World’s Top 6 Best Car Suspension for Bumpy Roads

In this brief article, we will discuss the world’s Top 6 best luxury car suspension systems that can provide the best ride quality on rough roads.

Which cars have the best suspension for Bumpy Roads?

  • Lincoln Aviator
  • Cadillac XTS
  • Buick Lacrosse
  • Mercedes Benz S-Class
  • Audi A8L
  • BMW 7 Series

We are going to look at some of the very best luxury sedans that were built with the very best available technology. Suspension systems have reached the level where they are able to scan the upcoming surface and re-adjust the damping and ride height for almost every situation.

Lincoln Aviator

The aviator comes with a unique Pothole detection system that has a front facing camera that can scan the road profile 50 m ahead and detect the presence of potholes. The detection system has an array of 12 sensors that collect various information like vehicle speed, body movement, steering angle, instantaneous acceleration and braking inputs at a rate of almost once every 2 millisecond.

With the help of the collected information, the system senses when a wheel is about to fall into an upcoming pothole and adjusts the damping rate in such a way that the wheel is not allowed to fall deep into the pothole.

Because the tires are not allowed to drop, the tire can avoid impact against the exit edge of the pothole. The rear suspension has the advantage of additional information coming from the front suspension’s reaction to a pothole, and can therefore respond  faster as compared to the front.

The continuously controlled damping system (CCD) in normal conditions, provides real-time data to its ECU, which calculates and sends signals that adjust the suspension damping in milliseconds to help reduce the impact due to the potholes.

To complement this system is the Lincoln AirGlide Air suspension system that provides a plush and supple ride quality under all conditions.

Cadillac XTS

The Cadillac XTS was its flagship full-size luxury sedan. GM claims that the MagneRide Active suspension system is the world’s fastest reacting suspension that acquires sensor data every millisecond and adjusts damping every 5 milliseconds.

The front suspension was an advanced version of the MacPherson design called the HiPer Strut which provides better impact isolation, a more communicative steering and reduced Torque Steer.

The rear suspension came with GM’s AirRide air suspension air bags which provided a plush ride quality. The MagneRide shock absorbers along with the AirRide suspension made a truly unmatched combination in terms of suppleness and quickness of reaction.

Buick Lacrosse

The Buick Lacrosse had nearly the same suspension setup as the Cadillac XTS. The reason being that both the Cadillac XTS was an enlarged version of the Epsilon II platform shared with the Buick Lacrosse. Therefore in terms of Ride comfort, both the cars provided a similarly high ride quality.

Mercedes Benz S-Class

The S-Class is already legendary for smooth ride quality. The “Magic Body Control (MBC)” is one of the latest of Mercedes’ high-tech active ride control systems. The most innovative part of the MBC system is the ‘Stereo’ Multipurpose Camera that constantly monitors the road ahead for its profile and imperfections. The Mercedes MBC technology ensures that the suspension has been optimally “Pre-Adjusted” well in advance for the highest Comfort setting, before encountering the road undulation.

Over the years, with each subsequent version of the MBC, the system has been updated with enhanced scanning capabilities. A recent update has been the ‘CURVE’ function which “Tilts” the body during cornering so as to counter the Centrifugal forces and isolate the occupants more effectively.

AUDI A8 L

The flagship luxury sedan from AUDi has also been known to provide a great quality of ride comfort. The Audi A8 L comes standard with its own version of adaptive air suspension, which combines a high-end air suspension with continuously controlled damping. The air supply system has a compressor that has a working pressure of 18 bar. The system air reservoir has a capacity of 5.8 liter. The struts have been newly updated with increased air capacity. With this update the suspension allows a soft characteristic without the need for an auxiliary accumulator.

The whole process from detection to adjustment happens in just a few milliseconds.The camera and sensors feed data about the condition of the upcoming road surface at the rate of 18 times a second. The electronic adjustments for each wheel are made continuously every millisecond through controlling the solenoid current for the damper valves. the driver’s style, and the mode specified in the Audi drive select system is also taken into account while making adjustments. 

The driver can choose between four operating modes for the adaptive air suspension using Audi drive select. The ride quality is adjusted to behave within the selected characteristics like ‘Comfort’, ‘Sport’, etc.

BMW 7 Series

The BMW 7-Series is a strong competitor to the legendary Mercedes and Audi luxury sedans. At the heart of the BMW’s Electronic Suspension system is its Self-leveling air suspension coupled along with BMW Dynamic Damper Control. Unlike its competitors, the BMW 7-Series provides a “COMFORT+” mode apart from the “Comfort” Drive mode to be just one more notch above in terms of the luxury feel. The control system is called the ‘Active Comfort Drive’ which has a ‘Road Preview’ function that provides the speed of suspension adjustment similar to its competitors. The Road preview uses the Navigation system as a guide.

Conclusion

In this brief article, we have discussed the world’s Top 6 best luxury car suspension systems that can provide the best ride quality on rough roads.

In case of any queries or comments, please feel free to ask.

References

https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/press-releases/multifaceted-personality-predictive-active-suspension-in-the-a8-flagship-model-11905 https://media.lincoln.com/content/fordmedia/feu/nl/nl/news/2018/06/28/innovative-pothole-detection-system-irons-out-the-bumps-for-all-.html