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Chassis design analysis assignment
The analysis and comparison of 2 different vehicle chassis designs and
components.

I am going to analyse and compare the engineering considerations of the chassis design and components of
2 cars of different type, make and model.
Car 1- Dodge Viper RT/10 First Generation (1993-1996)
Key design Criteria
When this car was designed, Chrysler was struggling to make ends meet. Therefore, this car was designed by
a small team of designers and engineers on a very low budget. This meant that they had to keep the car very
simple, with little in the way of luxuries that required extra space to package into the car and optional extras
that would have created extra cost at the production stage of the car. This was also to provide Chrysler with
a marketing angle for the car: a no-nonsense back to basics raw muscle car for serious drivers with no Air
Con, automatic gearbox or driver aids to hamper performance- just a high performance rear wheel drive car
with a big engine at the front. However with this they also wanted to incorporate some modern technology
into the car, using computers for aerodynamic and stress analysis of the chassis frame and body which as
well as saving costs also helped to create
Body/Chassis frame
The chassis was required to withstand a high amount of lateral and longitudinal loading. However, it was
also required to be light in weight, plus the original models being convertibles did not have the benefit of a
very high cross sectional area moment of inertia provided by having high strength points in both the roof
and floor sections since there was no roof.
The engineers who designed the car decided to overcome this by using a tubular steel monocoque chassis
frame incorporating a large very high strength centre section which housed the mountings for the engine
and drivetrain. These allowed for a large amount of longitudinal and lateral resistance to bending and shear
strength. However, there was still a requirement to reduce body roll, as well as having space for the
passengers to sit! So the engineers created supports coming out to the sides of the chassis to the front and
back of the passenger compartment which were very high up to allow resistance tobody roll.
In the passenger compartment itself they wanted to keep the floor as low as possible to increase space so a
low strut was placed under the thin sheet steel floor. To increase roll resistance in the passenger
compartment then required the use of C section steel struts running across from the front to back wheel-
wells on the sides of the car underneath the doors. This made entering and exiting the car slightly more
difficult. However since the car was so low down anyway it wasnt a massive issue. Plus the size of these
struts underneath the door sills allowed the designers to place the exhaust outlets underneath the doors of
the car inside these C section members which was not only aesthetically a nice touch but also allowed the
system to be shorter and not interfere as much with the drivetrain. However, this did increase the heat
inside the passenger compartment, not good if you live in a hot American state especially since the car was
not offered with Air Conditioning!
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The physical dimensions of the chassis also helped to reduce body roll: the car was 1.9 metres wide and only
1.1 metres tall, with most of the mass of the car being concentrated very low to the ground. This in itself also
reduced body roll since the bending moments of the roll stresses were reduced.
The mass of the car was almost perfectly balanced front to back, with 50.6% of the weight of the car being
held up by the front wheels, despite the large, heavy (323kg) engine in the front. This is thanks, in part, to
the light weight design of the engine but also since much of the mass of the chassis is towards the rear of the
car, which allowed for strength in the area where the differential/rear axle assembly would be placed. Also
the engine is placed behind the front wheels, with the transmission protruding a long way into the passenger
compartment.
This car used high tech (for the time) computational stress analysis software so that the engineers could
check that they were making the chassis as strong as was required and make sure there were no weak points
or points of high stress which were likely to fail under heavy loading.
Since the chassis was very strong, this allowed engineers to use very lightweight and relatively low cost
fibreglass resin for the exterior body panels. The panels were produced using a process called resin transfer
moulding which gave a high quality finish, with the minimum amount of finishing work required to get the
panels to a state where they were ready to put on the car. The panels were also very thin at just 2.5 mm
thick to save weight.

