Affect of the Self-Steering Behavior

Affect of the Self-Steering Behavior
The self-steering behavior can be decisively influenced by the distribution of the stabilizing torque on the axles. The greater the stabilizing torque on an axle, the lower the lateral forces transmitted on this axle.
Two cases are described below with different distribution of stabilizing torque on the axles:

1. Identical stabilizing torque on both aides
Handling is NEUTRAL.
The front wheels can apply about the same amount of lateral force on the road as the rear wheels without drive torque. The handling conditions are neutral.
A vehicle which is tuned to neutral handling conditions provides very agile handling, the steering reacts very quickly. The driver experiences precise handling.
Even an inexperienced driver can control a vehicle which is tuned to neutral handling very well at low speeds.

2. Larger stabilizing torque on the front aide
Handling is UNDERSTEERING.
The front axle wheels cannot apply the same amount of lateral force on the road as the rear axle wheels. The vehicle suffers understeer.
A larger steering wheel angle is required to be able to follow the desired course.
A vehicle with understeer can generally also be controlled well by an inexperienced driver at higher speeds and higher cornering speeds.
This very sensitive handling reduces the vehicles agility.
Dynamic Drive sets the stabilizing torque on the front and rear axles such that a different handling characteristic is produced for low and high speeds.
The passive vehicle is configured as slightly understeering irrespective of the speed range. Dynamic Drive is neutral in the low speed range. The driver has to steer less in order to negotiate the same bend. This results in optimum handling and agility.
In the upper speed range, both vehicles behave almost identically with regard to the required steering angle on the same bend.
The hydromechanical concept is designed so that a larger active stabilizing torque cannot occur on the rear axle than on the front axle under any circumstances. This means that mechanically and hydraulically the vehicle with Dynamic Drive is safeguarded such that no oversteering and therefore for normal customers no critical handling characteristics can occur under any circumstances.

Comparison Between the Conventional Stabilizer Bar and the Active Stabilizer Bar





Active stabilizer bars introduce fewer comfort reducing forces into the body than passive stabilizer bars. In this case a differentiation must be made depending on the frequency with which the forces were introduced.