Photo courtesy HSW Shopper Based on where springs are located on a car-ie, between the wheels and the frame -engineers often find it convenient to talk about the sprung mass and the unsprung mass Springs: Sprung and Unsprung Mass of the vehicl loosely defined as the mass between the road and the suspension springs. The stiffness of the springs affects how the sprung mass responds while the car is being driven. Loosely sprung cars, such as luxury is prone to dive and squat during braking and acceleration and tends to experience body sway or rol cars(think Lincoln Town Can, can swallow bumps and provide a super-smooth ride; however, such a during cornering. Tightly sprung cars, such as sports cars(think Mazda Miata), are less forgiving on bumpy roads, but they minimize body motion well, which means they can be driven aggressively, even So, while springs by themselves seem like simple devices, designing and implementing them on a car to balance passenger comfort with handling is a complex task And to make matters more complex, springs alone can t provide a perfectly smooth ride. Why? Because springs are great at absorbing energy, but not so good at dissipating it. Other structures, known as dampers, are required to do this Historical Suspensions Sixteenth-century wagons and carriages tried to solve the problem of "feeling every bump in the road"by slinging the carriage body from leather straps attached to four posts of a chassis that looked like an upturned table Because the carriage body was suspended from the chassis the system came to be known as a"suspension"-a term still used today to describe the entire class of solutions. The slung-body suspension was not a true springing system, but it did enable the body and the wheels of the carriage to move independently Semi-elliptical spring designs, also known as cart springs, quickly replaced he leather-strap suspension. Popular on wagons, buggies and carriages he semi-elliptical springs were often used on both the front and rear axles They did, however, tend to allow forward and backward sway and had a By the time powered vehicles hit the road, other, more efficient springing systems were being developed to smooth out rides for passengers Dampers: Shock Absorbers Unless a dampening structure is present, a car spring will extend and release the energy it absorbs fromPhoto courtesy HSW Shopper Air springs Based on where springs are located on a car -- i.e., between the wheels and the frame -- engineers often find it convenient to talk about the sprung mass and the unsprung mass. Springs: Sprung and Unsprung Mass The sprung mass is the mass of the vehicle supported on the springs, while the unsprung mass is loosely defined as the mass between the road and the suspension springs. The stiffness of the springs affects how the sprung mass responds while the car is being driven. Loosely sprung cars, such as luxury cars (think Lincoln Town Car), can swallow bumps and provide a super-smooth ride; however, such a car is prone to dive and squat during braking and acceleration and tends to experience body sway or roll during cornering. Tightly sprung cars, such as sports cars (think Mazda Miata), are less forgiving on bumpy roads, but they minimize body motion well, which means they can be driven aggressively, even around corners. So, while springs by themselves seem like simple devices, designing and implementing them on a car to balance passenger comfort with handling is a complex task. And to make matters more complex, springs alone can't provide a perfectly smooth ride. Why? Because springs are great at absorbing energy, but not so good at dissipating it. Other structures, known as dampers, are required to do this. Historical Suspensions Sixteenth-century wagons and carriages tried to solve the problem of "feeling every bump in the road" by slinging the carriage body from leather straps attached to four posts of a chassis that looked like an upturned table. Because the carriage body was suspended from the chassis, the system came to be known as a "suspension" -- a term still used today to describe the entire class of solutions. The slung-body suspension was not a true springing system, but it did enable the body and the wheels of the carriage to move independently. Semi-elliptical spring designs, also known as cart springs, quickly replaced the leather-strap suspension. Popular on wagons, buggies and carriages, the semi-elliptical springs were often used on both the front and rear axles. They did, however, tend to allow forward and backward sway and had a high center of gravity. By the time powered vehicles hit the road, other, more efficient springing systems were being developed to smooth out rides for passengers. Dampers: Shock Absorbers Unless a dampening structure is present, a car spring will extend and release the energy it absorbs from