The Integral Bushing Rear Suspension Architecture of the New Lincoln Corsair - Prototype Build and Testing

"The Lincoln Corsair is a compact premium crossover on Ford's global C (compact class) platform, replacing the Lincoln MKC. The prime focus of the research and development workstreams of the integral bushing rear suspension architecture for the new Lincoln Corsair was to significantly improve the performance in terms of impact harshness as well as noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) behavior compared to the predecessor model Lincoln MKC. The integral bushing rear suspension architecture development included benchmarking activities, definition of attributes and targets, suspension concept design as well as system evaluation and selection. The concept development work was conducted with special attention to key requirements implied by a compact premium crossover product like the Lincoln Corsair as well as design constraints introduced by the platform and the sister product Ford Kuga. This paper focuses on prototyping and testing aspects of the integral bushing rear suspension architecture. Various key architectural principles enabled the successful implementation in the new Lincoln Corsair. The integral bushing rear suspension architecture of the new Lincoln Corsair features various novel design elements indicating the innovative value of the new architecture. Both the springs as well as the shock absorbers are directly connected to the wheel carriers to optimize the motion ratios for maximized vehicle dynamics performance. At the same time cost and weight of the spring and damper system can be reduced. The novel lower control arm design is driven by compactness and simplicity to enable a robust and cost-efficient sheet metal construction. To optimize material utilization in the subframe design only a single longitudinal load path was implemented per side. The camber link is realized as a planar structure to minimize cost and weight. In contrast to the integral link rear suspension architecture the integral link is superseded by an advanced integral bushing integrated into the structure of the wheel carrier."