Bose is most commonly known for its stereo systems and other home entertainment gear. The truth is that the company holds tons of patents, which it licenses to shrewdly fund research and development in a wide variety of areas, seemingly following the whims of Dr. Bose himself. The company has been working on electromechanical suspension systems for years now - I was even passed by one of their tricked out Lexuses while on my way up the hill to their Framingham, MA headquarters once. The video we've embedded after the jump shows the system in action, and compares it with a conventionally suspended LS400 with nifty split-screen footage. The results are dramatic, but we're curious if the cars were being driven at the same speed through the course. Be sure to watch to the end, where engineers let loose and jump the thing.
Thanks for the tip, fooman!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
theguru @ Sep 21st 2007 6:40PM
HOLY SH**
What the F***
Mutha FU**er
Is this for real? no details on how the mechanism works or is this a prank?
rem83 @ Sep 21st 2007 6:42PM
It's a pretty standard linear electro-magnetic actuator. Basically a coil and a magnet. This has been posted on auto-blog several times (although I'm not sure if this exact video has) and, like dan says, has been in development for years, which is how old this story is.
munim @ Sep 21st 2007 6:43PM
Older than Jesus.
JR @ Sep 21st 2007 6:48PM
Yeah this video is pretty old...
Arnold K. @ Sep 21st 2007 7:11PM
Ugh, this is so old. Now that AB reposted it, that means an influx of people posting it all over forums...again.
Snowdog @ Sep 21st 2007 7:12PM
I have been seeing this stuff for over a decade (maybe 20 years now) but nothing ever reaches production.
Dan Roth @ Sep 21st 2007 8:40PM
My prediction: it'll be a long time, if ever, before the system makes it to production. Like other commenters have said, linear actuators require gobs of juice - producing current weighs a lot when you factor in uprated alternators, heavier gauge wiring, and the weight of the actuators themselves. The cars do look weird in person, you glimpse one and immediately know that what you're looking at is one of their mules. The R&D on this system has likely already paid significant dividends to the rest of the company through technology sharing. Speakers aren't very different from linear actuators - now if they could just get their audio gear to sound like there's not a wool blanket over the speakers, they'd be all set.
Golferal @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:42AM
Agreed Dan. There's the old saying: "No highs, no lows, must be Bose!".
why not the LS2LS7? @ Sep 21st 2007 7:19PM
GM started working on stuff like this (linear actuator suspension) in the 80s.
If you replace springs with linear motors (as they seem to have), do you realize how much power it will take to hold up your car against gravity? LOTS. And that power comes right out of your gas tank.
I think GMs ferrofluid suspension stuff is a lot more promising. Ferrari seems to agree.
MikeW @ Sep 22nd 2007 12:17AM
No, they didn't.
The had to fit longitudinal torsion bars, and keep the dampers, while fiting the big actuator.
There was a cutaway drawing in motortrend a long way back. This was a hack to show off cool Bose tech.
Joe K. @ Sep 21st 2007 7:28PM
So old... Unless we convert to 42 volt electrical systems like they have in Japan, I don't see how it would ever be possible...
speedeeoilandtune1 @ Sep 21st 2007 7:51PM
You'd still need amperage Joe.
Joe K. @ Sep 21st 2007 7:54PM
Hey thanks... I'm sure they thought of that... Now tell me about the risk of creating arcs with higher voltage. I'm just saying the more and more we start liking having all of these electric goodies in the cars with navs and touch screens and headrest screens and LED lighting and all of the goodies the more we need either multiple batteries or extra juice....
Eric Biran @ Sep 21st 2007 9:48PM
They have 42V electrical systems in Japan?! In their cars?! I remember when they thought this was the next big thing in the '90s, but it seems like manufacturers have all but obandoned the 42V car for the near future. I forget if it was batteries, or the complication of having redundant electrical systems at 12V and 42V while all the electronics suppliers catch up.
When I first read about the Bose suspension in Motor Trend or Road & Track 5-10 years ago, they said the people from Bose told them, "Watch how close we can stop to this plank." And then they did the last demonstration where they jumped it. That must have been a major surprise to see.
Fooman @ Sep 21st 2007 8:04PM
Woot, sorry I suggested it, I had not seen it before, sure it is old but it is pretty dynamic demo of a very effective active suspension. And the jump is pretty cool.
Sue Esponte @ Sep 21st 2007 8:09PM
The Bose suspension on the LS400 has been around for years. This particular compilation may be new but some of the clips have been around for a while. More importantly, did anyone notice that the damn thing looks like a 4x4 from the side in order to accommodate all of the extra wheel travel needed to keep the body of the car static? It might be an amazing system but the car looks like holy hell.
MKIV @ Sep 21st 2007 8:33PM
My thought exactly. This would be a great set up for a SUV or a Truck. Great handling and off road performance.
Carguy @ Sep 21st 2007 8:12PM
LED's consume far less energy than conventional lighting, Einstein
Carlos @ Sep 21st 2007 8:22PM
That is simple amazing, I was laughing like a girl when it jumped over that small obsticle. Also Lotus was one of the first to make an active suspension except I believe it was pnuematic and was canned because of its weight. This would be awesome in larger cars but I can't see this being used in a sports car for many reasons.
Steve @ Sep 21st 2007 8:34PM
HA, Ohh man thats priceless! The jump is amazing!!!