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I dont know if its already out there in a common form, but it seems that a lot of mountain bikes have very fancy adjustable shock absorbers.
Why can you get the same on cars which are electronically adjusted and adaptive to the road conditions.
MTB suspension forms adjust the rates of compression
and rebound by simply turning a thumb screw or lever - why not make a servo do the same on a car shock?
the car can then tune the shocks to the type of conditions - soft and spongy for highway, hard for cornering - soft for bumpy roads etc etc.
the car could even detect large bumps in front of it and immediately soften the suspension for just that bump and then go back to normal afterwards.
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Addition:
Hi guys, thanks for the replies. Just to clarify, i'm talking about adjustable shock absorbing, not adjustable suspension height.
I have a Range Rover which adjusts its height setting depending on speed or what i tell it to lift to.
What i would like to add is adjustable damping to the setup so i can in addition to setting the height adjust how hard the suspension is controlled.
cheers,
Fisha
Predictive Suspension
http://www.halfbake...ictive_20suspension
[Laughs Last, Oct 04 2004]
"GM's Magnetic Ride Control - The World's Fastest Reacting Suspension"
http://corvetteacti...ecs/2003/msrc2.html
"Magnetic Selective Ride Control will debut in 2003 as standard equipment in the 50th anniversary Chevrolet Corvette." [half, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
[link]
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Mercedes and Land rover have this option |
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As does Ferrari. Lamborghini uses a mechanical system to dynamically adjust the suspension. Audi makes something called Adaptive Air Suspension, which also adjusts the ground clearance based on speed. |
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Jaguar have their CATS system:
"CATS (Computer Active Technology Suspension) is the... acronym for a suspension technology that constantly monitors damping rates, then tweaks individual shocks for optimum behavior with respect to road conditions. " (from a Jaguar XKR review) |
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Citroen, too. There are good links that describe the technology, but all I can find (in English) are adverts for suspension components. |
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Meredes have damping systems that not only provide variable levels of firmness, but also actively lift each wheel over the the larger bumps. |
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a cheap version of Jaguar's system could use air shocks with computer controlled valves. When braking the cpu closes the front shock valves preventing the nose of the car from diving and increasing the braking performance of the rear tires. Likewise when cornering at high speeds (on ramp) the outside 2 valves would be closed to prevent body roll, a big problem on SUV's Problems: suspension is harsh while braking & cornering |
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Bristol also had (still has?) adjustable
shocks using a small lever in the
driver's footwell. |
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I believe Citroen's concept was ride
height or spring firmness, not shock
control. |
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