These high-performance shock absorbers are designed to offer better comfort and body control.
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Benjamin Hunting |Oct 30, |
3 min read
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Chevrolet
When browsing the tech specs of a new vehicle, you might have come across the term adaptive dampers. Typically, this feature commands a premium price. You'll find adaptive dampers mainly on high-performance or luxury automobiles. Here's a look at how this suspension component works and the benefits it brings to driving pleasure.
Dampers is another term for shock absorbers, a key component in any vehicle's suspension setup. As the name suggests, this part "dampens" the motion of a car as it moves down the road.
When everything works like it should, this prevents your car from bouncing uncontrollably on its springs when it encounters bumps or potholes by absorbing the energy of that movement. Dampers perform a similar function when cornering or accelerating, helping a vehicle's tires maintain contact with the road below.
Dampers rely on the movement of hydraulic fluid through the shock body to achieve these levels of control. Using a series of valves, the fluid restrains the action of a piston directly linked to the chassis, absorbing the energy of its motion.
BMW
Standard shock absorbers feature a limited level of response to road conditions. Adaptive dampers, on the other hand, can vary their response to suspension motion to provide a broader range of performance. Although the methods can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, most of these adaptive damper systems allow the driver to specify the level of rebound and compression offered by each damper, which alters the level of control they provide over body movement.
Some adaptive dampers function automatically, adjusting suspension response in real time based on sensor data gathered while driving to respond most effectively to the demands on the vehicle. Some rely on magnetically charged hydraulic fluid that can change its resistance to movement by introducing an electric current, allowing for ultra-rapid changes in the damper's performance profile.
Cadillac
The more tightly body motion is controlled, the less body roll a vehicle experiences when cornering at a high rate of speed. Unfortunately, the more restrictive a shock is, the less comfortable the ride can feel. High-performance shocks can often make a car or truck drive roughly and stiffly during regular commuting.
Adaptive dampers allow engineers to balance these two poles by creating shock absorbers that are soft and supple in their response when driving at regular speeds or over rougher roads but stiffer and more controlling when it's time to drive more aggressively.
This split personality emerges on vehicles such as the BMW M3 and the Chevrolet Corvette that combine performance with luxury, and on full-size trucks and SUVs &#; such as the Cadillac Escalade &#; that marry comfort with exceptional towing and hauling capability.
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Benjamin Hunting is a writer and podcast host who contributes to a number of newspapers, automotive magazines, and online publications. More than a decade into his career, he enjoys keeping the shiny side up during track days and always has one too many classic vehicle projects partially disassembled in his garage at any given time. Remember, if it's not leaking, it's probably empty.
Written by Graham King
The trouble with sports cars is that their suspension can be too firm when you&#;re just trying to get home at the end of a long day. The trouble with comfy cars is that they can feel like a squidgy blancmange in corners. Either of those will work for some people but not for others. And there are yet other people who like a bit of both, a car whose ride quality can be switched between firm and squidgy at will. That&#;s where adaptive suspension comes in.
Adaptive suspension allows you to switch between several modes of ride comfort at the touch of a button. How many modes there are varies from car to car but there&#;s usually at least three called something like Normal, Comfort and Sport.
Sport will be the firmest mode, making the car feel tauter and nimbler in corners. Comfort shifts to the opposite end of the spectrum, softening the suspension to give a smoother ride, though perhaps at the expense of the car&#;s body moving about more. Normal splits the difference, providing a decent level of comfort without compromising handling too much.
That&#;s the general principle, but different types of adaptive suspension are used to achieve the effect. Here, we&#;re going to go over what they are, how they work and what the benefits are. We&#;ll also consider whether you actually need adaptive suspension.
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Adaptive suspension makes the Mercedes S-Class luxuriously comfortable and surprisingly nimble.
Before we answer this question, we should go over how car suspension works generally and what determines whether a car has a firm or soft ride.
