What does "adaptive dynamics" do?

I'd get it if I had my chance again. I was advised not to bother by the dealer, who said I wouldn't notice the difference in normal driving (which is all I do). However, I like a firmer ride. and I guess that's one of the things AD would have given me. The Evoque without AD makes me feel sea sick!

(29-04-2012 02:50pm)Donny Dog Wrote:  I'd get it if I had my chance again. I was advised not to bother by the dealer, who said I wouldn't notice the difference in normal driving (which is all I do). However, I like a firmer ride. and I guess that's one of the things AD would have given me. The Evoque without AD makes me feel sea sick!

My take on this is that if you are lucky enough to live in the uk anywhere with reasonably fast flowing and switchback roads and more importantly, with a half decent road surface, and you switch to dynamic then the benefits will really come to the fore. My experience is that if the road surface is substandard and you are in dynamic mode then the ride can become "choppy" and this often outweighs the benefits of flatter cornering!

Here in the home counties it is proving to be a bit of a waste of time. The roads are appalling! Dynamic mode stays firmly switched off and in some respect under typical driving conditions I reckon I would then probably be hard pressed to notice much difference between my car with active dampers in Normal mode and a car not fitted with them at all.

To have them or not to have them? I say yes as it gives the extra choice. More likely to use it than a couple of other settings!

(29-04-2012 05:14pm)ChuckieB Wrote:  My experience is that if the road surface is substandard and you are in dynamic mode then the ride can become "choppy" and this often outweighs the benefits of flatter cornering!

That's the point of adaptive dynamics though isn't it? The Adaptive Dynamics are permanently on doing their stuff over sub-standard road conditions. You wouldn't really use the additional Dynamic mode unless you wanted to push on when driving on a nice bendy road.

A lot of people don't realise that when you have a car with Adaptive Dynamics it isn't switchable - you can't disable it and it is there to smooth the ride at all times and when you compare the ride to a car without Adaptive Dynamics its benefits are noticeable and more so as the surface degrades.

However, car's with Adaptive Dynamics also have an extra driving mode setting called Dynamic Mode that is switchable and that stiffens the suspension and steering as makes for a sportier albeit less comfortable ride.

The Autos also have Sport mode which makes the throttle response more urgent and this, coupled with the Dynamic Mode, makes for a pleasantly sporty drive.

But these two modes are optional and in general use the car uses its Adaptive Dynamics to keep the ride nice and smooth.

I've wrestled this in my mind many times. I'm riding 19" rims and in that respect I suspect the ride on purely the smaller rims alone might outweigh the benefits that are being provided by adding the AD option even with its "always on"normal mode and choosing 20's. For anyone buying the Dynamic in the UK it is a done deal anyway. I think therefore it is probably a must have choice if you want to run 20" where AD is not standard. You then have the additional benefit of the switchable dynamic mode.

The only way to tell is then for someone to perhaps lend me their Dynamic

(29-04-2012 05:30pm)Coolbanana Wrote:  That's the point of adaptive dynamics though isn't it? The Adaptive Dynamics are permanently on doing their stuff over sub-standard road conditions. You wouldn't really use the additional Dynamic mode unless you wanted to push on when driving on a nice bendy road.

A lot of people don't realise that when you have a car with Adaptive Dynamics it isn't switchable - you can't disable it and it is there to smooth the ride at all times and when you compare the ride to a car without Adaptive Dynamics its benefits are noticeable and more so as the surface degrades.

However, car's with Adaptive Dynamics also have an extra driving mode setting called Dynamic Mode that is switchable and that stiffens the suspension and steering as makes for a sportier albeit less comfortable ride.

The Autos also have Sport mode which makes the throttle response more urgent and this, coupled with the Dynamic Mode, makes for a pleasantly sporty drive.

But these two modes are optional and in general use the car uses its Adaptive Dynamics to keep the ride nice and smooth.

Does AD make the overall ride firmer (which I would prefer), though? I find that the car wallows (best description I can come up with) a bit on good roads, which leads to my feeling nauseous. I don't mind being knocked about a bit on poor roads.

(29-04-2012 05:59pm)Donny Dog Wrote:  Does AD make the overall ride firmer (which I would prefer), though? I find that the car wallows (best description I can come up with) a bit on good roads, which leads to my feeling nauseous. I don't mind being knocked about a bit on poor roads.

