Off road air suspension setting and ride quality

[TomekGnomek]

Hi, I've used the off road setting on Chrono dial for the first time TBH.
Noticed something strange after getting back on flat road - the car "bounced".
Going slow on flat surface I felt jumping up/down a bit (like driving on bumps).
I was worried to accelerate as the car did not feel stable.
Did you notice something like that? Is it normal?

 

[nulled]

Yup! Same here. I did couple of softroad/offroads and the higher you car is the more uncomfortable the ride. I guess more air in the chamber = less space for movement?!

 

[Flighty]

Exactly the same here, put it on to clear some frozen snow ruts and it was very bouncy / skittish

 

[ColdCase]

Conventional air suspension systems use a single flexible rubber airbag to transfer chassis loads to the wheels. In this system the chassis height can be controlled but not the stiffness. Multiple chambered airbag suspensions can control both stiffness and height. I think they use three chambers on the Panamera, dunno about the Macan EV.

Basically, and at the risk of oversimplification, instead of coils springs the car is supported by the air in the air bags. The car suspension is tuned for normal ride heights. To raise the vehicle from normal height, air is pumped into the bags at pressure which, in affect, increases the spring rate. Unless there is some other way to compensate (dynamically adjustable shock settings or multiple chambers, PASM) it will be a stiffer ride. Its a common thing among air adjustable suspensions. Most off road capable vehicles either automatically lower at speed or limit the speed so you don't bounce off the highway.

There are several air suspension tuning sites around that go into more detail. The suspension designer picks bag volume and legnth to target desired ride quality and stiffness. Then compromises from there to provide adjustable ride heights.

Convention is settings called "Off Road" are compromises that optimize ride height at the low speeds, speeds used when riding a logging trail, or through snow drifts, or when you need just a little more height to clear a curb, not optimum for higher road speeds.

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