Magnetic shocks

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When are the after market suspension mob going to get off their bums and bring out some of these magnetorheological fluid shocks ?

Most of this technology is at least 7 years old.

Very basically the fluid in the shocks is filled with magnetic material. When this fluid is magnetised the fluid viscosity increase and in turn gives the shock slower recoil, i.e. harder more sporty performance.

These would be perfect for on-road (Magnetised - HARD) and off road (Soft) use in a 4wd.

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Saw the same kind of thing on Top Gear last night, the Audi TT has them.

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Is there much difference to the currently used Solenoid valved shock systems?

EG: Grande has different settings (4) for shock performance form a switch on the dash. Super soft to Hard settings via a small solenoid/Stepper motor on top of the shock.

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Team Piggy wrote
EG: Grande has different settings (4) for shock performance form a switch on the dash. Super soft to Hard settings via a small solenoid/Stepper motor on top of the shock


After using mine during the outings with the W.A team they work very well,much better offroad than i thought they would.

The comfort setting which is the softest works great on corrigations,while setting 4 being hardest is good for general offroad (ruts and bush tracks).
I dont think setting 4 is hard enough though for high speed twisty road sections.

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Bugger !! I missed top gear AGAIN the other night, SBS keep changing the day and time its on !!

I think there are about a dozen or so sport car models which have these shocks. I think from memory that GM holds one of the core patents as they were fitted to one of their behemoth urban US 4wds back in 2003.

Re Grande: I haven't had the chance to take a bopeep at the Grande setup, but from my understanding I beleive they have a variable Air Bag "springs" with solenoid controlled values fitted inside each shock to regulate fluid/gas movement. Some one with more knowledge on this should correct me ???

The good thing about the magnetic design is they have no extra moving parts to fail. The only extra piece is a sheild magnet on the outside. From my latest readings I believe they are now using a variable magnetic field, hence they have the ability to make use of a complete gradient in flow.

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ask the HSV guys who are having the computer flashed to turn off the magnetic control shocks, and you will find out why they arent going that way.

There is a new way to make shocks on the horizon, which will supersede magnetic ride control, as it was a flop from the start, except very specialised and expensive options.