Manual vs. Electronic controller for air ride suspension. Should I spend the money?

[wise345]

So I'm going to be picking up a bag system soon and I've come to notice if I want an electronic controller it is significantly more expensive than if I were to just get a manual controller. Is there some huge benefit to electronic over just a manual system? Why should I spend hundreds more on it?

[Bluehwy]

I have just ordered the Airlift V2 system and prior to that I was asking a lot of the same question that you are. So i'll share my story and hopefully it helps with your decision.

Manual System:

Is basically what it sounds like, you have 4 paddle switches and each switch controls an air bag. So if you air out your car when you park it, upon re-entering you have to individually air up each air bag.

Digital System:

With the digital system you can program your car to raise to a certain pressure when you start your car. It will also monitor pressure in your bags so if you have a slow leak it can maintain pressure in your system long enough to get somewhere safe.

What sold me on the Digital vs Manual was installation. I will be doing my own install, so I wanted a kit that was fairly straight forward.

If you look at the manual kit you have a bar with 4 paddle switches and 2 pressure gauges that need to be mounted fairly close together. Also it needs to be a fairly spacious area because if you look at the plumbing diagram for the switches and gauges its a mess of hoses that you need to run behind there.

With the Digital kit its just one wire and one control I can tuck neatly away in the front, the rest of the wiring and plumbing will be in the trunk.

Hope this helps!