How much power does Active ride require? I remember reading that Williams stopped using it in '88 due to the lack of power from the Judd engine.
If it was allowed again, would the loss of power make the cars slower? I think Williams could use it in the early '90s as the Renault engine was the most powerful.
It would depend on your definition of "active ride" an what you would want to do with such a system - IMHO
IIRC correctly, and I may not, it was reported that the Lotus F1 system used something in the range of 4.5-6 kW (6-8 hp) to driver their hydraulic based active system in F1.
in a thesis about an electro magnetic based system, similar to what BOSE want's to do/does(?), power requirement for a full sized sedan road car was estimated with about 2 kW peak power for the front actuators (4kN max. force required), while the RMS mean value is below 100W for normal city driving.
Actuator bandwidth was 50 Hz, in this study.
One of the main factors, is what you want your "active ride" to do?
If it is only to "level" the aero platform and maintain ride height, the bandwidth requirement would be low, if you want to compensate for inertial forces/movements (roll, pitch & squat etc.) it becomes a bit higher but it's still fairly low (<15 Hz) This would be a system along the lines of Mercedes ABC (Active Body Control), and to my understanding, this was the approach Williams took for their F1 system. on the other hand, if you want a "fully" active system, which can control the movement of the unsprung mass/suspension and tyre as well, you need higher actuator bandwidth and such a system would require/draw more power as well,because it requires a much faster response --> less time to do work (move an actuator) = more power needed.
Other considerations which have a affect on the power consumption, is the weight/mass of the vehicle and the max. suspension travel required. A full active F1 car, on a smooth(ish) race track would require less power then a off road race vehicle.
I would like to think, that if we consider active systems from a power density vs. weight and installation volume required point of view, a hydraulic based system seems more likely for F1, unless other solutions are "actively encouraged"/preferred by the rules.
Edited by TC3000, 21 April 2014 - 23:22.