You've got to see this in person to really appreciate it. We've been working on this for a long time, but it's about to pay off. The only way to describe the feeling riding in the car is it's like riding in a Star Wars speeder. If you go the lower left of the page, there are Quick Time movies you can download. What you don't see is the one where the car jumps a 6" barrier without touching it.

Active Suspension

(edit) For some reason, the forum has a limit to the size of the URL. To get to the demo, click on "Automotive Systems", then "New Technology". The demo videos are on the lower right.

 

Sweeet!!

Do you need a donor truck to do some testing???

 

Boy, I wish! It can do other cool things like kneel into turns. The problem is, the driver's body looses the feedback it gets from traditional suspensions ie. lateral g's, and can he easily spin the thing out when the tires break loose.

 

White Papers

PDF format, you'll need Adobe Reader to view the white papers.

Rich

 

We had a funny thing happen during the development. The Old Man removed his wristwatch and placed it in the path of one set of wheels on a dare from the program manager. He swore up and down that the tires would each lift up before and set down after it passed over the watch. Well...algorithms were slightly off and each tire set squarely down the watch. The remains are presently framed and hanging on the PM's office wall. The good Doctor took it pretty well.

 

At least he removed the watch from his wrist first

 

To quote someone much more eloquent than I, "Holly Crap!!"(Frank Barone) This looks awful interesting. To take juxtaposed philosophies and combine them....I love technology!!!

 

I rode in an Infiniti Q45a back in the 90's that had active suspension. Nissan actually tuned back IN some of the body roll and bumps... said the testers found it too strange to drive a vehicle that didn't react to anything... Expensive as heck to fix, but those who have them, love them.

Heck, even as far back as the late 80's/early 90's, I read an article in a car mag about a 'vette that was fitted with an active suspension that leaned into the corners, and was a real driver's setup... went way over 1g, when that was racecar-only territory at the time.

Somehow I see a vehicle with a 12,000lb GVW being one of the LAST ones to get a system like that...

 

"Project Sound," huh? That's pretty .

 

All I have to say is WOW!!

I'd like to have that package on a new AWD 300C SRT-8 with the 6.1L Hemi!! Could you imagine?!

 

Commatoze,
Saw an article about this yesterday in Car and Driver. Sounds really cool. The article states that Bose is just coming out of the research phase. Any idea on how long it might take for this system to see some type of limited production? I assume it would probably be made available on high end vehicles to start with.

~Rob