For specific Audi RS models, sport suspension plus with Dynamic Ride Control (DRC) is a highly dynamic dampening technology. The driver can change the single-tube dampers’ variable characteristic in three steps. Shock absorber pairs that are diagonally opposed to one another are connected by hydraulic lines and a central valve. The valves control the oil flow in the shock absorber of the front wheel with the spring deflection when cornering quickly. They give more support and lessen pitch and roll motion. This enhances handling by allowing the car to follow the road more closely.
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Dynamic steering
Depending on the driving speed, steering angle, and chosen mode in the Audi drive choose handling system, dynamic steering can change the steering ratio by up to 100%. The superimposition gearing in the steering column, which is powered by an electric motor, is the main part. Its design, known as strain wave gearing, is small, light, and torsionally stiff. It has little friction, is precise, and is free of play. The gearing is highly efficient and capable of transferring large torques very quickly.
The strain wave gearing only needs three essential parts to function. A thin-walled sun wheel is deformed by an electric motor rotating an elliptical internal rotor, which is coupled to the steering input shaft by a ball bearing. It meshes with a hollow wheel with a sprocket that works on the steering output shaft at the vertical axes of the ellipse. The internal rotor’s rotation causes the ellipse’s large axis to move into the area where the teeth engage. The sun wheel and hollow wheel move in relation to one another because the sun wheel has fewer teeth than the latter. The fast-running electric motor’s huge gear ratio makes it feasible to build up this ratio precisely and quickly.
Dynamic steering works very directly when driving at moderate speeds in city traffic and when navigating; it only requires two complete revolutions of the steering wheel to move from one end stop to the other. Because of the substantial power steering increase, parking maneuvers are incredibly simple. The directness of the steering reaction and the steering power assist gradually decrease on country roads. Indirect gear ratios and low power assist are employed at high expressway speeds to calm down jerky steering movements and permit excellent straight tracking.
To accomplish sporty handling and driving safety, dynamic steering tightly cooperates with the electronic stabilization control program, or ESC. It countersteers slightly if necessary; in the vast majority of circumstances, its minimal interventions, the most of which are undetectable to the driver, mitigate understeer and oversteer caused by load changes. The technology assists with stabilizing steering inputs when stopping on surfaces with divided friction coefficients.
Dynamic steering can make corrections more quickly than the brake system can increase wheel pressure. The principal workbrake operations it handles frequently either stop being necessary or are reduced to dampening effects that slow down driving. At high speeds and on slick terrain like snow, the benefits in terms of driving safety and sportiness stand out the most.
Electrohydraulically integrated brake control system
The Audi e-tron is the first electric series production car to feature a brake control system that is electrohydraulically integrated. Hydraulic, electrical, and electronic actuators are used to operate the wheel brakes, reinforcement, and activation, respectively. Within milliseconds, the control unit determines how hard the driver is pressing the brake pedal and calculates how much braking torque is required. If the recovery torque is insufficient, more hydraulic pressure for the traditional friction brake is produced. The displacement piston, which is propelled by an electric spindle drive, forces braking fluid into the brake lines. The driver is not aware of the seamless change from the engine brake to the pure friction brake. The familiar pedal sensation for the driver’s foot is produced by a second piston using a pressure-resistant component. The brake pedal simulator ensures that the driver is not impacted by hydraulic issues. When ABS is used to brake, pressure buildup and decrease do not manifest as grating, loud pulsations.
When the driver presses the left pedal firmly enough to cause a deceleration greater than 0.3 g, the electrohydraulic brake system is engaged; otherwise, the Audi e-tron slows down using recuperation from its two electric motors. The brake control system precisely and nearly twice as quickly as a conventional system builds up brake pressure for the wheel brakes. There are only 150 milliseconds between the start of the brake application and the presence of the maximum brake pressure between the pads and disks when automated emergency braking is used. Impressively low braking distances result from this, which takes hardly longer than a blink of an eye. Because wheel brakes are more effective than electric braking in this situation, the car decelerates even at extremely low speeds, such as those experienced during maneuvering. Otherwise, the electric motor would have to actively slow down at low rotational speeds, draining important battery current.
The electrohydraulically integrated brake control system’s “brake-by-wire technology” permits a bigger air gap, or a greater separation between the brake pad and brake disk, to be adjusted. As a result, the likelihood of friction and heat generation is reduced, actively extending the vehicle’s range.
