Four linkage?

[Kentetsu]

A properly designed watts linkage is an excellent piece of work. Unfortunately, when Mazda built there's it wasn't perfect. The geometry is not correct on it. But I have heard of people correcting that issue and retaining a properly functioning watts with great success. I'm sure Billy could tell you all about it.

The only problems I'm aware of concerning a panhard is a tendency to break (like ripping right off the frame rail), and when turning one way it will raise the roll center while turning the other direction lowers it.

[j_tso]

Originally Posted by Kentetsu

The only problems I'm aware of concerning a panhard is a tendency to break (like ripping right off the frame rail), and when turning one way it will raise the roll center while turning the other direction lowers it.

That also happens when the rear moves up and down.

A watt's is basically 2 panhards and a proper one will be positioned at the center of the axle. When a panhard is moved to the up and down, the axle moves in a large arc. A watt's corrects this by moving the axle to a between 2 small arcs, almost in a straight line. An animation at Wiki demonstrates this.

Mazda's problem is they wanted to to mount it ahead of the axle, so it's above and to the side. It worked on their RX-3 that beat the Skyline GT-R on the track, so it should work on the street, right? Right? Racing Beat didn't think so, and on their IMSA GTU car instead lowered the watt's center below the axle, still off to the side though.