Has air ride technology really progressed?

[CSG David]

That 400whp nearly gutted "street class AWD" car was 1.4 seconds faster than my full factory trim S2k CR with stock intake and exhaust on 7 day old RS3s at the same Buttonwillow (3.1mi course) time attack event earlier in the year.

With sufficient amount of time and budget, an air system could perform similar to a traditional coilover setup, but remember, valving is the most important feature. Now changing spring rate and damper settings is active suspension territory which I think would cost much more than 4.3k.

[rice_classic]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AME4v3qZkc[/ame]

[AZP Installs]

A few items to note some of which I didn't see mentioned here yet...

1) Changing ride height also necessitates re-corner balancing and re-aligning the car. So you either have it corner balanced for "track" height or "road" height but it definitely won't be the same for both.

2) Cost, as with anything in this world you can pay enough money to make any system work as well as another, but it's a matter of cost and ROI.

3) Weight, 20lbs in a race car makes a difference for sure. A street and track car, not so much, but this is why we remove sound deadening from race and track cars often times

4) Air systems on race cars are not controlled/filled on-board. They are connected when the car pits. Mostly for jacks which are faster than any kind of manual jack you can use, and this matters in a race.

5) I'm unsure how the height relates to the effective spring rate on these. in other words you can change the height of the car yes, but when it's high or low what kind of spring rates are we talking about? Are they variable?

I'm sure the answers to some of these questions are out there.

-mike

[swarb]

While airbags have gotten much better over the last few years with American companies for parts, and better quality bags, there are a few things to take into account.
-That guy is sponsored by air lift performance.
-The video they made on the youtube channel, air vs coilovers, is very biased since it IS their promotional video. They test the air first(aligned) then throw on coilovers for the test. Not exactly a fair comparison especially $$$ wise. (I see a set of st(or kw?) coils in the video).
-Blown bag or leaks require a tow truck(not a real option) or a call for someone to save you. And next day shipping to get your parts. Even with blown megans you will bounce your way home.
-I have seen on two occasions in the last year where a GTI got stuck in low mode(air leak?). They had to drive it onto plywood, then onto wood blocks, then over a scissor jack, then a regular jack, scraping and grinding the ground/fenders/bottom of the car the whole time... It wasn't good.

The people I have spoken to about the setup love it and say it is reliable after the initial install. But most people who buy stuff love it regardless.

If you were low enough not to make it up a trailer or a semi-steep driveway, you are probably too low and your suspension geometry is all out of wack and it would not be ideal on the track.

Or just buy this-

[AZP Installs]

If I didn't live in the Northeast I would have that trailer for our race cars. Unfortunately all those moving parts wouldn't last on a Northeast Trailer.

-mike

[AZP Installs]

I never thought about the failure of the air-spring during a race... That could be either race-ending or worse cause an accident.

-mike