Audi is preparing to introduce new lightweight polymer springs that are designed to enhance suspension modification as well as efficiency.
Set to debut in an executive class design before the end of the year, the fibre glass-reinforced polymer (GFRP) springs are obviously 40 per cent lighter than their traditional steel counterparts.
Developed together with an Italian supplier, the core of each spring features a number of glass fibres that are twisted together as well as infused with epoxy resin. further strands are wrapped around the centre, resulting in a somewhat larger diameter as well as a lower number of coils.
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Overall this sees the 2.7kg weight of a traditional steel spring cut to 1.6kg for a GFRP spring, resulting in a integrated weight reduction of 4.4kg. According to Audi, half of this impacts the unsprung mass, enabling the suspension to react quicker as well as so take in flaws more effectively.
“The GFRP springs save weight at a essential place in the chassis system,” explained the German manufacturer’s R&D chief Dr Ulrich Hackenberg. “We are therefore making driving more precise as well as improving vibrational comfort.”
Additional declared benefits include the absence of corrosion, even if springs ended up being chipped, as well as resistance to chemicals such as those discovered in wheel cleaners. This suspension set-up likewise needs less energy to create than one utilizing steel springs.
When these new fibre glass-reinforced polymer springs show up this autumn, expect to see it in at least one of Audi’s ‘ultra’ designs – an efficiency-focused specification that currently extends to the A4, A5 as well as A6 line-ups in the UK.
As we solely exposed last month, this latest innovation will likewise be complied with in the not-too-distant-future by a power-generating suspension system from Audi.