CD4 Chassis School

Wow, we got a big old curve ball last night via the Ford Falcon forums and our very own Falc'man. Seems the information we were looking for didn't exist yet, or at least we didn't have the missing piece of info... Prior reports strongly suggested Control Blade was going to be used, it seems Ford has developed a new "Integral Link" IRS to replace the CBIRS. Now, since this is a global IRS system that can be used in in everything from a 2 seat sports car to a full size luxury sedan/SUV. It can support FWD, RWD, AWD/4WD. Can use coilovers, air shocks and trailing arms... highly flexible.

Now, I know some were in belief that the S550 was really an evolution of the S197 but, I highly doubt that is correct. The S550 is either the new CD4.3 or a CD4.4. The CD4.2 is based loosely on the 2011 Mondeo (UK platform), existing CD4 parts are shown in green in the second diagram. Directly below is the global CD4 platform production as of 2013. Now remember, this is CD4.2 (I think that's what they call it). The original CD4 was in the '11-'`12 Mondeo. Please note the covered cars to the right in UK. Also notice the platforms production was moved from Sweden/Germany to Dearborn.



The Blue is new, the green is borrowed...



BEFORE WE LOSE ANYONE: Here is the recent discovery made by Falc'man on the new IRS system.





Look familiar????





BACK....



...and to the left...



...back...



...and to the left...

Now, the chassis and suspension conspiracies should be all but discredited. Overboost was correct. Lets start tearing the Fusion's CD4.2 platform down and see how good it really is. Remember, the automatic equipped 2.5 liter '13 Fusion weighs 3425lbs, it has a Camaro wheelbase of 112 inches (107 on the current S197) and about the same track. The Fusion is a 4 door, auto, non-turbo and a complete class larger than the Mustang. Where would a manual, Ecoboost 2.0/2.3 on a 2-door chassis stand? The Getrag (if used) is 109lbs wet, the auto was around 208-240lbs wet. The Ecoboost systems are not light but not heavy, 40-60lbs is my guess plus the weight from DI which was 18lbs in the Corvette I think. That puts an Ecoboost Mustang in the right between 3300-3400lbs just swapping the turbo for the manual. Now, we can figure in the weight lost in size reduction from the Fusion's chassis, NOT the S197. Could it be 50lbs? 100lbs?, 200lbs? I don't know... I do know the Mustang's high performance handling components will offset the size reduction.

Excellent information Pill. It never even occurred to me that Ford would use an ILIRS. CBIRS always looked promising but this may have even more potential for keeping weight down as well as over all performance.

Wow that is it! I'm just curious, how is this system going to handle high power and wheel hop? Is it going to be more or less problematic than the cobras? My 01 at stock power levels wheel hops in straight line acceleration if the tires slip. Do you think it will be a problem at 2015 stock power levels?

More here


Norm

Ok and the burning question that needs to be answered is how they are going to use a FWD transverse engine architecture for a RWD inline engine application.

I don't doubt the marvels of engineering can make it happen BUT the question is whether they can do it without a ton of costs and weight (and maintaining proper weight balance) and a lot of wasted excess parts/components defeating the whole purpose of sharing in the first place. In order for the CD4 platform to be able to accomodate Mustang application it has to be able to support all that power and endure the rigorous testing standards of a potentially 600+hp car without tipping over or falling apart.

Do we have a good answer for this?

Dub347sbf said:

Wow that is it! I'm just curious, how is this system going to handle high power and wheel hop? Is it going to be more or less problematic than the cobras? My 01 at stock power levels wheel hops in straight line acceleration if the tires slip. Do you think it will be a problem at 2015 stock power levels?

Click to expand...

The SN95 IRS is a Multi-Link that uses a Trailing Arm to assist with brake dive and anti-squat. The Integral Link (separate from the Toe and Camber links), controls wheel hop under hard acceleration. It also reduces shutter under hard loads while cornering (losing the rear, not to be confused with snap oversteer). This new IRS has little in common with any other Ford suspensions in the past. It is basically a BMW Multi-Link suspension.

Here is the 5 series ILIRS, the I Link is pink. Sub-frame with no semi-trailing arm.



Here is the 3 series... No I Link, uses Semi-Trailing Arms/sub-frame instead. More in common with the SN95's IRS and the Nissan GTR.

MYs197 said:

Ok and the burning question that needs to be answered is how they are going to use a FWD transverse engine architecture for a RWD inline engine application.

I don't doubt the marvels of engineering can make it happen BUT the question is whether they can do it without a ton of costs and weight (and maintaining proper weight balance) and a lot of wasted excess parts/components defeating the whole purpose of sharing in the first place. In order for the CD4 platform to be able to accomodate Mustang application it has to be able to support all that power and endure the rigorous testing standards of a potentially 600+hp car without tipping over or falling apart.