Engine
The engine was a 7998 cm
3
V10, with a bore size of 101.6 mm and a stroke length of 98.5 mm. In order to
keep costs down, they used the casting design from an existing Chrysler engine which was originally
intended for use in the 1994 dodge T300 Truck. However, the original cast-iron engine would have been too
heavy to use unmodified so both block and heads werere-cast in aluminium. This gave a mass saving of 45
kg but it was still a very heavy engine at 323 kg. The valve gear was 2 valves per cylinder, operated by
rockers and pushrods from a single camshaft mounted inside the V between the 2 banks of cylinders.
Although this wasnt very suited to a performance car and the engineers wanted to change this in order to
improve performance, they were unable to do so; Chrysler did not want to fund the modification. Because
the engine was originally based on a V8, the cylinder banks were opposed at 90 to each other, rather than
the 72 that would have been preferable for even firing pulses. This was again down to cost. However, it did
help the engine to be shorter in height at 658 mm. Also, engineers used a formula 1 inspired external
coolant manifold alongside the engine block which saved a further 9 kg and 19 mmoff the height of the
engine, allowing it to clear the bonnet. This also allowed the engineers to tune the cooling for each
individual cylinder.
The engine was fed by 2 air intakes which faced the front of the car. These were mounted on intake runners
with 5 branches for each bank of cylinders. The fuel was fed by bottom-feed electronic fuel injectors, which
allowed the fuel rail to be cast as part of the intake manifold. The compression was set at only 9:1, partly
because of the lack of knock sensors on the fuel injection but it also allowed the driver to use most types of
unleaded fuel including regular 95% octane fuel.
The engine produced 298 kW of power at just 4600 rpm. Thanks to its low angular velocity, the engine is
able to produce a maximum of 612 Nm of torque at 3600 rpm. The torque band of the engine is quite wide,
with 544 Nm available from 1200 rpm.
Gearbox/Drive Train/Exhaust
The gearbox is a Borg-warner all synchromesh 6 speed manual. There was no automatic option, since it
would have cost more money, plus it wasnt deemed as appropriate for the marketing base of the car. In
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order to take advantage of the high torque, low speed engine and its wide power band, the engineers used
very high gear ratios: 2.66, 1.78, 1.30, 1, 0.74, 0.50 : 1 and a final drive ratio of 3.07:1. This gave a top speed
of 314 km/h. This sort of wide gearing better suits the American market, where the roads tend to be longer
and straighter. The differential was a limited slip hypoid type. To improve on fuel economy, under light
throttle load the gearbox is automatically shifted up from 1
st
to 4
th
gear.
The exhaust system as mentioned earlier was routed underneath the doors of the car due to limited space.
In order to save further space, the catalytic converters used were dual metal monolithic type, which were
40% smaller than conventional catalytic converters of the time. Since the exhaust could reach temperatures
of 538 C, a 3 mm layer of Nomex space board was sandwiched between the 2 aluminium skins surrounding
the exhaust system under the door to help avoid too much heat being dissipated into the passenger
compartment.
Wheels/Tyres
The wheels were 3 spoke cast aluminium, with the rims having a thin spun aluminium liner to seal the air in
the tyres. Both front and rear wheels were 17 (432mm) in diameter, the back tyres were a width of 335 mm
and the fronts were 275 mm. The reason the tyres were so wide is to increase the size of the contact patch
that the back tyres have with the road, increasing the amount of force they can transmit to the road, which
allows the car to accelerate quicker from standing and turn corners more quickly.
Steering/suspension
The front suspension comprises of unequal length upper and lower control arms; coil springs mounted over
pneumatic shock absorbers and an anti-roll bar. The reason this type of suspension is used is because it is
quite a compact system and also allows for a reasonable amount of freedom of movement and
independence of the wheels. The reason an anti-roll bar is used is that it allows the suspension to be
hardened laterally to reduce body roll in corners without affecting the longitudinal pitching of the car, which
can help a driver judge how hard they are accelerating and braking, as well as how much force has been
shifted onto either the front or rear wheels, which can help a good driver drive faster around a corner. The
rear suspension is similar to the front, with the addition of toe-links to allow for adjustment for the toe in or
out for the wheels.
The steering is hydraulically powered rack-and pinion. A rack and pinion system was used since it gives the
most direct feel of any steering system, with no play when the wheel is in the centre. Although the power
system adds weight to the car, engineers decided to add this in because of the fact that it made the job of
steering the relatively heavy sports car easier and quicker, without resorting to a large steering wheel, which
does not suit the feel of a sports car.
Brakes
The brakes were large, being 330 mm in diameter on both the front and back. The front brakes were slightly
thicker though at 32 mm compared to the backs 22 mm. Both sets were vented to allow for better heat
dissipation and were hydraulically assisted so that the driver could brake harder.
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Car 2 Citron C5 (2001- 2008)
Key Design Criteria
This is a car that was designed to be comfortable, easy to drive long distance executive/family type cruiser.
Unlike the dodge, this car had a large design budget and was available with a lot of options. Also the car was
fitted with a lot of driver aids, with much more of an emphasis on ease of driving rather than high
performance.
The car received a facelift in September 2004 but the key chassis components remained unchanged.
Body/Chassis
The body is not very remarkable by modern standards. Most of the panels are made by pressed steel which
is galvanised for corrosion protection. The front and rear bumpers are made from a synthetic material which
is strong and light to reduce weight outside the wheelbase but also to provide protection in a crash for both
occupants and pedestrians as well. There are also some plastic panels, such as the inner wheel arch liners, to
reduce the likelihood of corrosion in these areas.
Engine
The car was available with several different engine types; 1749 cc and 1997 cc indirect injection inline 4
cylinder petrol types as well as a 2 Litre direct injection petrol engine from 2001-2005; a 2946 cc V6 and 1.6,
1.8 and 2 litre diesels, all manufactured by the PSA group.
The 1.7 L (given as 1.8 on the car) petrol, designated EW7 J4, had a maximum power output of 86 kW. The 2
L had a maximum output of 100 kW. Both the 1.8 and 2 litre variants were available with 16 valves operated
by dual overhead camshafts. The 2 litre was also available for a time with direct fuel injection into the
cylinder; this increased power slightly but did not generate enough sales and was discontinued in 2005,
when it was replaced with VVT technology. Direct injection is when the fuel is injected directly into the
cylinder like a diesel engine rather than using intake valves. This allows the computer to choose the ideal
time to inject the fuel into the cylinder, rather than it being based on the valve timing. Although this
increases efficiency, it was not ideal since the valve timing was still fixed. This is why it was replaced with
Variable valve timing.
The 3 litre V6 ES9 models were 60
o
V6 with 24 valves, controlled by direct overhead cams on each cylinder.
In 2005 this engine was made available with VVT as well, which increased power slightly; from 152 to 155
kW. VVT stands for Variable valve timing and allows the computer to make adjustments to valve timing
either (as in this case) through adjusting the camshaft or in some cases doing away with the camshaft
altogether and opening the valves through electro or hydraulic actuators. The reason this is done is that
there is not a fixed valve timing that is ideally suited to all engine speeds; having the flexibility of variable
valve timing allows for the ideal timing of the valves depending on factors such as compression ratio and
engine speed, increasing power slightly and efficiency of the engine.

