Adaptive suspension

Adaptive suspension

It allows engineer to monitor around 900 parameters of the vehicle relationship with road and gravity. For this there are four major technology

Active pneumo hydraulic

This system uses combination of pump and accumulators to move hydraulic fluid and compress nitrogen gas to the cars four corner as needed in millisecond to take over the function of both shock absorber and sway control. It’s very exotic and expensive. Used in Mc laren mp4 12C.

Active Electromagnetic

This system replaces all those pneumo hydraulic pluming and pumping with linear electromagnetic motor at each corner. Its response can be even faster. It actually derives from study of waves and electromagnetics.

Now adaptive or semi active. It is so called because all they do is react to what road and car is doing instead of bringing their own forces to that relationship.

Adaptive solenoid

A typical shock works by passing hydraulic fluid through series of small valves or orifices, which limit the fluid that can move back and forth. That limits the movement of shock and therefore up and down movement of car. Adaptive valve or solenoid tech gives you electronic control over those shock valves so the rate at which fluid moves around inside the shock can be changed.

Adaptive Magnetorheological

It’s the fastest growing adaptive suspension. This GM developed suspension uses special kind of shock fluid with particles suspended in it that react to electric current and makes the fluid more viscous. It affect the damping behaviour in several ways that can be changed very rapidly and with great range and just by varying the current you applied to fluid.