Active Ride - Less sporty? - Take or avoid?

[anonymouse]

Just got a sport Turismo Turbo which has Active Ride and so far I’m a huge fan. It smoothes out an enormous number of the tiny bumps on our bad UK roads. Cornering is far more pleasant especially for the passengers in both front and back; but does not take away any of the vehicle’s amazing ability to generate g-force. When you enter sport mode, it reduces the damping so you can still hurtle around corners and feel it.

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[ze_shark]

Makes complete sense. And the strengths at those speeds would probably need even stronger components.

I think that the longitudinal and lateral forces in question are exactly the same whatever the speed is.
The mapping of the system is probably progressive to prevent sudden transitions and threshold effects, and bleeds off to neutral at high speed as referenced in the R&T article:

The Taycan will counteract natural lateral and longitudinal acceleration forces until about 93 mph. Beyond there, you can expect to experience more typical body motions that a non-Active Ride Taycan would exhibit. How come?

"When you're at those speeds, you want to know what the tires are doing. That's why it starts falling back and getting back to the more traditional suspension," a Porsche spokesperson told us.

But Active Ride has to stay active since there are no physical stabilizer bars.

Not much squat to counter above 93mph, but i wonder if they still compensate the dive on braking.

 

[whitex]

Active ride is not active in the sport and sport plus mode. In normal mode only. So you can turn it off and switch to sport or sport plus.

That is not true. While it operates differently in different driving modes, it is always active.

 

[Rbwalters]

That is not true. While it operates differently in different driving modes, it is always active.

Yea, I’m learning that. It’s the active pitch and tilt control part of the comfort features that are turned off in sport and sport plus that are turned off.

 

[f1eng]

Yea, I’m learning that. It’s the active pitch and tilt control part of the comfort features that are turned off in sport and sport plus that are turned off.

Not so.
Active always controls pitch and roll whatever mode, it is the degree of control which changes with mode, like with PDCC but more degrees of freedom controlled.
The comfort mode gimmick of leaning into corners and reverse pitch, which can be selected or not in normal mode, are just not available in the sport modes.

Maybe I am being provocative calling those "gimmicks" I haven't tried them but would probably disable them in normal mode myself. For me I just expect a good ride in normal mode.

 

[Sar]

Chiming in here since I've had my new (and first) Taycan for about a week now. I wasn't able to test drive with Active Ride when I originally ordered mine, but I added it to my order. I read many articles and watched many videos of Active Ride, and they all made it sound like the smoothest (almost floaty) ride one could ever ask for.

Having driven it for a week, I was rather disappointed in it. I still feel the road more strongly than I expected, and potholes/bumps in the road give very strong feedback. This isn't nearly as floaty as my mother's fairly base Mercedes' suspension, for reference. But that's fine, it just feels more sporty and fun to drive.

As a side note, I went back to drive my Model Y for a trip yesterday after driving the Taycan for a week, and only then did I realize how great the Taycan felt. The Model Y literally feels like driving a refrigerator, and I never noticed it all these years until stepping into my new Taycan.

 

[Rbwalters]

Not so.
Active always controls pitch and roll whatever mode, it is the degree of control which changes with mode, like with PDCC but more degrees of freedom controlled.
The comfort mode gimmick of leaning into corners and reverse pitch, which can be selected or not in normal mode, are just not available in the sport modes.

Maybe I am being provocative calling those "gimmicks" I haven't tried them but would probably disable them in normal mode myself. For me I just expect a good ride in normal mode.

I guess I'm just unclear why the manual says

Not so.
Active always controls pitch and roll whatever mode, it is the degree of control which changes with mode, like with PDCC but more degrees of freedom controlled.
The comfort mode gimmick of leaning into corners and reverse pitch, which can be selected or not in normal mode, are just not available in the sport modes.

Maybe I am being provocative calling those "gimmicks" I haven't tried them but would probably disable them in normal mode myself. For me I just expect a good ride in normal mode.

So, I'm unclear what unchecking these options actually does or doesn't do, and why the manual says they are unavailable in Sport and Sport Plus?

 

[Sar]

I guess I'm just unclear why the manual says

So, I'm unclear what unchecking these options actually does or doesn't do, and why the manual says they are unavailable in Sport and Sport Plus?

F1eng's message is exactly right. It's the amount of pitch/roll. With those options selected, the car very slightly leans forward when accelerating, back when decelerating, and it leans into turns. What this means is the car is unnaturally leaned into those directions during those actions. IMO It's subtle, I like it, and it feels great.

