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wdo-mkr
06-06-2013, 08:14 PM
Does anyone know if there is an active suspension car we could get a copy of the hood from? Love that hood!


http://search.yahoo.com/tablet/s?p=active+suspension+zr-1&fr=ipad


http://www.supercars.net/Pics?v=y&s=c&id=4349&p=1990_ChevroletCorvette_ZR1ActiveSuspension1.jpg

GOLDCYLON
06-07-2013, 09:10 AM
Does anyone know if there is an active suspension car we could get a copy of the hood from? Love that hood!


http://search.yahoo.com/tablet/s?p=active+suspension+zr-1&fr=ipad


http://www.supercars.net/Pics?v=y&s=c&id=4349&p=1990_ChevroletCorvette_ZR1ActiveSuspension1.jpg


I doubt it however prob brett could "Create" some side louvers for you that would be close to a match

-=Jeff=-
06-07-2013, 09:43 AM
I doubt it however prob brett could "Create" some side louvers for you that would be close to a match

I like the cowl rise of the Active hood.. I want a new hood with a 1" (subtle) rise on the cowl.. The smaller Toledo pro is still a bit too much for me

Corvettes White
06-07-2013, 10:23 AM
Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard the vents were from another GM car or truck of the era.

FU
06-07-2013, 10:27 AM
I like the cowl rise of the Active hood.. I want a new hood with a 1" (subtle) rise on the cowl.. The smaller Toledo pro is still a bit too much for me

I feel the same way Jeff.

GOLDCYLON
06-07-2013, 10:40 AM
I feel the same way Jeff.

:dontknow: maybe a 1 inch rise is the correct rise for the hood. Too bad the dont may a 1, 2.5 and 4

-=Jeff=-
06-07-2013, 10:40 AM
I feel the same way Jeff.

there was a thread of interest for a lower rise cowl on CF.. wonder what the status is now..

-=Jeff=-
06-07-2013, 10:41 AM
:dontknow: maybe a 1 inch rise is the correct rise for the hood

maybe, I would have to see both, but the TP one is too much 1/2 that would be about right

FU
06-07-2013, 12:02 PM
http://www.supercars.net/carpics/4349/1990_ChevroletCorvette_ZR1ActiveSuspension1.jpg

Except for the vent's on the side that hood is ideal IMO. TP's low rise is too much , especially from inside the car. Just my opinion as a shorty.

The TP hood effect's the A/C also. The intake for the A/C take's in the heat from the vent's on top of the hood. Plug up the vent's and the hood is just ascetic

Corvettes White
06-07-2013, 02:55 PM
The upper vent from under the hood and the lower vent from the exterior. George

LGAFF
06-07-2013, 06:28 PM
If its from the GM parts bin, those have to be off a pontiac of some sort,

http://www.jamesinsogna.com/Cars/Classic-Cars-and-Motorcycles/i-C8kzVWt/3/M/trans-am-M.jpg

mgbrv8
06-26-2013, 10:38 PM
I wonder how much of the active suspension was lotus's?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPQ66fW9RAM

Dave

USAFPILOT
06-27-2013, 02:13 PM
is the modern magnetic ride control really doing what these active suspension cars were capable of? All magnetic ride control does is change the fluid inside the shock absorber. It doesn't actively level the car does it?

Corvettes White
06-27-2013, 05:18 PM
My guess is that the magneto shocks are an application of some of the research from the active suspension program.

Traditional suspensions have three basic elements in play plus the weight of the car.

The spring, the damper, and road force. The road force is the only thing that normally changes as you drive.

The spring rates and the damper rates are fixed. The springs are soft or stiff and shocks have a fluid with a viscosity and orifice size that does not change. When you order a Corvette, the springs and shocks are selected by the factory based on the suspension ordered, if the car is a convertible or coupe, options installed, etc.

A step up from the traditional system is to make either the spring rate or the damping rate variable with conditions.

In the ZR-1’s the spring rates cannot be changed on the fly but the damping rate is. Orifice size in the shocks can be changed to; tour, sport, or track.

In the new Corvettes, instead of changing the orifice size in the shock, the viscosity is variable. So again, you have taken what is traditionally a constant and made it variable.

The active car takes the whole thing one giant step further. To spring, damper, and road force you add a counter force. This force via the hydraulic cylinder can directly counter the road force. Canceling out the therotical need for springs and shocks all together. So these cars of 25 - 30 years ago are still ahead of the technology in place today. IMHO.

So what was likely learned by Lotus and GM was how to do real time control via a computer on suspension systems, without spending a fortune on hardware. And with cars becoming lighter, this is a very big win.

The active car suspension was to have been a $20,000 option on top of the ZR-1 option effectively making the Corvette a solid $100,000 car in 1990. If you go through GM parts books from the late ‘80’s, you will even find some of the active parts listed in the GM distribution system as the option came very close to production.

So what happened? The story I heard is that the computers of the time could not keep up with the computational requirements of a 180 mph car operating on a track - iIn part because the chassis was very flexible. It may also have been cost, the stick price, service at a Chevy dealership, warrantee expenses.

The whole subject is very interesting. George

Bob Eyres
07-08-2013, 10:13 AM
I've always thought the "Active Hood" is the one they should have used on all ZR-1's. Virtually no rise at the cowl, and a nice, subtle, power bulge over the LT5, perfect. Especially since, with phenolic spacers on my plenum, my hood has been rubbing on the plenum for twenty years.

If somehow that hood get's reproduced, count me in for a group buy. But I can do without the vents. Those "rice boy" vents looked hastily tacked on by engineers.
IMHO, one of GM's best efforts at a good looking hood vent is on the early nineties Lumina, pictured here. That would look great on the ZR-1.

http://www.futureclassicsnj.com/Cars/z34dsfrt.jpg


Functionality?