Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Vintage Auto Journalism - Active Suspension Top Gear 1983 (NFC)

[LSJ (lashdeep]

FX3 in 1990

LSJ

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021, 4:17:08 PM EST, Erik Nielsen <judge4re [at] gmail.com> wrote:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagneRide

On Feb 17, 2021, at 2:17 PM, Lashdeep Singh via Ferrari <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com> wrote:

Hans, great info and insight.

I guess the concession was FX3 selective ride control?

That system works pretty well with some maintenance.

On Feb 17, 2021, at 12:55, Hans E. Hansen <FList [at] hanshansen.org> wrote:

The active suspension was why GM bought Lotus back then.  They

envisioned it being in all the higher end cars, Corvette first.  But

it would also make for a Caddy that would ride like a pillow and still

have good control.

The Corvette development program was so far along that some of the

parts appeared in the parts catalog briefly - before being deleted in

later editions.  It was supposed to be applied to the soon-to-be

released 1990 ZR1. At least one of the 1989 ZR1 test mules was fitted.

(Side note: GM temporarily loaned the 20 or so 1989 ZR1 test/press

cars to a driving school I attended.  So I actually got to drive one.

The active suspension car was not present.)

At a product event around that time, I asked one of the engineers why

the project was cancelled.  He indicated that they couldn't overcome

price and reliability hurdles.  The biggest issue was the high

pressure valves, followed by the actuators themselves.  To make it

work, they needed to use 3000psi components, which are off-the-shelf

for aircraft and some industrial applications.  These valves needed to

be very high speed, so they had to use the top of the line pieces.

But they couldn't figure out how to produce them at a cost that was

practical for road cars. Add to that were potential reliability

issues, what with 3000psi lines running all around the car.  They

didn't think any of the components would last the usual life span that

Corvettes usually experience.  And owners would likely be reluctant to

"refresh" the system every few years for the many $thousands$ it would

take.  On aircraft, this stuff is check over regularly, as it was in

Formula 1 cars of the time.  But what about a car subject to the usual

abuses and deferred maintenance?  Plus potential warranty headaches.

What could have been....

Hans.

On 2/16/21, Lashdeep Singh via Ferrari <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com> wrote:

To the point made a few days ago about real auto journalism...

It is hard to believe that this appeared on a public TV station.

Just superb!

https://youtu.be/iPQ66fW9RAM

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