I have read some that say the Multi-Link Beam isn't so bad and others that criticize it, and I'm not sure who to believe. Some objective questions that might help:

1. Do you notice a difference between the Maxima and an IRS car in daily driving?

2. How is the ride quality different? I ask this because I have seen in a few places that it is actually improved.

3. Do you really notice it unless you are driving very hard?

Thanks!

 

1. Not really, the car has too much roll, but thats more the spring rates I think. On rough pavement it can bump steer (a big bump can cause the rear to jump out just a little.) It's nothing uncontrollable though. I think some people around here b!tch just to hear themselves talk.

2. Nissan engineers claim that they can tune a beam axle to track better that IRS on smooth pavement. The reality is that it would cost them $250 per vehicle to install IRS (at least that was the cost for the new Altima, I think Motor Trend printed that). Take $250 x 200,000 cars and to a company in financial trouble starts to look good. The problem with that is that pavement is rarely smooth. So again it can feel a little worse over rough pavement, but all in all it's just fine for 99% of all buyers.

3. NOPE.

 

I disagree with Swallac2,

In the 96 accord, which weighs as much as a Maxima, I've noticed that even in daily driving and in hard manuevers, the car feels very planted and stable, and doesn't roll from side to side on the turns. The ride quality is very smooth too, but that might be because of the smallish wheels (I think those are 14")

In the Maxima, when it was stock the car felt like a boat on turns. FSTB helped eliminate some of the rolly feeling on turns, but not much. The RSB helped the most, as the boat/rolly feeling is gone entirely. With those to mods, the car feels as planted and stable as the Accord, maybe even more so.

However, my ride quality is a little rougher on the Maxima. I attribute it to the 17" wheels, because when I had 15" the ride was a lot smoother.

The Accord was mad slow though...only an LX model. And no, I'm not reminiscing about times long gone with the Accord...I drove it out to Owego and back last night, and I drove my Maxima this morning.

 

Wasim, i hate to disagree with you but i'm with Swallac2 on this one. When you say the Accord doesn't sway from side to side on turns that's not really an effect of a beam or IRS, if anything it's a strut/shock/spring effect. As far as turning like a boat, that's only because the Maxima is a much larger car - wheelbase and all. Having larger wheels and a small turning diameter doesn't help either.

IRS set-ups are best in imperfect roads but unless you really push it the difference really isn't that pronounced. In a straight line/highway a Beam suspension has it's advantages especially once you push it hard (e.g. track). The downside to the beam is that it doesn't handle bumps too good.

However, we have a Multi-Link Beam suspension. It's not revolutionary nor as good as an IRS it does pretty well in absorbing those bumps and minimizing the travel and resonance throughout the vehicle. Definitely not your mini-van suspension of yore.

 

There definately is a difference in ride quality especially with lowering springs. IRS setups are much smoother over the bumps. The beam has a lot of unsprung weight therefore you get more ride harshness.


Dave

 

It only cost 250 per vehicle to install IRS??? Sign me up now! My '94 Taurus SHO handled bumps but than my 2k3 Max. The backend is not stable at all.

 

My suspension is great

 

My bad, I didn't think about the strut/shock/springs.

 

lower it

 

Ya, thats was in a Motor Trend review of the Altima so I would assume the number would be close for the Max. They were saying how the American engineers wanted the IRS for the Altima. The Japanese engineers insisted on the beam. Well, we all know who won that arguement.

 

isnt the beam lighter than IRS?

 

This is my 3rd Maxima and all of them had Rear-beam and I hate it. Unless you drive on nice and flat roads, Max will pitch side to side when you go over bumps.

I drove my friend's TL-S and that car handles 100% better than the Max.
Now I installed H&Rs on my car and it made the car more stable, but still, that boat feeling is there. I know good struts might help with that, but I also think that Rear-beam makes that pitching side to side motion.

Reason being for it, because the front is independent in the Max and when the car goes over the bump and then reaches rear wheels, because of the rear solid beam it will affect both wheels even though only one wheel hit the bump. So you get that side to side motion. Which I hate so much.

Many people will say they like Rear beam, I know I don't. If it was so good you would see it on other cars.
But as I see it, Nissan just cheaped out for good IRS setup for Maxima, as it did with many other things.

 

I'm with Dany...

Previous car: 2001 Accord V6 with IRS. Over the bumpy/twisty/high-speed parts of the DC Beltway, my Accord remained firmly planted to the pavement at all times. I could talk on my mobile with one hand losely on the steering wheel and not even think twice.

Current car: 1999 Maxima SE with beam. It will handle just as good if not better than a comparably tuned Accord over the smooth stuff, but over the bumps it's all wobbly and definitely a handful. No talking on the mobile over this now. At least one hand FIRMLY on the wheel at all times, if not both.

My Accord over twisty/bumpy roads =
My Maxima over twisty/bumpy roads = (esp at higher speeds)

In a perfect world where all roads are perfectly flat and smooth, a beam would be fine. But guess what....

 

What do you mean the DC beltway isn't smooth. It's like glass, broken glass, but glass .

 

I've driven both non-Nissan IRS and the Nissan Beam suspension (I have a B15 SR20DE and a 2K3 VQ35DE). Here are my two cents:

1. The beam suspension allows more g's because it is more rigid in keeping the rear set of wheels more perpendicular to the road when carving turns.

2. This rigidity however translates into bumps transmitting from one side to another making the car wobble from side to side in mid-corner bumps. This is especially noticeable if you hit an expansion joint in mid-corner.

Think of it as if the beam doesn't move (i.e. always perpendicular to the road) but the cabin of the car rolls due to the g's. That's why it feels like a boat. It just keeps rolling back and forth sideways over the beam. In IRS cars, the suspension independently absorbs the bumps and therefore, a bump on one side will not affect the other side's compression behavious.

So in conclusion, the beam can pull more g's but less refined.

As for the costs, I think the design and material are also more costly in the Altima suspension.