometry of the UniSA prototype front suspension is shown in the diagram below.

Rear suspension

The UniSA prototype used a single-arm swing arm rear suspension with a motorcycle spring and damper. An advantage of a swing arm was that the transmission pulleys could be mounted on the swing axis. The spring and damper unit was too large, and protruded into the rear parcel shelf.

The prototype had the motor inside the car under the rear seat, with the drive belt passing through an opening in the rear wall of the tub. This made it difficult to install and to work on. A better design would have the motor and rear suspension on a separate subframe which could be attached below the tub. This would allow the entire driveline to be assembled out of the car, then simply bolted on and plugged in. To accommodate this system, the floor of the chassis could rise at the back to form the rear seat squab, leaving external space underneath for the suspension and drive unit.

Further Suspension Design

For TREV to be a great car, he'll have to have great chassis and suspension dynamics. It's probable that TREV's suspension design options will branch in different directions; with one branch being the best of the best and another branch for cheap and cheerful. A great suspension design software tool is available here SusProg3D-Suspension by Design

Somewhere out there is a suspension design guru who can, with a few hours of focus, help give TREV the nippiness and toughness that he needs. Also, all you enthusiastic starters, let's starts getting TREV's geometry locked down so that we can get closer to detailed standard designs.