A Study of Robustness in Handling Performance for Light Weight Vehicle

The behavior and the steering stability of a light weight vehicle are more affected by the weight variation depending on the number of passengers and the loadage compared with that of a regular passenger car. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the change of the handling characteristics of a light weight vehicle due to the weight variation. The handling characteristic of the light weight vehicle was evaluated by using a four-wheel vehicle model with the rolling motion. The behavior of the vehicle was evaluated with different value of the roll stiffness distribution, the roll center height and the height of the center of gravity. The robustness in handling performance against the weight variation was investigated by steady circular turning simulation.