Porsche Active Ride

[f1eng]

I’d put that point in a similar category of misunderstanding as carbon ceramic brakes; where the primary benefit is reducing unsprung mass and reducing rotating mass. I’m sure someone will say that they have better high temp resistance, which is true, but your daily driver isn’t an F1 car.

The difference between Iron and composite brakes on a F1 car is just weight, not unsprung (that made no difference) but just weight, the lap time gain is entirely just the weight saving, 10kg lighter is around 0.35 secs per lap quicker wherever the weight comes from and composite brakes are well worth it for that. The reduction in rotational inertia is very small, Inertia is totally dominated by the tyre.

Compared to Iron composite are less consistent when cold and at high temperature just wear quickly or catch fire (they are just high tech coal really) rather than fail due to cracking or fluid boiling.

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[Mr.Smith]

RAHRCR and Perry make good points. One of the often misunderstood benefits of PDCC is the increased comfort. By not using traditional sway bars the suspension is de-coupled and therefor each corner is truly independent. Whereas in a traditional anti-roll bar setup a bump on the left is transmitted to the right via the anti-roll bar.

I’d put that point in a similar category of misunderstanding as carbon ceramic brakes; where the primary benefit is reducing unsprung mass and reducing rotating mass. I’m sure someone will say that they have better high temp resistance, which is true, but your daily driver isn’t an F1 car.

Audi uses their version of the PDCC on some of their SUVs, for comfort, not better lap times on the track.

My thought was PDCC helps in comfort as well as better handling

 

[JAGMAN]

You are correct, both better comfort and handling. On a Porsche handling is prioritized.

 

[JAGMAN]

The difference between Iron and composite brakes on a F1 car is just weight, not unsprung (that made no difference) but just weight, the lap time gain is entirely just the weight saving, 10kg lighter is around 0.35 secs per lap quicker wherever the weight comes from and composite brakes are well worth it for that. The reduction in rotational inertia is very small, Inertia is totally dominated by the tyre.

Compared to Iron composite are less consistent when cold and at high temperature just wear quickly or catch fire (they are just high tech coal really) rather than fail due to cracking or fluid boiling.

Not sure if you meant to, but you just made my point. ?

 

[f1eng]

Not sure if you meant to

I did.

I was also keen to point out that the difference in unsprung mass is measurably unimportant on a racing car, and I would expect it to actually be on a road car too, based on the even more favourable ratio they already have, though I haven’t done an objective test.

Mind you the marketing maybe leads to expectation bias and better to have customers believing their expensive extra has something other than looking nicer to justify it

 

[minstril]

I have PDCC on my GTS, and I think it makes a noticeably better ride. I drove a brand new base Taycan (also with air suspension) as a loaner for a week this winter while my heater was getting replaced. I did notice a pretty different feel between the two cars - the loaner was noticeably less level and firm in everyday stuff like a freeway cloverleaf, or when absorbing uneven surfaces. I wouldn’t describe it as “bad”, but it felt a bit more sloshy.

Honestly not sure how much of that is the GTS’s specific suspension setup, PDCC, or both, but if I turn on the little PDCC display on the dash it claims to be doing a little something all the time.

 

[W1NGE]

PDCC does more than simply keeping the car flat….this is one of the most misunderstood Porsche options. The active ride isn’t a rebranded PDCC, it’s a completely different approach. In general, Porsche handling is excellent and when you spec more handling related features you get more range of usability not a trade off in handling or comfort. That said, you also get more complexity. It’s the cost and complexity that I am concerned about.

I had PDCC on my Cayenne GTS and figured it was a complete waste of money - you can't really defy the laws of physics.

The only time I experienced PDCC properly was hairing around Silverstone on my experience day with a similarly equipped car. Not something you can do on public roads.

PDCC is gone Active Ride is (in my view) more of the same with at least one useful new feature that should be available on any car equipped with air suspension to address ingress / egress issues for us old folk.

 

[JAGMAN]

Perhaps Active Ride is a modern version of the old Lexus system (and maybe Bose) from the 1990’s. They were awesome on paper and on a test car, but the tech wasn’t ready for prime time.

 

[W1NGE]

The main USP of Active Ride over PDCC is not actually track performance, but increased comfort. It goes so far that most of the new features are only active in Normal mode and not Sport or Sport Plus.

Here's the section about Active Ride from the PDF that was posted earlier:

Thanks for sharing!

I can see the folks at Porsche Marketing had a field day when they dreamt this up!

Pay your money and make your choice but Taycan Gen 1 has a fantastic chassis and ride as it is IMHO and highly unlikely that much of the above will be noticeable / discernable on a daily commute. Still does not justify the cost.

Worthy of a blind test drive - with, without to see what gives particularly on real roads - potholes etc.

 

[W1NGE]

Perhaps Active Ride is a modern version of the old Lexus system (and maybe Bose) from the 1990’s. They were awesome on paper and on a test car, but the tech wasn’t ready for prime time.

Isn't it Merc's 'Magic Carpet' ex S-Class rebranded?

 

[j.w.s]

Any thoughts on Porsche Active Ride?

Does it sound like it will give it less engaging ride?

I am very much looking forward to giving Active Rid a try! My assumption is that it provides at least some performance benefits (Because Porsche) while also providing a ton of comfort benefits. The Taycan with air suspension and PDCC is already a joy to drive at low speeds and over bumps, but I can imagine that tech like Active Ride could make it even more impressive.

 

[Chas1]

The difference between Iron and composite brakes on a F1 car is just weight, not unsprung (that made no difference) but just weight, the lap time gain is entirely just the weight saving, 10kg lighter is around 0.35 secs per lap quicker wherever the weight comes from and composite brakes are well worth it for that. The reduction in rotational inertia is very small, Inertia is totally dominated by the tyre.

Compared to Iron composite are less consistent when cold and at high temperature just wear quickly or catch fire (they are just high tech coal really) rather than fail due to cracking or fluid boiling.

Can you swap out standard brake discs for ceramic ones after say six years or so? Or coated discs, do these last or does the coating wear off in relation to rusty discs? I just have standard discs at the moment but they seem pretty good really. And I’m not tracking my Taycan ! Well not just yet.

 

[Mr.Smith]

I am very much looking forward to giving it a try! My assumption is that it provides at least some performance benefits (Because Porsche) while also providing a ton of comfort benefits. The Taycan with air suspension and PDCC is already a joy to drive at low speeds and over bumps, but I can imagine that tech like Active Ride could make it even more impressive.

The J1 suspension is an offspring of the Panamera 3 chamber air suspension, PDCC a more mature technology with a weight penalty.

I would be curious to know if this new suspension is specific to the J1 II

As an FYI the J1 chassis is also a modified Panamera chassis

 

[f1eng]

Can you swap out standard brake discs for ceramic ones after say six years or so? Or coated discs, do these last or does the coating wear off in relation to rusty discs? I just have standard discs at the moment but they seem pretty good really. And I’m not tracking my Taycan ! Well not just yet.

I don’t know.
I favour cast Iron for feel and effectiveness when cold, particularly on a Taycan where almost all of my braking is regenerative. The plated and composite brakes do look a lot nicer though.
So I rarely look

 

[bluesky]

I think there's some misunderstanding in some posts about what PAR is. Here's some additional info besides the PDF.

https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/press-kits/taycan/Das-Fahrwerk.html
https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/press-kits/taycan/Porsche-Active-Ride.html

Which are just chapters off of here:
https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/press-kits/taycan.html

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