Ford GT using torsion bars

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Kazmainiandevil

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Just reading Motortrend online and I see the new Ford GT ditched the coil overs and went to a racing style torsion bar/pushrod system. I know there is a lot of debate on here about torsion bars and coil overs, curious what people think about it. I find it interesting Ford builds their super car with this system. According to Ford the subrames are aluminum and encapsulated in carbon fiber. How times are advancing. Here is the link to the article. http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/1501_ford_gt_in_detroit_is_very_real_with_600_plus_hp/
 
HA! :D

There's nothing wrong with torsion bar suspension systems. Just like there's nothing particularly special or magic about coilovers, they're just integrated springs and shocks.

All suspension design is a trade off, just the way it is. All designs have their advantages and disadvantages. Apparantly Ford liked the ride-height adjustability of torsion bars, seeing as how they must have bothered to tell the author of the article that. Of course, besides that particular similarity, and the fact that they both technically use torsion bars, I'm sure there's really almost nothing comparable between our Mopar torsion bars and the Ford GT's.
 
it was on news last night. they were saying 600 hp and had no idea what it would cost!!!! ???? sell off my slant darts and buy two of them!!???? LOL

back in the day, NASCAR, actual stock cars,, and t bars were said to be quickly and easily changed for quite the ticket.
 
The main reason people swap out torsion bars for coilovers is to create clearance for headers. It makes no sense for handling purposes. A spring is a spring. They are just packaged differently. Of course, one other advantage of the Mopar torsion bar is that it transfers the load into the unibody at the floor near the firewall, which is much stronger than at the inner fender, where the shock is anchored. That's another reason they are used in race cars.
 
Yeah and it sounds like Ford used a pushrod system to locate the torsion bars somewhere they wouldn't be in the way. More complicated, but it definitely lets you tailor the geometry even more to your advantage.
 
A spring is a spring, weather it be a coil, leaf, or torsion bar...
 
Interesting fact: The first generation Dakata was designed by Ford, then they decided not to build it. Then sold the plans to Chrysler. It had torsion bars....


This isn't the first Ford design with torsion bars...
 
in 88 all gm trucks with 4 wheel drive went to t bars also they work well, and many kenworth tractors used them on the rear suspension as well , what was old is new again.
 
Torsion bar suspensions are much easier to adjust ride height without effecting spring rate than coil springs. But so are suspension with coil springs a chatted with push-rods. So they don't really need both to have adjustable ride height.
 
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