Advantages and Disadvantages
Although it is a popular choice, due to its simplicity and low manufacturing cost, the design has a few disadvantages in the quality of ride and the handling of the car. Geometric analysis shows it cannot allow vertical movement of the wheel without some degree of either camber angle change, sideways movement, or both. It is not generally considered to give as good handling as a double wishbone suspension, because it allows the engineers less freedom to choose camber change and roll center.
Another drawback is that it tends to transmit noise and vibration from the road directly into the body shell, giving higher noise levels and a "harsh" feeling to the ride compared with double wishbones, requiring manufacturers to add extra noise reduction or cancellation and isolation mechanisms.
Despite these drawbacks, the MacPherson strut setup is still used on high performance cars such as the Porsche 911, several Mercedes-Benz models and nearly all current BMWs (including the new Mini but excluding the 2007 X5, 2009 7-series, 2011 5-series and 5-series GT).
The Porsche 911 up until the 1989 model year (964) use MacPherson strut designs that do not have coil springs, using a torsion bar suspension instead.
Read more about this topic: MacPherson Strut
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