Electromechanical active roll stabilization
With electromechanical active roll stabilization, a wide range between smooth build-up and lively handling is guaranteed. Between the two stabilizer portions on each front and rear axle is a small electric motor with a three-stage planetary gear set. The suspension control makes sure that both stabilizer halves behave largely independently of one another when traveling straight ahead. This improves ride comfort by lowering vibrations caused by sprung mass on uneven roads. However, at fast speeds, the goal is to achieve the best roll compensation. The transmission of the electric motor rotates the stabilizer’s halves in opposite directions as a unit, reducing the roll angle when cornering and making the car’s handling even more firm and dynamic.
Electromechanical active roll stabilization serves as a recuperative system and is powered by a strong 48-volt electrical subsystem: The stabilizer is excited when the wheels on one axle deflect to significantly different degrees as a result of road imperfections; the electromechanical active roll stabilization motor now converts each impulse into electrical energy. The lithium-ion battery of the electrical subsystem stores this energy, making sure that the electromechanical active roll stabilization has a much better overall energy balance than a hydraulic system. Active roll stabilization also requires minimal maintenance because it doesn’t utilize oil.
Electronic chassis platform
The electronic chassis platform (ECP) serves as the chassis’ main control panel. It keeps track of the vehicle’s speed, height values, vertical, roll, and pitch motions as well as the road’s coefficient of friction and the current driving condition, such as under- or oversteer, as well as information on the associated suspension systems. It swiftly determines and carefully coordinates the optimal function of these components based on these. The consumer notices ride characteristics more clearly as a result of the central control, including accurate cornering, enhanced dynamics, and a high level of ride comfort.
Adaptive air suspension
Adjustable air suspension A regulated damping air suspension system offers a wide range between comfortable cruising and competitive performance. It independently changes the ride height based on the speed and the driver’s preferences and the road conditions. As a function of load, the air suspension also provides level control.
Various specific product lines have different system designs. Shock absorbers are enclosed by air springs in the front suspension struts. These two parts are often applied individually in the rear suspension of vehicles. However, pneumatic struts are also mounted on the rear suspension of the Audi A8 (2017). Depending on the type, the compressor’s mounting position and the quantity of pressure reservoirs that must be filled also vary.
The electronic chassis platform (ECP), the primary chassis control unit, individually regulates the operation of each wheel’s shock absorbers at cycles in the order of milliseconds depending on the state of the road, the driver’s driving technique, and the mode selected in the Audi drive select dynamic handling system. The hydraulic fluid’s volumetric flow is adjusted using solenoid damper valves.
What is adaptive damping in suspension?
Drivers may swiftly switch between a softer ride and a rougher ride thanks to an adjustable suspension system. One of the many advantages of installing this kind of suspension in your car is this. Here are some other ways adaptive suspension can enhance your driving, along with a description of how it functions.
Audi adaptive suspension: what is it?
Audi’s Adaptive Air Suspension is a four-corner air spring suspension system that is electronically regulated. A central control unit receives information from accelerometers and other sensors on the axles and uses that information to modify the suspension appropriately, individually altering each corner in milliseconds. Air suspension can lower the vehicle as it travels faster, lowering its center of gravity and enhancing aerodynamics. The mechanism softens for a comfortable ride when traveling along straight, smooth highways. The Adaptice Air Suspension will stiffen during turns or when braking, eliminating body roll. Additionally, the technology levels the vehicle, ensuring a constant height regardless of the weight of the load. The MMI system allows for system adjustment.
Do I have adaptive suspension in my Audi?
Select “Individual” from the “Drive Select” menu. Adaptive suspension is one that may be selected from options like “comfort,” “auto,” or “dynamic.”
What is a system with adaptive damping?
The Adaptive Damper System, which is exclusive to the Advance Package, can instantly modify suspension stiffness changes to both smooth the ride and sharpen handling depending on driving circumstances. This enables the RDX to maintain its soft, pleasant ride while cruising along the highway and firmer handling when the road demands it.
- Each damper has a continuously adjustable valve that, using sensor data, can be adjusted to increase or decrease the damper fluid pressure and, as a result, the speed at which fluid can flow from one end of the damper tube to the other. This fluctuating flow rate enables the damper motion to be stiffened or softened quickly and with exact measurement.
- The dampers may be changed in a matter of milliseconds from soft to race car stiff.
- Although it still fluctuates depending on the route and driving conditions, switching the IDS to Sport+ will bias the system toward higher stiffness.
- Every time the ignition is turned on, the adaptive damper system is activated.
Do adaptive dampers make sense?
