Hi all,

First of all, I'm looking for something quiet, luxurious, and fun to drive with AWD and 4 doors. I was thinking Audi A3 or Acura RL. Two quite different cars than my wife's IX which I would not want for myself despite how fun it is to drive sometimes.

I read that the Evo X will have active suspension. Maybe with some Dynamat I could make it quiet and the suspension might be quite luxurious. I adored the DSG transmission I had in my Jetta GLI, and I'm happy with my wife's seats in the IX.

The reason I ask is because I'm looking for information on the real-world comfort of the X. If I find out that it's really just set up for the racetrack, I might go ahead with my A3 or RL purchase sooner rather than wait to try the X.

Thanks!

 

Having owned both an Evo and a S4, I can tell you that you will never be able to turn the Evo into as comfortable a car as the Audi. I highly doubt the X will be any different. Top performance, especially handling, usually involves some compromise in the comfort area.

The A3 is a very nice, safe car, but it it's never going to be fast. Even with the faster S4 I had the detached suspension feel and HEAVY weight made me eventually sell it and buy the Evo.

 

Have you driven a car with active suspension before?

 

The Evo X does not have active suspension, if by that you mean a system that actively controls the up-down movement of the wheel assemblies (e.g. the Bose active suspension). The Evo X has "Super AWC" meaning that there is a single computer integrating the control of the center diff and the brakes at each wheel (and maybe the throttle -- not sure) to limit wheel slip and yaw, and generally force the vehicle to stay pointed in the direction requested by the steering wheel.

This has nothing to do with the vertical motion of the wheel assemblies, which are still controlled by the traditional spring and damper combination.

Active suspension can do such things as eliminate body roll during cornering, and thus eliminate the need for negative camber, and the inherent deficiencies of MacPherson struts. This is all wonderful stuff, and I would love to see it in an Evo, but it won't be in the Evo X.

 

It will have active supension and it's called "active roll control". It will part of the S-AWC system. It is similar to what is used on the Dakar Pajero Evolution. This type of suspension system is actually banned in WRC, because it was too effective.

S-AWC will include:

-Active steering.
-Active braking.
-ACD.
-S-AYC.
-Roll control suspension/active suspension.

 

I was at the Detroit Auto Show, looked under the Evo X prototype and it has the standard spring and shock-absorber suspension. Where is the active component of the suspension? Are you saying that it has air shocks whose internal pressure is actively controlled? I don't think so. Is there some other part that is actively controlled to push up or pull down on each wheel? If not, it's not really what is ordinarily meant by "active suspension".

I think the "roll-control" you're referring to is probably just the ability to control the individual brakes and the center or rear diff, to try to lessen body roll during turn-in and other second-order effects. This cannot have any effect in steady-state cornering -- only a true active suspension that pushes down on the outside wheels and pulls up on the inside wheels can eliminate body roll in steady-state cornering. This is simple physics. Check out the Bose web site for cool videos of a true active suspension:

http://www.bose.com/controller?event...p&src=PRJCTSND

 

That's the magic carpet ride that I'm hoping for. The original Lexus suspension would be more than plush enough for me, but see how it's like there are no bumps with the active suspension?

 

point&shoot,

Yes "active suspension" may have been the wrong term in this specific case. That said, the roll control technology is likely to be more than brake control. It has long been suggested that this will most likely be some variation of the Kinetic system used on WRC Citroen, which ,as has been posted by Vigo, was also used on the Dakar winning Pajero - http://www.kinetic.au.com/news.html. The technology was banned from WRC and Dakar from 2006 onward, also mentioned by Vigo.

Remember, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Oh, and just because you didn't see something on the Prototype X, don't assume that it won't be on the Evo X a year from now...or even stuff that you did see on the Proto X.

Back on topic,

Oest, the Evo X looks to be aimed more toward buyers like yourself, keeping just enough to make the die-hards at least somewhat happy. The big unknown is what type of semi-automatic gearbox it will have. This may well affect your preference here.

All will be revealed in 9 months, hopefully

D

 

Thank for clearing that up articfury!