I was watching Daily Planet on the Discovery Chanel last night, and there was a brief segment on the new Audi R8. Well, relatively new to North America, at least. What is new with regards to cars, anyways? It was new to me, anyways. Back off! I know many people more interested in Automobiles then myself, yet I must say that this car looks awesome.
The most interesting thing I saw on the TV spot was the explanation of the dynamic fluid-controlled suspension damping system. Below is a link to the press release from Delphi, the company that makes the system Audi used. Its worth a read for more details.
Delphi’s MagneRide semi-active suspension uses magneto-rheological fluid to provide continuously variable real-time suspension damping control. It responds in real time to road and driving conditions based on input from sensors that monitor vehicle body and wheel motion.
The suspension fluid has iron particles in it. The system uses magnetic force to direct the particles in such a way as to adjust the suspension. Even better, the system can monitor road conditions and driving style to do this in an intelligent fashion. Very cool stuff.
Now, all loving aside, the real question is where do people drive a car with a top speed of over 300km/h? An earlier Boil Before Drinking post on Speed Limits and Safety, which I didn’t agree with 100%, becomes more relevant when you have an Audi R8 on the road, where the assumption is the driver would like to use more then 1/3 the speed capacity.
Some links:
Audi’s R8 Site
Car and Driver.com: 2008 Audi R8 – Road Tests