The 1.6 diesel engine was supplied to PSA by ford and feature a turbo with intercooler and 16 DOHC valves
as well as direct injection. The 2.0 and 2.2 litre engines were initially SOHC 8 valve but were upgraded to
DOHC 16 valve, both featuring common rail injection and variable geometry turbocharging. These upgrades
increased power of the 2 litre from 66 to 80 kW and 98 to 130 kW for the 2.2 litre. The reason for this
upgrade was the fact that a common rail diesel engine allows for better fuel efficiency and smoother and
quieter running than the previous systems of fuel injecting. The increase of valves allowed for better airflow
through the engine, which increased power. A variable geometry turbocharger works by varying the angle of
the tips of the blades on the input turbines, usually through hydraulics. This allows the turbo to be utilised
more effectively throughout the engine speed range, in turn reducing turbo lag which gives for a much
smoother and more predictable power delivery. This is generally only used in diesel engines, where the
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exhaust gases are at a lower temperature; usually the exhaust gases of petrol cars are too hot to be able to
utilise a VGT without resorting to expensive materials. Also VGTs facilitate the use of Exhaust Gas
Recirculation, where some exhaust gas with unburnt fuel is recirculated back into the engine to increase
efficiency. An intercooler is used firstly to increase the density of the air going back into the engine so more
fuel can be burned at a time and secondly it allows the compression ratio of the engine to be increased
without the engine getting too hot. All engines are made of aluminium to save weight.
Gearbox/Drivetrain
This car uses a front engine front wheel drive layout which is common for most cars of this type. The reason
for this is partly because of the way the engine is laid out transversely, but also because of the fact that the
on the limit handling characteristics of such a layout are more intuitive for the averagedriver, making an
accident less likely. Also the performance and road holding ability of a front wheel drive car on rough and
slippery surfaces such as mud or snow are superior to that of a rear wheel drive car.

The engine as mentioned is laid out transversely, with the output and gearbox mounted to the left of the
engine on all models. The reason this is done is because this is the simplest and most economical way of
laying out a front wheel drive car, both in terms of cost and physical size. Also it is an advantage when it
comes to the production stage; the engine, gearbox, driveshafts, suspension and possibly steering can be
assembled together on a line separate to the car body and simply lifted into position underneath the car
body and bolted into place at the appropriate time.

