BODY CONTROL

The stability of the vehicle body during various driving conditions is characterized by pitch, yaw, and roll — three dynamic states that arise during acceleration, braking, and cornering. These are responses to inertia, which causes the vehicle to rotate around its center of gravity.

Minimizing these effects improves handling and ride comfort.

The best way to control all three factors is to reduce the mass of the car and distribute it evenly as close to the center of the car and as low as possible to the ground, which reduces the polar moment of inertia.

The weight of the car depends on the class and its size. Automakers are making serious efforts to reduce it – they use light alloys and plastics in the manufacture of body parts, light alloys for the manufacture of powertrains and transmission and chassis parts.

The weight distribution depends on the vehicle's layout – the location of the powertrain and transmission, passengers, and payload.

Sports cars designed to provide driving pleasure on ideal roads have a low center of gravity and an ideal 50/50 weight distribution. The rolls and pitch angles of such cars are minimal.

Cars designed to transport goods and a large number of passengers on different roads have a higher center of gravity and a less balanced weight distribution due to a heavier transmission and a more massive body. The rolls and pitch angles in different driving conditions of such cars leave much to be desired.