Air Ride and Handling

[FreshLikeSushi]

any more travel and my car will be in the ground.

enough about my awesomeness, what does the OP need to know. he threw out quite a bit of openness

[Brandon C]

Sorry I got back to this so late guys, my main concern was if the handling of the car (how flat it corners, steering precision, etc) would have any severe negative effects on the car, namely an 04 Accord. I was concerned that, since the car is FWD, the bags might not be up to the job of taking the pressures of front-biased driving (IE body roll), and there was mention somewhere that torque steer becomes more noticeable.

I know most people here run AWD or RWD, so torque steer isn't an issue; however, I'm planning on some light modding on the old 3.0, I'd like to break 270 HP, and torque will be around there too.

I've already looked at costs for setups, and I'm assuming I'll have to have some custom magic worked (somehow I doubt a bolt-on kit exists, so I'd make some calls). The car still has to be a DD, and my commute is pretty long, not to mention the old man takes the car from time to time.

Main concern isn't ride quality (sounds like that can only get better from what I've read), so much as how the old girl is going to turn when I go up some back roads.

[Brandon C]

Also, forgot this, but what are the main differences, as far as spring rates to the air pressure in bags? Could I feasibly make the car drive as if there were no suspension mods, but then drop it when I wanted to?

[Jesse@AirLift]

The link below has our Camaro with street tires pulling 1+g on air. I am trying to get our Mustang vids up as we have seen 1.34g at Gingerman raceway. More to come.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8h0oUOf2KI"]YouTube - 2010 Camaro at Gingerman Raceway on Air Lift air suspension[/ame]

[Jesse@AirLift]

The biggest thing is the engineering behind the kit. Suspension know how is always a plus. As a air suspension company we test, test, test. Our valving is designed for the vehicle, along with seals that are meant to handle the internal pressures of the bag.

We run our struts on the dyno to build matched sets. All of our testing is done in real world situations, along with track testing. All that data is then ran through our test rig. Then a million cycles are pumped through it non stop. That is equivalent to 100,000 miles. In a room that hits -40 and +150. They receive side load, and twisting motions through all of this testing also.

http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q73/angry-asian/?action=view&current=DualStrutTest080509.mp4

With all this cool equipment, we test against all of our competitors, be it coils or bags. Having the ability to tune the spring rate of an airspring is a big advantage that we have. Pressure will always be your factor for height and rate, although we have our method's and can work some magic in this area before pressure comes in. Our Camaro rear kit is actual 120 lbs pounds stiffer per side then factory.

We have a lot of new things that will be hitting the market soon enough and its all pointed to the track dogs. In June we will be holding a ride and drive here in MI with some big wig drivers, and media. I will post when and where when it is closer to the date.

[Axix23]

when you go bags, handling shouldn't even be in the same sentence.. It ruins handling...

[kartikeya]

when you go bags, handling shouldn't even be in the same sentence.. It ruins handling...

The posts above you (had you bothered to read them) would prove you wrong.

[shogunner]

when you go bags, handling shouldn't even be in the same sentence.. It ruins handling...

[Brandon C]

Thanks for the info Jesse, haven't been on in a bit. Do you have a general estimate on how much these systems weigh? I'm getting a Miata sometime this summer, and if i were to stance it, I wouldn't want to throw an extra 500 lbs over the rear wheels, or worse yet, kill the space in the trunk to where I can't even run the top.

[Jesse@AirLift]

General weight gain is 10-20 lbs. depending on tank and compressor set ups. If you went with a 2.5-3gallon tank and a single compressor you might see 10-15lbs, and not really lose any trunk space at all.

[Brandon C]

That doesn't sound too bad, actually. Do you guys carry any kits for NA Miatas?