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Old Nov 21, 2005 | 11:50 AM
  #6  
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KaBlookie
4-doors ROCK
 
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 251
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From: Philly suburb
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it's absolutely ingenious how they did it...they basically use the same technology that they use for speakers, for suspension.

think about how a speaker works. You send a pulse of electricity into it, causing the magnet to become charged, thus moving the cone of the speaker, which in turn sends vibrations through the air, which we perceive as sound.

in this case, that suspension system is basically a really powerful speaker, without the cone. It uses electric pulses going to electromagnets in each corner, which can move the whole system up or down (raise/lower ride height) as well as provide resistance (flatness during cornering) that can be changed and controlled thousands of times per second...all it takes is a change in the current going to them and their character can completely change.

they're amazing, HOWEVER they're heavy as all hell, and they're really expensive, so don't expect to be seeing these systems for anything but big heavy luxury cars.