There are two main elements to a car&#;s suspension: the spring and the damper (also known as a shock absorber). The damper is the crucial element for ride quality. It&#;s basically an oil-filled tube with a piston that&#;s connected to the wheel. The piston moves up and down with the wheel, and the oil resists the movement. A high level of resistance results in a firm ride quality, a low level creates a soft ride.
Adaptive suspension adds electronic control of the resistance to the equation. There are three main versions of system, which we explain below.
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Contact us to discuss your requirements of cars with adaptive suspension. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
BMW&#;s Adaptive M Suspension is available on the 4 Series range.
In this version of adaptive suspension, a series valves varies the level of resistance provided by the oil in the damper. The ride is firm when the valves are closed and soft when they&#;re all open. The Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive suspension in high-end Volkswagen models uses this system.
Magnetorheological damping
This Scrabble-special of an adaptive suspension system uses a fluid in the damper that contains metallic particles. When you set the suspension to give a firmer ride, a magnetic charge passes through the damper, increasing the density of the metallic particles and therefore the level of resistance the piston pushes against. Pick a softer ride setting and the magnetic charge turns off. The Magnetic Ride Control fitted to assorted Audi models is one such system.
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The second-generation Audi TT was one of the first cars with magnetorheological dampers.
Air suspension retains a conventional damper but replaces springs with airbags. It&#;s a much more versatile form of adaptive suspension because both the resistance in the damper and the pressure in the airbag are electronically controlled which, in theory, gives greater scope for fine-tuning the ride quality.
Adaptive air suspension has other tricks, as well. It can, for instance, keep the car level and at the correct ride height when it&#;s fully laden. In an SUV like the Land Rover Defender, you can press a button that lifts the car up to provide extra ground clearance when off-roading. And the latest Mercedes S-Class, among others, lifts up slightly when you open the door, to make getting in easier. It can also pump up the suspension on one side to keep the car level through corners.
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Land Rover Defender&#;s air suspension can be lifted to clear off-road obstacles.
There are some other variations on the adaptive suspension theme. For instance, certain models of the DS 9 luxury saloon have Active Scan Suspension which links a camera to the car&#;s dampers. When the camera picks out a bump or hole in the road, it primes the relevant damper for the impact it&#;s about to take. That, in theory, reduces the damper&#;s reaction time and smooths out the ride.
Then there&#;s the Performance Pack-equipped Polestar 2 which has manually adjustable dampers made by motorsport suspension specialist Öhlins. Adapting the firmness of the dampers to your needs/mood is a bit more involved than pressing a button, however. The rotary knobs that adjust the front dampers are found under the bonnet and the back wheels have to be removed to access the rear dampers.
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DS 9 has camera-based adaptive suspension system.
Pretty much every high-end luxury car comes with air suspension, as do a fair few sports cars and even some high-end versions of more mainstream fare. It&#;s available as an option on a lot of cars, as well.
In some cars, adaptive suspension doesn&#;t make much of a difference to the driving experience because there&#;s little variation between the modes. You&#;ll probably end up leaving it in Normal, which is usually the best compromise between comfort and handling. In other cars, the differences are more pronounced and have more of an effect on how the car feels.
If the car you want happens to come with adaptive suspension, don&#;t give its value a second thought and experiment with the settings to find the one that works best for you. If you&#;re contemplating spending a bit extra upgrading a model with adaptive suspension, or ticking the option box for it, endeavour to try the car with and without it to see if you think it&#;s worth shelling out for.
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Adjustable adaptive suspension is an extra-cost option on the Ford Focus ST that you may feel is worth having.
The vast majority of car manufacturers have an adaptive suspension system that&#;s available on at least some of its models. Inevitably, each manufacturer applies a brand name to their system. Ford, for instance, calls it Continuously Controlled Damping, Mercedes calls it Active Suspension, and Volvo calls it Four-C Chassis Control.
Looking for more jargon-busting motoring meanings? Head over to our Parkers Car Glossary page and take a look at our other definitions
For more information, please visit adaptive suspension vs air suspension.