In many sport suspensions, what you get is ‘the Illusion of Performance(IoP).’ I’d trademark it but would rather focus on the Perfect Ride! That IoP gives your body the sensation of activity – remember that we only sense acceleration, not velocity – but a damper with sharp edges on its force profile will cause time-varying load on the tires. Having a car that doesn’t beat you up is important, even if you’ve cultivated an immunity to the effects of poor damping.

The dampers and suspension are always working.Įven if most of one’s commute is a mountain road with 99 turns in 4 blissful miles, one still has to cross intersections, deal with potholes and other mundane events. As I like to say (and have made a video using suspension potentiometer data to prove), there’s no such thing as a smooth road. Your test drive experience is what will likely sell a particular package.įast forward to your first few months with this car if you commute, most of the time you’re pointed straight and you really don’t want to be jostled all over the place. If they can’t get your attention to begin with, they won’t capture it with pretty brochures or slick commercial spots.

I believe (just as I’m writing this) that car makers know they have very little time to close a sale, like a first impression. Even more so with a disgruntled passenger (“I told you not to get this car!”). What might feel fun on a 5 minute test drive (and help sell the sporty version) could get annoying (or literally painful) with ownership. And if they happen to have a hard-core race version, that is another level all-together. The enthusiast will opt for an (expected) upgrade via the sport version (with infinite colorful names). They assume an average commute-only driver just wants a comfortable car. How they decide to set up a suspension does. OEMs give us lots of specs to get us warm and fuzzy about a car but the majority don’t affect your everyday, commuting-to-work driving experience. So, what the heck does a manufacturer mean when they offer a ‘Sport Suspension’ and is it something you actually want? While I haven’t examined every version available, themes have carried through various makes/models, so what follows are safe generalizations.

Fat cat motorsports review