Do we have a good answer for this?

Click to expand...

This is the big question for me as well.

Furthermore, assuming this all ends up being part of the big secret that is the S550, should we no longer be expecting the rumored larger than normal price increase over the current car?

thePill said:

The SN95 IRS is a Multi-Link that uses a Trailing Arm to assist with brake dive and anti-squat. The Integral Link (separate from the Toe and Camber links), controls wheel hop under hard acceleration. It also reduces shutter under hard loads while cornering (losing the rear, not to be confused with snap oversteer). This new IRS has little in common with any other Ford suspensions in the past. It is basically a BMW Multi-Link suspension.

Here is the 5 series ILIRS, the I Link is pink. Sub-frame with no semi-trailing arm.

Here is the 3 series... No I Link, uses Semi-Trailing Arms/sub-frame instead. More in common with the SN95's IRS and the Nissan GTR.

Click to expand...

Cool thanks man, looks like the new setup should be lighter too. Good stuff.

Back to the CD4 chassis, I will try not to mix the suspension discussion in with the Chassis.

As you can see, the Fusion doesn't use much Boron and no Aluminum. Most of the weight savings was from the use of Hydro-formed panels.




You can see weight savings was also achieved by reducing the thickness of the panels... From .75 to .65.



In the future, if not being applied already to the S550, more Boron can be used as well as Aluminum where the mild steel is being used. The Fiesta used 50% Boron in the safety structure and lost 88lbs, the fusion uses about 8%.

Above is what I always call the safety structure or shell. This is what I consider the chassis. We can break the chassis down even further by section.

The Engine Bay/Cradle:

Some manufactures use Aluminum (like BMW/Merc) and glue the cradle onto the firewall. This design is usually done by computer... The Fusion uses a combination of mild to high strength steel... Still room for a lot of improvement.



The A-Pillar:

New A-Pillar design now stretches all the way back to the C-pillar and joins all 3 pillars together in what is called the "roof rail" (similar to the rocker). This makes modular side replacement parts easy... Just roll back the roof flanges and take the entire side off (after drilling spot welds).

The mighty B-Pillar:

We have actually discussed the Fusions B-Pillar before. It uses heavy Boron... The use of Boron saved 8.8lbs per side, the use of Hydro formed Boron B-Pillar reduced weight again by 13.2lbs per side. That's 22lbs per side, 44 total in both B-pillars...

Mr. Pill, you are scaring me. Will there be a test later?

The C-Pillar:

This part is naturally strong up top however, at the wheel well, it use to be weak... Until now. Ford has implemented what they call the "Lion's Foot" Huge gains were made. A 25% increase in in chassis stiffness and a 10% increase in suspension (ILIRS) stiffness. This prevents the changes in suspension geometery while under heavy cornering PLUS, the new ILIRS helps keeps the tire flat on the ground (or at least where Ford engineered it to be).



The Mustang will not have a D-Pillar, the Fusion could technically say it has an A, B, C and D pillar based on the rear quarter window having two different pillars.

JohnZiraldo said:

Mr. Pill, you are scaring me. Will there be a test later?

Click to expand...

:lol:

It is fun to watch. This is really informative though, for real. Good stuff Pill.

I'm really curious how this is going to be implemented for the S550.

JohnZiraldo said:

Mr. Pill, you are scaring me. Will there be a test later?

Click to expand...

No sir, no test...

This is purely informational...

If there was a test, these next few topics would be on it...

Hydro-Forming, Laser Welding and the German Glue...

What is Hydro-Forming? Well, it has nothing to do with Hydroponics so don't get excited like I did. Hydro-Forming is a process that uses high water pressure to form the panels instead of heating and beating the metal into shape. When you heat metal, it gets weak and requires more metal to retain its strength.



Easy enough, cold water pressed instead of heated and beated...

Laser Welding:

YIPPIE!!! As soon as I get certified on MIG and TIG, this happens... and is computer controlled. NOBODY wants thePill to operate a laser beam in the work area... Same principle here, less heat, more strength and very nice welds.






The German Glue:

As pissed as I may be about Laser Welding, German Glue is quickly becoming the perfered way to weld metal together. Why???? Well, when you need to put a piece of Aluminium onto a piece of Steel, it cause Galvanic corrosion INSTANTLY. Aluminum and Steel HATE each other and will corrode themselves when they come in contact. Again, glue doesn't heat up the metal and I can tell you from experience, it is just as strong if not stronger than a conventional weld. Plus, Aluminum sucks to weld, even though it can be done... It just sucks to do... It's harder to read like steel, Steel discolors while Aluminum stays the same color.

Ford used 21m of glue to increase chassis stiffness and reduce NVH.