Although adaptive dampers could cost more than standard suspension, the system’s increased adaptability and usefulness make it an appealing option. In general, vehicles with adaptive dampers give a more comfortable driving experience that is smoother, but when the sports mode is used, the vehicle becomes stiffer and more engaging.
Adaptive dampers can be the best option for you if you like to drive your car on a number of different types of roads and appreciate both comfort and sportiness.
What does my car’s adaptive suspension look like?
Simply press the driver control switch (ECO PRO > COMFORT > SPORT, etc.) on the center console. Whether you have adaptive, the iDrive screen will ask you if you want to modify the “Chassis & Drivetrain.” Cars without adaptive features lack a chassis option (suspension).
What distinguishes active suspension from adaptive suspension?
One kind of automotive suspension for a vehicle is an active suspension. In contrast to passive suspension provided by huge springs, where the movement is totally dependent on the road surface, it uses an onboard mechanism to regulate the vertical movement of the vehicle’s wheels in relation to the chassis or vehicle body. Real active suspensions and adaptive or semi-active suspensions are the two categories into which active suspensions fall. Active suspensions employ some sort of actuator to raise and lower the chassis separately at each wheel, in contrast to semi-adaptive suspensions, which just adjust shock absorber firmness to match changing road or dynamic conditions.
By maintaining the tires perpendicular to the road in corners, these technologies enable automakers to achieve a greater degree of ride quality and automobile handling, allowing for improved traction and control. Sensors placed throughout the vehicle track body movement, and an onboard computer uses that information to manage the operation of the active and semi-active suspensions. Body roll and pitch fluctuation are almost eliminated by the system in a variety of driving circumstances, including as cornering, accelerating, and stopping.
Is air suspension used in adaptive suspension?
Perhaps the most straightforward adaptive suspension is manually adjustable, yet it is also the least popular.
In these circumstances, the driver can elevate the vehicle on a jack and manually change the opening of the damper flow valve by turning a knob at each shock absorber through a variety of settings.
There are currently very few production vehicles available with manually adjustable suspension. Though it is also installed on the Polestar 1 and 2, it is often only used for track specialties.
Adaptive air suspension
In an air suspension system, pressurized rubber membranes instead of coil springs are used to suspend the vehicle. The vehicle’s ride height can alter depending on whether the rubber membrane is expanding or contracting.
Any air suspension system has four essential parts. These include a rubber membrane that uses an air compressor to feed air to a reservoir, a number of ride height sensors to measure the height of the vehicle at each corner, and an air compressor.
The dampers present in standard car suspension systems are typically kept in air suspension systems.
Both closed and open variants of these systems are available. Every time you board a bus, have you noticed a hissing sound when the ride height decreases? That is typical of an open air suspension system, in which depressurization merely causes the rubber membrane to release extra air into the atmosphere.
A more contemporary option is a closed air suspension system, which enables quicker, more effective, and quieter changes in ride height when the rubber membrane deflates.
Aerodynamics, load handling, and maybe increased off-road performance for 4WD vehicles are all advantages of the ability of air suspension systems to alter the ride height of the vehicle.
A vehicle’s air suspension system may vary the ride height to compensate for any big loads that may be carried in the back, keeping the car level and preventing sagging. Additionally, to enhance efficiency and handling, newer automobiles with air suspension systems can automatically decrease their ride height at greater speeds.
Other technologies
In order to achieve similar overall benefits to standard air suspension systems, hydropneumatic suspension, promoted by Citroen with its Hydractive brand of suspension systems, uses a combination of hydraulic fluid and nitrogen-filled spheres that are swapped in or out to change the firmness of the ride.
Although it is no longer offered in new Citroen vehicles, Mercedes still offers its own, more sophisticated variant called as Active Body Control in its finest models, including the S-Class. The addition of an Active Curve Tilting function, which allows the automobile to lean in turns like a motorcycle, is a more recent improvement to this technology.
Mercedes states that by lessening the forces felt by passengers inside the cabin, this technique further enhances comfort.
Another novel suspension technology is predictive suspension systems. Similar systems are also available in Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Genesis, and Audi vehicles, and are known as the Flagbearer system in the most recent Rolls-Royce Phantom and Ghost models.
These pair an adaptive suspension system with cameras and other sensors that can anticipate bumps and potholes, allowing the automobile to be prepared by softening or stiffening the suspension at a specific wheel to lessen the impact.
The dance suspension, or Mercedes’ newest E-Active Body Control, combines hydropneumatics and air suspension to provide increased off-road performance and even more control of the spring and damping forces at each wheel.