Out of print sports car update programThe next item is the "Mass Production Shape Suspension Kit" for NA.The concept is, of course, more than mass production and less than tuning.If I dare to mention one feature, I do not know that it is based on the suspension for NB.
As roadster freaks may know, the suspension assembly for NB (upper mount to damper assembled) is physically compatible, so it can be mounted on the NA as it is.
However, when comparing the weights of both cars, there is a difference of about 70 kg between the lightest models, so the springs and dampers need to be specially designed.There may be an opinion that if you bother to develop a new product, you should design it for NA !? But for NB, the components near the upper mount have evolved, and from the development point of view, it is easy to set for NB. Is adopted as a whole.

Then, I immediately arranged the suspensions (springless) for NB / NA.From the left, you can see the difference between "upper mount", "bump stopper", and "damper" at a glance.
So, this time, with the theme of "Why was it based on NB?" In addition to the development progress of the new suspension kit, I would like everyone to first see the difference in the upper mount.

① Upper mount for NB
Since the "input separation type" is adopted, the input of the spring and the damper are handled in different places.The spring side with a large input is attached to the body via a rubber sheet, and the damper is attached to the body via a rubber bush like a dumpling.
The advantage of this is that it is fastened to the body via each dedicated rubber, so the inputs from the spring and damper work properly without interfering with each other.

② NA upper mount
Since it uses an "integrated structure", the input of the spring and damper can be received by the same rubber.As a result, the rubber volume becomes large and the input transmission is a little complicated.Also, the damper starts to stroke and move after the rubber is deformed and crushed ... It is one tempo behind compared to NB.

I think you could imagine that the structure of the upper mount changes the way the input from the road surface is received and the way the suspension moves.For example, even if a damper with the same damping characteristics is combined with each upper mount, the difference in the degree of deformation and speed of the rubber affects the initial working area of ​​the damper, and as a result, the rise of damping force changes. ..
By the way, it seems that the evolution of such details was partly due to the fact that NA was a big hit and it was easy to secure the development budget for the next model, NB.Next time, I will delve into the reasons for using the bump stopper for NB.Please look forward to it.

Posted by A.Asanuma