slngsht
09-04-2006, 08:29 PM
What are they?
I can think of one: aerodynamics - although in a Seven, that's like having a supersized meal with a diet coke. It's really not a factor.
The Rotus came with an inboard front suspension, which is a pretty nifty feature considering it was designed in the late 70s. The design does not use pushrods or pullrods... the upper a-arm does double duty as the lever arm for the spring.
Looking at this design, or any other inboard design (I like the pushrod design better since the upper a-arm doesn't have to be massive), I think the advantages are minimal, unless you go with some super small shock / spring combo which may result in weight savings.
The other advantage of the rotus design is having a rising rate built into the geometry. Again, with a stiffly sprung car, I'm not sure how much of an advantage this is in real life.
I can see one big advantage to outboard spring/shock... it's easy to get to for adjustment.
Thoughts?
<font size="1">DISCLAIMER: I typed this up without doing proper research. Educate me. </font>
I can think of one: aerodynamics - although in a Seven, that's like having a supersized meal with a diet coke. It's really not a factor.
The Rotus came with an inboard front suspension, which is a pretty nifty feature considering it was designed in the late 70s. The design does not use pushrods or pullrods... the upper a-arm does double duty as the lever arm for the spring.
Looking at this design, or any other inboard design (I like the pushrod design better since the upper a-arm doesn't have to be massive), I think the advantages are minimal, unless you go with some super small shock / spring combo which may result in weight savings.
The other advantage of the rotus design is having a rising rate built into the geometry. Again, with a stiffly sprung car, I'm not sure how much of an advantage this is in real life.
I can see one big advantage to outboard spring/shock... it's easy to get to for adjustment.
Thoughts?
<font size="1">DISCLAIMER: I typed this up without doing proper research. Educate me. </font>