New Bamford Rose adaptive suspension on 10 year V8V
Discussion
Our V8V is now 10 years old and has coming up for 58,000 miles on it.
In January 2014 when the original dampers started showing signs of their age, rather than fit the stock items I elected to have BR fit switchable dampers to the car to allow it to have hard/soft modes.
These are Bilstein items and the modification has allowed us to tour in comfort while having attack mode when the need arises.
Last year I also had all bushes renewed which seriously improved the feeling of the car.
However depending on where you elect to have hard soft modes set, prodding the switch to change into attack mode always felt a bit retrospective and there have been numerous times where I'd have liked a further intermediate setting.
At the 10 year service completed last week, BR also fitted the Bilstein adaptive suspension module which they now offer.
That has accelerometer and yaw sensors which dictate the resistance in the dampers.
I've driven a mix of motorway and country miles and frankly, it's a revelation.
Three modes, Comfort, Sport & Sport+ which can be selected from a button under the ashtray flap.
These are pre-configured but all work in essentially the same way.
The control module detects the amount of fore/aft and side to side load on the car.
Whichever mode you are in the default damper mode is soft, but if the detected accelerometer load passes a pre-described threshold it stiffens the suspension. It stays in the stiffer mode until a pre-set period of time below the activation threshold has passed.
The pre-described values are different for each mode, so Comfort can have a higher threshold which must be exceeded before hard mode is engaged. It can also have a shorter time before it reverts to comfort after the load erodes below activation threshold.
Conversely, Sport+ can have a very low excitement value and a longer hold on, which could mean that you've got to be on a really smooth road before it reverts to soft.
Sport sits between the two.
The values are easily modified should you wish using an android or apple app connected via wifi. I've not felt the need to mess with those values.
In reality what it means is that the car rides brilliantly until you hit the twisties or a big compression where the suspension stiffens up and keeps things under control. IT flows in a way that it never used to and doesn't flop about or shake your fillings out.
I've not been able to catch it out yet and I did manage to happen across a "yump" on a road which it dealt with..
I've not tried Sport+ mode yet but both Comfort and Sport just work.
It's not cheap, but nor are 4 new OEM dampers.
So; if faced with the decision of what to do when your dampers need replacing, I can't recommend it enough.
In January 2014 when the original dampers started showing signs of their age, rather than fit the stock items I elected to have BR fit switchable dampers to the car to allow it to have hard/soft modes.
These are Bilstein items and the modification has allowed us to tour in comfort while having attack mode when the need arises.
Last year I also had all bushes renewed which seriously improved the feeling of the car.
However depending on where you elect to have hard soft modes set, prodding the switch to change into attack mode always felt a bit retrospective and there have been numerous times where I'd have liked a further intermediate setting.
At the 10 year service completed last week, BR also fitted the Bilstein adaptive suspension module which they now offer.
That has accelerometer and yaw sensors which dictate the resistance in the dampers.
I've driven a mix of motorway and country miles and frankly, it's a revelation.
Three modes, Comfort, Sport & Sport+ which can be selected from a button under the ashtray flap.
These are pre-configured but all work in essentially the same way.
The control module detects the amount of fore/aft and side to side load on the car.
Whichever mode you are in the default damper mode is soft, but if the detected accelerometer load passes a pre-described threshold it stiffens the suspension. It stays in the stiffer mode until a pre-set period of time below the activation threshold has passed.
The pre-described values are different for each mode, so Comfort can have a higher threshold which must be exceeded before hard mode is engaged. It can also have a shorter time before it reverts to comfort after the load erodes below activation threshold.
Conversely, Sport+ can have a very low excitement value and a longer hold on, which could mean that you've got to be on a really smooth road before it reverts to soft.
Sport sits between the two.
The values are easily modified should you wish using an android or apple app connected via wifi. I've not felt the need to mess with those values.
In reality what it means is that the car rides brilliantly until you hit the twisties or a big compression where the suspension stiffens up and keeps things under control. IT flows in a way that it never used to and doesn't flop about or shake your fillings out.
I've not been able to catch it out yet and I did manage to happen across a "yump" on a road which it dealt with..
I've not tried Sport+ mode yet but both Comfort and Sport just work.
It's not cheap, but nor are 4 new OEM dampers.
So; if faced with the decision of what to do when your dampers need replacing, I can't recommend it enough.
Speculatore said:
I had this fitted on my DB9 as part of 'Project Blofeld' along with the 6-pot racing Brembos
OK, I recall reading a bit about Blofeld. How did you find the difference in the settings, and comfort comparison to the original?Graze01 said:
Dean
I'm considering keeping my 07 V8V long terms as a daily and it needs new sorings & dampers soon
do you have any idea how much the BR system is?
Graeme
I seem to recall something along the lines of 4500 -5000GBP a year or so ago... don`t quote me!I'm considering keeping my 07 V8V long terms as a daily and it needs new sorings & dampers soon
do you have any idea how much the BR system is?
Graeme
Edited by Mr.Tremlini on Monday 27th May 18:15
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