by Adaptive suspension allows the driver to change the stiffness of the shock absorbers in manual mode, or it can operate fully automatically, adjusting the suspension’s operation to the engine, gearbox, or type of road surface. On the internet, you can find various names for adaptive shock absorbers – shock absorbers with EDC, ADS, MRC, CDC, VDC; each manufacturer gives its own name to the technology, but they are all adjustable shock absorbers or shock absorbers with electronic adjustment. We will focus on the option of adaptive shock absorbers.
Adaptive suspension is equipped on most premium cars, sports cars, and cars with pneumatic suspension.
The Principle of Operation of Adjustable Shock Absorbers
Visually, the difference between a conventional shock absorber and a shock absorber with electronic adjustment is that the active shock absorber’s casing has an adjustment valve, and power and control wires go to it. (Photo below)
An adaptive shock absorber implements a complex valve system, which actually is responsible for adjusting stiffness. There are many variations in the implementation of adaptive shock absorbers. Each car brand has its own name for this technology.
The main difference between a shock absorber with electronic adjustment and a conventional shock absorber is the ability to change its stiffness depending on road surface parameters and driver requests. The design of adaptive suspension usually provides several modes, but depending on the car brand, they can vary. The two main modes can be highlighted:
• sport;
• comfort
The driver can choose any mode depending on the needs. Each mode involves automatic adjustment of the shock absorbers’ stiffness. For example, in Sport mode, the adaptive suspension strengthens the downforce (aerodynamics), which in turn improves dynamic characteristics, increases grip on the road surface, thereby simplifying the car’s handling, and allows it to take turns with less overload and body roll.
In Comfort mode, the shock absorbers smooth out road surface irregularities, thus ensuring a comfortable ride, especially when it comes to large premium cars.
New Shock Absorber, Refurbished Shock Absorber or Chinese Equivalent?
Quite often, car owners with active suspension find out that the car is equipped with such a suspension only when it fails. The main problem owners face when a car with active suspension breaks down is the price and availability. The cost of one new shock absorber can start from a thousand dollars, adding to the “attractive” price is the availability in official dealers’ stock. The approximate waiting time for the part is 3-4 weeks.
As an alternative, there is an option – repair of adaptive shock absorbers. The cost of repair will be 30-50% less than the cost of a new part. The repair time is 1-2 days. The only nuance is finding a specialized service station where the repair will be performed on professional equipment by qualified personnel. On the internet, you can find many offers for shock absorber repair for 600-900 UAH, but in reality, this has nothing to do with real shock absorber repair.
Another option is a Chinese equivalent. In the Ukrainian market, it is quite quick and easy to find them at a fairly reasonable price. However, there is a nuance associated with the operation of electronic regulation. Most often, Chinese equivalents have a plug instead of a valve, meaning that the shock absorber looks like one with electronic adjustment from the outside, but in fact, it does not have it. A Chinese equivalent will work as a regular shock absorber. Perhaps such an option is quite acceptable for some people because, as we wrote above, some car owners with adaptive suspension do not even suspect that their car is equipped with this technology.