With the options off, it acts as a normal suspension would during those actions.

 

[f1eng]

I guess I'm just unclear why the manual says

So, I'm unclear what unchecking these options actually does or doesn't do, and why the manual says they are unavailable in Sport and Sport Plus?

All it means is that those gimmicks are only available in normal mode.
The suspension itself is active all the time, it has to be, all that varies in the different modes will be the response and simulated spring and damper rates chosen by the engineers as best for each mode.
These gimmicks are additionally available but only in normal mode, which personally I would leave off but may well be the only thing most owners notice about active ride.

A bit like most people noticing and mentioning the increased manouverability with rear wheel steer despite the fact that its raison d'etre is actually better cornering response and the smaller turning circle a convenient byproduct.

 

[ze_shark]

Posting this here as well:

So here is an interesting comment that echoes my impressions:

"But here, on uneven—but not bumpy—winding roads, we found it induced an odd side-to-side motion in Normal mode that was genuinely nauseating. And both cars, fitted with the $1330 rear-axle steering, suffered from unsettlingly nonlinear steering feel just off center, whether when initiating a turn or straightening the wheel out of one. We resolved the former complaint simply by switching the Turbo into Sport mode, where the stiffer setup calmed its suspension movements; we'll need to experience a Taycan without the rear-axle steering to know the role it plays in the latter. "

And it comes from the C&D review of the J1.2.

I have the same stubborn observation. Active Ride is really flawed in Normal mode on ondulating pavement. These problems disappear in Sport/Sport+ mode, where Active Ride shines because of its improved blend of body roll control and compliance.

With its standard adaptive dampers and air springs, the Taycan 4 is perfectly comfortable in Normal mode, with no unnatural behaviors. The upside of Active Ride becomes apparent in the firmer suspension settings. In the 4, Sport Plus is too stiff over broken pavement, tossing occupants about over big bumps and divots, but the Turbo's Active Ride kept it from ever feeling as flinty.

So contrary to certain beliefs, Active Ride is the better solution in sports driving, but is a flawed solution [at least on Cross Turismos] in Normal mode. It is a bit hard to understand that the selling point is the opposite of what Porsche marketed.

 

[anonymouse]

So contrary to certain beliefs, Active Ride is the better solution in sports driving, but is a flawed solution [at least on Cross Turismos] in Normal mode. It is a bit hard to understand that the selling point is the opposite of what Porsche marketed.

This is not my experience with my Turbo Sport Turismo - I think Active Ride provides an improved experience in normal mode on all types of road. But then our UK roads are terrible in ways that your terrible US roads aren't.

 

[Mr.Smith]

Posting this here as well:



I have the same stubborn observation. Active Ride is really flawed in Normal mode on ondulating pavement. These problems disappear in Sport/Sport+ mode, where Active Ride shines because of its improved blend of body roll control and compliance.



So contrary to certain beliefs, Active Ride is the better solution in sports driving, but is a flawed solution [at least on Cross Turismos] in Normal mode. It is a bit hard to understand that the selling point is the opposite of what Porsche marketed.

Wouldn't the Active Skyhook help on those rough roads?

 

[ze_shark]

It should, tries to by affording a lot of vertical compliance, but that vertical compliance translates from a certain speed range into parasitic sideways wiggles that are very disturbing. And we are not talking about horrible, broken pavement.

 

[Sar]

This is not my experience with my Turbo Sport Turismo - I think Active Ride provides an improved experience in normal mode on all types of road. But then our UK roads are terrible in ways that your terrible US roads aren't.

Might want to check his location again (Malaysia), but I do believe the Car and Driver folks are in US (looks like Florida or Georgia license plates, can't really tell). Everyone's going to have their own impressions, and my own impressions are that active ride is fine in all settings. I've never felt like it was too reactive on any of the windy or messy roads we have outback here.

 

[ze_shark]

I do not believe that Malaysian or Michigan (C&D) roads are a valid pursuit. It happens on reasonably good roads, far better than one can expect to find in many US states.

A lingering question is whether this afflicts Cross Turismos specifically.
I do not find it to be ride height dependent, but i cannot exclude that the Normal mode damping/steering/PAR setup of CTs is different from Sedans and Sport Turismos.

With C&D echoing my observations so spot on, it certainly discounts that it is specific to my car (or me hallucinating).

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