There are several gearbox models, each one with ratios to match the power and torque curves of the
engines theyre bolted to. Also the ML6C gearbox which was attached to the 2 and 2.2 litre diesel engines
were strengthened to handle the higher torque output of these engines. In order to save space, the final
drive differential is contained within the same cast aluminium housing as the gearbox itself. Since the
gearbox is mounted transversely, the forces experienced are different to those of a longitudinally mounted
rear wheel drive gearbox which negates the need for a layshaft; the input and output shafts lay side to side
of each other. The drive from the gearbox is then used to drive the crown wheel of the differential, which
works in much the same way as a rear wheel drive differential from thereon in.
There was also the option of an automatic gearbox. One type was used for the petrol models and the
original SOHC diesel engine. A 6 speed automatic was offered for the DOHC diesel. Both of these
transmissions were electronically controlled. This offers a number of advantages over hydraulic control, the
first being that gear changes can be made quicker. Also the gear change timing can be manipulated by the
computer at the drivers request. In this case, there is a sport mode which delays gear changes under high
throttle until the engine is at its peak power output, which increases performance as well as a winter
mode which starts the car off in either 2
nd
or 3
rd
gear to increase traction. The torque converter of this
transmission also features a lock-up which locks the output of the engine to the input of the gearbox in
high gear. This helps to make the system more fuel efficient. The gearbox also locks the transmission in park
unless the ignition is switched on and the brake pedal is depressed. This is partly for safety reasons but also
helps the security of the car; if the transmission cant be unlocked then the car cant be pushed away in
neutral.

Drive is transmitted to the wheels from the differential using splined driveshafts. These are of unequal
length to compensate for the fact that the differential is not in the centre of the car. From the driveshafts
come constant velocity (CV) joints to allow efficient power transfer to the wheels at any steering angle or
position of the suspension. These sorts of joints are far superior to the old style of joints, which used a
flexible material like rubber to allow for different steering angles. The rubber would tend to flex which
wasted energy and would perish after a while, requiring replacement.
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Steering/Suspension
Citron were the pioneers of hydropneumatic suspension, a variant of which is featured in the C5. The front
suspension is composed of a vertically mounted hydraulic strut, with a single lower suspension arm and an
anti-roll bar. This is mounted on the front sub-frame. As mentioned before, this layout enables the entire
front sub-frame assembly to be assembled outside of the car and bolted to the body ata particular stage in
the production. The rear suspension comprises of trailing arms and an anti-roll bar. For both front and rear
suspension, the conventional coil springs and dampers are substituted for by spheres containing hydraulic
oil. The oil pressure is supplied by an electric pump.

The chief advantage of hydropneumatic suspension is the degree of control introduced into the suspension.
The pressure to each hydraulic sphere can be controlled by a combination of the power supplied to the
electric pump as well as valves which control the amount of fluid flowing into each sphere. These are
controlled by a computer, which receives information from electronic height sensors in each corner of the
suspension system; the engine management computer which supplies information such as vehicle speed; a
steering angle sensor and also the setting of manually adjustable height and firmness controls within the
dashboard of the car. This allows for a high degree of control; the suspension is self-levelling which is great
from a practicality point of view but also has the added advantage of being very safe in the event of a tyre
blow-out.
Brakes
The Brakes are front and rear disc brakes, powered by dual hydraulic systems which are split diagonally so
that if one system fails, there is still braking on both the front and back. This is because of the unpredictable
(for an average driver) nature of a car with a rear or front bias on the brakes. Anti-lock brakes are also fitted.
This ABS system is also fitted with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD). The reason for these systems is
in order to prevent the wheels from locking up under braking, which would cause a skid. Anti-lock brakes
work by sensing whether the wheel is locking up and disengaging the brake if it is, then the brake is re-
engaged when the wheel is no longer slipping. EBD takes this process a step further. It uses sensors to gauge
how much grip each of the 4 wheels has and sends the most braking force to that wheel. Generally, when
the car is brought to a stop as soon as the driver hits the brakes, the force sent to each wheel is equal or
slightly biased to the rear. As the car brakes further and weight shifts towards the front, the braking force is
biased more towards the front, where there is more weight and therefore traction on the tyres.

The effect of these 2 systems is to help prevent one or both of 2 situations. The first situation is that the
front wheels have too much braking force applied, causing them to lock up. This would then render the
steering useless. The second situation is that the back wheels have too much braking force applied to them
and lock up. This time the effect would be that if the front of the car was applying a lateral force or a camber
in the road caused a lateral force to occur in the front wheels, the back tyres would not be able to apply any
counteracting force which would cause the car to spin out of control. Having these systems in place, then, is
an important safety feature for drivers who are not experienced with the effects of wheel slipping, especially
in situations where there isnt a lot of grip on the road.

Unlike previous Citron models of this type, the C5 was given separate hydraulic systems for suspension and
brakes. One reason for this is that previous Citrons with the combined hydraulic suspension and brakes
were much different to drive than other road cars because of this; instead of having a pedal where the
amount of braking force is linked to the amount of travel the pedal has gone through compared to being in
the off position, previous Citrons would have more of a button with little or no travel at all, where
braking force was determined by the amount of pressure placed on it. This is very counterintuitive compared
to what drivers are used to with most other cars. Therefore Citron decided that the car would have more of
a mass-market appeal if the brake pedal layout was more like a conventional car.