Active Suspension

[dpr59]

Nice video on active suspension.
Quite a good model to use as a demonstration platform too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxzrQCnCaNA&feature=related

Sorry if it's a repost, I'd not seen it before.

[WayneB]

Enjoyed that, thanks for bunging it up.:)

Wonder who was driving the White Excell?:huh:

Hairy looking stuff!:ohmy:

Does the red Excell survive (like the active Giugiaro Turbo Esprit)?

[GregWO]

Thanks! That was a pretty cool vid. I wonder what happened to the adaptive noise control bit?

[USAndretti42]

When I worked at Gaydon, some of the chassis people went across to Lotus to drive one of the active-suspension cars. They said it was quite amazing to drive but suffered from very bad NVH partly because there was no rubber in the mounts but mainly because of the forces involved in accelerating and decelerating the suspension parts.

There's an article on the active suspension Esprit on Lotus Esprit World.

[WayneB]

Nissan had a production version of Active Suspension on the Infinity Q45 in 1991 called FAS (Full Active Suspension), but I think it still used springs (very low rate). I think the car was a low seller in North America due to its bland (Crown Vic) styling and its high price compared to its competition.

That was a luxuary car so the harshness Trev mentioned can be removed with the right setup.

Toyota had some Celicas with a similar setup too (Japanese market only)

I have never driven a car with that kind of suspension setup, has anyone on here?

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/autoreview/400x266/1990-96-Infiniti-Q45-91804021990211.jpg

http://images.cars.com/main/DMI/150633/M2353A.jpg