No, not really. It smooths the ride out over uneven surfaces but would otherwise be unnoticed over a car without.

However, if you like a firmer ride all you need to do with an Adaptive Dynamics car is always turn on the Dynamic mode which is akin to the 'feel' of a BMW M-sport.

My personal experience is that a car with AD feels more tied down when in normal road mode .... it's much less floaty .... yet because of the active dampers is more softly sprung ...so its more comfortable over pot holes etc. – if you’ve had a car with air suspension it feels most like that.

TBH it’s in NON Dynamic mode (ie Nornmal road mode) where you get the main benefit of AD .... the firming up on the twisty bits is just the icing on the cake.

(29-04-2012 05:58pm)ChuckieB Wrote:  I think therefore it is probably a must have choice if you want to run 20" where AD is not standard. You then have the additional benefit of the switchable dynamic mode.

Absolutely agree! My car without adaptive dynamics would feel like it is crashing horribly through potholes and the like due to the 20" wheels.

The three components of a suspension strut - the spring, the damper and the mass of the car the strut is supporting combine to form what's called a "spring mass damper" system. Without the damper, the system would have a natural frequency of oscillation (think of a mass supported on a spring, bouncing up and down) and if the mass is excited at that resonant frquency, the amplitude of the oscillations will build uncontrollably. The damper tames that oscillation by providing a braking force which increases with the spead of movemet - the faster the compression of the strut, the more the damper resists what's causing it.

This tames the suspension but because of the different road conditions, the characteristics of the spring and the damper will not suit all circumstances. Adaptive Dampling allows the primary characteristic of the damper to be changed in real time by changing the viscosity of the fuild in it - the stickier the fluid, the greater the resistive force when the strut compresses.

AD therefore works all the time; as a minimum, it needs accelerometers to measure the acceleration in each of the three axes and it adjusts the dampers to suit the different driving conditions (that is, accelerations of the car), the goal being to dampen the oscillations on the one hand and provide a controlled response to step change (bump absorption) on the other. The most sophisticated systems weigh the car at start up and factor that into the calculations.

Even so, it isn't a case of one size fits all and there are two profiles to provide different performance - a softer, floatier ride or a harder, more controlled ride. You should ignore any nonsense from the dealer that the sport mode with 20" wheels is a hard ride, it's still very compliant and provides a feeling of being more in touch.

As for cars without AD, the dampers have a fixed setting which is a compromise across all driving conditions, the key word being compromise. For me, AD is a must have.

(29-04-2012 06:36pm)mark_n Wrote:  The three components of a suspension strut - the spring, the damper and the mass of the car the strut is supporting combine to form what's called a "spring mass damper" system. Without the damper, the system would have a natural frequency of oscillation (think of a mass supported on a spring, bouncing up and down) and if the mass is excited at that resonant frquency, the amplitude of the oscillations will build uncontrollably. The damper tames that oscillation by providing a braking force which increases with the spead of movemet - the faster the compression of the strut, the more the damper resists what's causing it.

This tames the suspension but because of the different road conditions, the characteristics of the spring and the damper will not suit all circumstances. Adaptive Dampling allows the primary characteristic of the damper to be changed in real time by changing the viscosity of the fuild in it - the stickier the fluid, the greater the resistive force when the strut compresses.

AD therefore works all the time; as a minimum, it needs accelerometers to measure the acceleration in each of the three axes and it adjusts the dampers to suit the different driving conditions (that is, accelerations of the car), the goal being to dampen the oscillations on the one hand and provide a controlled response to step change (bump absorption) on the other. The most sophisticated systems weigh the car at start up and factor that into the calculations.

Even so, it isn't a case of one size fits all and there are two profiles to provide different performance - a softer, floatier ride or a harder, more controlled ride. You should ignore any nonsense from the dealer that the sport mode with 20" wheels is a hard ride, it's still very compliant and provides a feeling of being more in touch.

As for cars without AD, the dampers have a fixed setting which is a compromise across all driving conditions, the key word being compromise. For me, AD is a must have.

If only someone had explained it in such details before I ordered the car!

I have a feeling I made a big mistake in not having it, as I can't get on with the ride at all, and hardly drive the car now (preferring my Merc., which manages to be softer and yet much less bouncy/floaty).