PH Blog: passive / aggressive
Why both these cars prove that 'sport' suspension button on the dash is just a gimmick
And gives me an excuse to make the ludicrous juxtaposition of my £1,250 Eunos with £200K's worth of SLS Roadster. And explain what links them in spirit. Namely, great passive dampers.
AMG is pretty much alone in having the belief in its chassis set up abilities to give its most hardcore products (CLK Black, C63, etc) non adjustable dampers that work better, and across a broader range, than most rivals' multi-mode adaptive designs. This, to my mind, worthy of far more respect than adding a button on the dash and letting the driver think he knows better than the chassis engineers. Indeed, it was explained to me by one that in at least one case - brand not disclosed, sadly - hitting the sport button initiated a 'hard' feel to appease the customer's demand for a sportier sensation, before the damping settings slowly relaxed back to the 'correct' one. Which goes to show how wrongheaded simplistic assessments of ride like 'soft' and 'firm' really are.
With a few notable exceptions I'm inclined to believe this is as much marketing tosh as is the offering of different steering 'maps' - Audi and BMW among the most obvious culprits here. Just set it up correctly and be done with it.
Again, Mercedes stands proud here and its current cars steer much more naturally than most rivals as a result. As much as 'firm' doesn't equal sporty in ride terms, 'heavy' doesn't equate to feel in steering.
I'm no technical expert; my assessments of ride are purely seat of the pants and when Performance5'sDave Turner drew me lots of graphs and tried to explain the technicalities of the Sportdrive dampers he and P5's Phil had developed and were shortly to be fitted to my Eunos I didn't understand a word. But I know what I like and the quality of the damping speaks for itself, much like that on the SLS and our PH Fleet Golf GTI Edition 35, which has passive dampers rather than the ACC ones optioned onto many GTIs.
I picked my Eunos up from Performance5 just before heading up to Scotland, Phil fitting the dampers with Superpro eyelet bushings to address an NVH issue he'd been battling and ramping up the rebound damping just a tad. And at low speeds and on hard-edged bumps the Eunos might be described as a little harsh. But when the speeds pick up as, er, they did in Scotland the pay-off is revealed. And the Eunos, the SLS and the Golf all have a similar character - one that, to my tastes, feels great.
Rather than 'soft' or 'firm' I'd like to describe my personal damping preference as 'fast', a characteristic all three share. All have a natural platform in their damping and all move quickly either side of that but, more importantly, back to it, with the minimum of fuss. Yes, the car moves. But that movement is perfectly controlled, Phil's extra tweak of rebound damping in particular really noticeable when hitting high speed, high amplitude bumps. Yes, you felt it. But the dampers didn't top out, the body control remained bang on and the tyres' contact patch remained constant, even if this happened mid corner or in the midst of a cross-camber weight shift turning from one direction to the next. The kind of stuff that happens a lot on Scottish roads, or at least the ones we were on. It feels lively but controlled, if that's not too much of an oxymoron.
The fact the car does this because it's been worked on by chaps who really, really know their craft means the world too. It's this human touch that makes it all the more satisfying.
There are exceptions, Jaguar being the freshest in my mind after last week's trip to the 'ring to drive the XJ Supersports. Ringside Seat man Dale Lomas was there too and put this video up on his BridgeToGantry YouTube channel, which explains a lot more about the Jaguar approach to adaptive damping. I love the fact that the dampers 'know' when the car is unweighted over a crest and pre-empt the compression that'll follow by increasing the rebound damping according to the speed and intensity of the movement. In Jag's case this is that human touch - that expertise - being brought to bear on the available technology with hugely impressive results. But, like I say, this is the exception.
That the Roadster introduced the option of three-way switchable dampers to the SLS is an interesting aside and, perhaps, an indication of the expectations of the target audience and the marketing department. I'm glad it remains as an option though. And that Mercedes specced this press car without it, letting the real talents of the chassis engineers shine through.
Predictably (you knew it was coming...) I'm also amused that the cost of adding Ride Control dampers to an SLS is, pretty much, the same as I spent buying the Eunos and having the P5 dampers fitted. But that's a different blog and one, for now, I'll spare you!
Dan
That said, i wouldnt want to be without the settings in my cayenne, im forever swtching between comfort and sport depnding on my mood and what sort of driving im doing.
I've got to say though, my previous 911 Turbo with PASM had a very similar characteristic....it'd get really hard after you push the sport button followed by a much smoother ride shortly after. They both run on adaptive Bilstein dampers so maybe that explains the similar characteristics.
Also, I was recently educated on the whole 'dynamic/sport' setting by a man who knew much more about Jaguar suspension technology and set-up than me (but he never mentioned the above...thats just my perception!).
Apparently, the dampers are constantly varying between a range of, let's say, 0-100% soft-firm. In normal mode, the dampers operate throughout the whole range so can go from full soft to full hard numerous times a second. When the driver selects 'dynamic' mode, the range changes to something like 30-100% firmness. So you see, he ultimate firmness is no stiffer in the upper extreme but you lose the benefit of the comfort within the 0-30% range - this kind of proves that it really is a setting to just give the 'impression' of firmness rather than the reality of a stiffer set-up.
And in all honesty, this is how it feels hence its probably best to just let these clever electronically-controlled fluid-filled yellow tubes do the job of body control themselves....although frustratingly in my car, the dynamic button also operates the exhaust valve so it unleashes a much raspier exhaust tone which alone is worth pushing the button for
That said, i wouldnt want to be without the settings in my cayenne, im forever swtching between comfort and sport depnding on my mood and what sort of driving im doing.
For example it rained hard to day and is still very damp out and about, I will probably be softening the anti roll bars a tad before driving home. It would be nice if I had a set of settings saved for a variety of conditions and could switch between them all and try different things with out getting the spanners out.
I'd love to have the option of that kind of softness on my E36 m3, while still having it ride as it does when driving 'enthusiastically', where said Laguna was rather lacking.
"Bernie it don't make any difference, so can JB & LH have active suspension back in F1?"
"Some bloke on the internet told me so, the other won't mind!" Only joking!
I agree a decent set-up-suspension will be an improvement over the manufacturers compromise.
Ask any TVR owner who has had it done. I did.
But as already said, the ability to soften it all up, is what I think most people would prefer?
My current STR is very good, but just now and again on pot-holed roads, I'd love to just soften it up instead of having to drive faster! Sorry Officer!!
Most sports bikes these days have 3-way adjustment on dampers, as well as suspension pre-load and even height adjustment. Cars are well behind this, but do they really need it?
The best handling A + B road car I've ever driven was my year 2000 Impreza Turbo, yes the now hated Blue one with the big rear wing! Comfortable it was NOT!
I need some new shox for the Esprit. You can buy loads of fully adjustable aftermarket ones or the Lotus tuned Bilsteins / Eibach ones. Lotus know about handling QED. Easy choice. and the Lotus option is generally cheaper too.
Also so called "race " dampers and coilovers for the road with adjustable height/preload and damping have an infinite number of combinations. So most people have aplay for a few weeks then leave them alone / get bored etc.
Love the thought of the stiffness backing off after a while! Brilliant!
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