Magic Ride – Driven To Write

The new Audi starship has landed and while most commentators have chosen to fixate on its style, we’ve elected to crawl underneath, pretending to understand what we find there.

Well, it’s an Audi – what were you expecting? Image: autoblog

Audi’s new flagship saloon is a technological marvel, possibly the most advanced luxury car it is possible to pre-order for Autumn delivery right now – or at least until the next one comes along anyway. Not content busying themselves with a power race as fervid as that pursued by the Detroit big three fifty years ago, the German luxury brands are now shifting their battleground into hitherto unrealised realms of electronic wizardry and fearsome complexity.

So while opinion as to whether the A8 lives up to the stylistic promise of Marc Lichte’s 2014 Prologue concept remains a matter of debate, Audi’s commitment to technology appears to be more solidly grounded. A 48-volt electrical system now supports the potential for what Ingolstadt describes as “highly automated driving”, allowing the car to be autonomous in slow-moving traffic and at speeds up to 31mph under tightly regulated parameters. Adding to the suite of sensors, scanners, radar and cameras, Audi also claims the A8 is also first to Continue reading “Added Suspense”

We conclude March’s theme by wondering if the engineering ideal of suspension that thinks for itself is any closer to reality now than it was thirty years ago.

An early active ride Lotus Esprit prototype. Image:sportscars.tv

Pity the unfortunate suspension engineer, saddled with the seemingly impossible task of reconciling the hugely complex operating range of the motor vehicle against the twin imperatives of providing a comfortable ride for passengers, while allowing sufficient body control to allow for accurate and consistent handling. Under such constraints, the successful melding of conflicting forces acting vertically in ride and horizontally in cornering and steering, can only result in unhappy compromise. Continue reading “Theme: Suspension – The Comfort Trap”