It's official - Saab on a deroute.....

McPherson struts are mainly used to save space with transverse engine layout. Double wishbone is the classical sports car design and has superior geometry when cornering in tight bends. However, for an ordinary daily driving it is probably hard to tell the difference. I once had a FIAT 132 (double wishbone) and drove it very hard; it felt like I could place the car exactly where I wanted. I drive my Saab 9000 CSE (McPherson) more sedately, but it feels very stable, hence easy and relaxing to drive.

Someone ought to tell that to Porsche, since their 911 -which most seem to claim handles alright- uses McPherson struts.

The fact is, even a multilink (and doublke wishbone) set up can be made to be garbage. And all set-ups can result in very well handling cars when good engineering is applied. It's myopic to just take a look at the very fundamental approach and immediately assume it works better because of that.

...pablo

The early 911s were indeed a steaming pile of poo - but that was largely due to the ludicrous engine location (behind the rear axle). It took a *hell of a lot* of engineering to make it a decent car.

Absolutely - no one is saying that you can't have crappy double wishbone setups. But there is no doubt whatsoever that double wishbones are a far more elegant design than McP struts. The latter are chosen purely for cost purposes.

The higher unsprung weight you get with McP struts, combined with the awful camber change characteristics makes them a compromise - they can't be anything more than that.

While it isn't valid to directly compare track cars with road cars, it's worth bearing in mind that virtually all classes of racing cars (where cost is of much less importance) use double wishbones, not McP struts. This is down to their superior performance and lower weight (and also that they're easier to tune).

Defending McP struts on the basis that it's what most road cars use is like saying that three point seat belts are superior to five point harnesses.

That is not my point, however. My point is that they can be made to work pretty darn well -as the Porsche example indicates. They don't have to compromise the driving characteristics of a road-going car. And just opting for a solution that in theory is more legant does not mean that it's going to work any better in the real world. Fact is engineering is full of compromises, be it for the new or old Saab designs.

And if its track use you're talking about, I doubt the older 900s can hold a candle to a new generation based Viggen, struts or not. But I doubt any of us is going to use track times as an argument for what we'd buy to drive every day.

...pablo

I have a crate of beer which says they can. Care to set a date? (as long as my gearbox doesn't explode)

Hey, depending on the beer you migth be creating an unfair incentive to lose here. :-) But seriosuly, it depends on the mods cars have been put through. I think in stock condition, the fact the 900 was build in a time when skinnier tires ruled the earth might create too big a disadvantage to start with.

I have tried to find some track times, but I can only find them for 9-3s, not for the 900s.

...pablo