It all depends on how it is done. An old VW beetle has IRS, but is not know for superb cornering. On the other hand Camaros with non-independent axles can be made to pull 1 G on the corners ...

I'm only aware of one production car with a fiberglas monoleaf spring: the Corvette. I was thinking more about this for the Datsun 1200:


Suspension Article

If i wanted to make a really good smooth riding datsun, all weight issues included, air bags.

Now i'm not talking slammed.

I've seen demos of what good application of air suspension will do. I'm not easily impressed and generally don't like active suspension, it really improves the ability to hold g's in the corners.

can you do it to a 1200/b210/210/310? sure. It's only engineering and parts.

would it be better than stock? yes, would it be better than the best passive suspension? not all the time but more usable more of the time than passive systems.

why it works? you have less body roll because each corner changes the ride height dynamically.

blah blah blah...

wif air systems changing height...wot do yu do about changing camber angles???

wot about changing roll center heights????

wot about introducing bump steer????

Do u have any idea wot u talikin about???

I don't know how they deal with geometry.

don't be a prat.

I never said it fixed all suspension issues.

bose made an elecrtical strut that used a system like big speaker voice coils, it was used on some lexus.

these are just ideas.

the air suspension demo was an improvment over the OEM suspension, less body roll for sure.

This is like LOW RIDER do...? Do someone do this to the datto..? welcome...

I've never seen a datsun airbagged for anything other than lowriding.

Certainly could be done.

Only a few datsuns airbagged period.

Quote:
Blah blah blah
Obviously you have no idea period

What about bumpsteer??? Well sonnyjim if any type of suspension setup has poor geometry - it will have bumpsteer. Makes no difference whether air, coil or hydraulic.
Do you even know what bumpsteer is and what infact causes it???

As for camber angles and roll centre???
You can if you wish - build a fixed camber angle adjustable height suspension. But this will remove the benifits of the changing camber angle, of which cars are designed with.
At the end of the day. Desired camber angles are are set at the desired ride height on adjustable height suspension just like fixed height suspension.
Roll centre is choosen and suspension geometry is set to give this roll centre at the desired ride height.
Driving at anyother height than the choosen height of where angles were set - will give incorrect angles etc.

So blah blah blah

As to the other thoughts of air being smoother. Its yes and no benifits.
At low air pressures the car will ride just like a car with soft coil suspension and it will have all the same negatives.
At higher air pressures, the car will ride like a car with stiffer coil suspension and with have all the same negatives.

Only benifits of air suspension is if you set it up to give benifits.
By this I mean.
If you set it up to make the desired ride height the maximum ride height and have it reachable at low air pressure. That way you can have soft suspension with set angles and still be able it increase air pressure to give a stiffer suspension, with it still maintaining the same ride height and same set angles.

I still believe it will have negatives when compared to a fixed height suspension which was setup for specific conditions.

What citreon do..?

They have a system where shock absorbtion occurs by fluid being transfered from the front to the back and vice versa. I'm sure someone can explain it better than me

These are three different things:
- airbag suspension
- active suspension
- hydraulic suspension to raise/lower car on demand

Airbags to replace springs have been used for a long, long time.

Active means the suspension changes all the time while you're driving for example shock rate changes in real-time or more spectacularly changing the spring rates in real time. The Bose system I read about last year was experimental, I don't think any production car has ever used it.

When people say "airbagged" these days they usually talking about low-rider stuff.