Audi A8's active suspension rises before side impact to save occupants

blackwasp · 9th November 2017, 17:03

Audi A8's active suspension in action

The Audi A8 and A8L were launched earlier this year at the Audi Summit in Barcelona.

Active suspension system in a car is primarily designed to increase the ground clearance and improve the ride quality. Audi recently demonstrated the system in the A8 and A8L cars which can be used to enhance safety of the occupants as well. In the moments before a collision on the sides (T-bone), the car's suspension height is increased up to 80 mm on the side of the impact in under 0.5 seconds.

The 4th gen A8’s suspension system makes use of sensors which are connected to the central driver assistance controller (zFAS). The sensors along with zFAS controller can detect a side impact collision at speeds greater than 25 km/h. Thus, in case of a collision, the brunt of the force will be borne by the car's floor pan and side sills rather than the doors. Audi claims that this reduces the load on the occupants due to the side impact by up to 50 percent.

According to Audi, the A8 was the first production car specifically developed for autonomous driving. The car gets functions like traffic jam assist, for driving in slow moving traffic up to 60 km/h. It also gets a remote parking feature that lets the car unpark and park itself out of a parking / garage space on its own - without the driver present in the car.

The A8 will get a choice of two turbo V6 engine options - a 282 BHP 3.0-litre TDI diesel and a 335 BHP 3.0-litre TFSI petrol. In some markets, Audi will launch the A8 and A8L with a choice of 4.0-litre petrol and diesel engines with 429 BHP and 453 BHP, respectively. An e-tron plug-in hybrid variant of the A8L will also be available. It will use a 3.0-litre V6 TFSI petrol engine along with an electric motor to cumulatively develop 443 BHP and 700 Nm of torque with an all-electric range of 50 km.

https://youtu.be/TchqhDUbP8w

Source - Car and Driver

Link to Team-BHP News

lamborghini · 9th November 2017, 17:24

The new A8 is really impressive with all the tech packed into the car, and just like the old A8 - this has raised the bar for competitors!
At the same time, I can't help but think about the service costs for replacing the suspension and sensors - something that will definitely give a lot of niggles in our conditions!

jalajprakash · 9th November 2017, 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackwasp

The A8 will get a choice of two turbo V6 engine options - a 282 BHP 3.0-litre TDI diesel and a 335 BHP 3.0-litre TFSI petrol. In some markets, Audi will launch the A8 and A8L with a choice of 4.0-litre petrol and diesel engines with 429 BHP and 453 BHP, respectively. An e-tron plug-in hybrid variant of the A8L will also be available. It will use a 3.0-litre V6 TFSI petrol engine along with an electric motor to cumulatively develop 443 BHP and 700 Nm of torque with an all-electric range of 50 km.

The car in the attached video is wearing a W12 Quattro badge so I guess it would be a fair assumption that the W12 will still be available with the newest gen A8.

sandeepmohan · 10th November 2017, 07:58

Active Safety Technology keeps getting better and better with new, innovative ways to keep occupants of the car safe. This may not be the end all solution to protect occupants in a side collision. It transfers the impact to a section of the car that can absorb the impact better.

Assuming there is radar tech at play here or some form of motion sensing, I doubt if this will make it to India. On a lighter note, If they do get this tech to India, I can't help but think about how over worked the system would be. The suspension will be raising one side to the other at almost every intersection.

gjnnbagal · 1st May 2020, 16:17

Recently came across this video on YouTube about Audi A8 having this active suspension with side impact safety feature, quick search on the Team BHP and this thread is already here for a long time.

Come to know that, this car has over 40 driver assistance systems involved for all those list of high end features. Indeed, very innovative. Apart from serving the luxury to the owner, I wonder, how much this thing would cost for its repair in case some system/sensor goes kaput?
It would cost a bomb for sure. Car insurance companies must be taking huge premium before insuring such cars keeping in mind about the potential claim amount it could incur in the future. Although the person who can afford to buy this car, won't mind spending hefty sum on insurance.

9th November 2017, 17:24	#2
lamborghini Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 6,114 Thanked: 5,763 Times View My Garage	re: Audi A8's active suspension rises before side impact to save occupants The new A8 is really impressive with all the tech packed into the car, and just like the old A8 - this has raised the bar for competitors! At the same time, I can't help but think about the service costs for replacing the suspension and sensors - something that will definitely give a lot of niggles in our conditions!
	(1) Thanks

10th November 2017, 07:58	#4
sandeepmohan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Wellington Posts: 3,133 Thanked: 5,443 Times	re: Audi A8's active suspension rises before side impact to save occupants Active Safety Technology keeps getting better and better with new, innovative ways to keep occupants of the car safe. This may not be the end all solution to protect occupants in a side collision. It transfers the impact to a section of the car that can absorb the impact better. Assuming there is radar tech at play here or some form of motion sensing, I doubt if this will make it to India. On a lighter note, If they do get this tech to India, I can't help but think about how over worked the system would be. The suspension will be raising one side to the other at almost every intersection.
	(4) Thanks

1st May 2020, 16:17	#5
gjnnbagal BHPian Join Date: Jan 2019 Location: Solapur Posts: 164 Thanked: 582 Times	Re: Audi A8's active suspension rises before side impact to save occupants Recently came across this video on YouTube about Audi A8 having this active suspension with side impact safety feature, quick search on the Team BHP and this thread is already here for a long time. Come to know that, this car has over 40 driver assistance systems involved for all those list of high end features. Indeed, very innovative. Apart from serving the luxury to the owner, I wonder, how much this thing would cost for its repair in case some system/sensor goes kaput? It would cost a bomb for sure. Car insurance companies must be taking huge premium before insuring such cars keeping in mind about the potential claim amount it could incur in the future. Although the person who can afford to buy this car, won't mind spending hefty sum on insurance.
	() Thanks