Benz launches world's first seeing suspension

Bending a car’s suspension so it leans into corners like a motorbike might be the flagship piece of innovation in Mercedes-Benz’s new S-Class Coupe, but don’t expect it to make the car any faster in bends.

While motorcycle riders have to lean into corners or risk both not turning at all and just plain falling off, Benz’s engineering team insists its new Curve Tilting Function isn’t a speed-lifting system.

“It’s aimed at making the vehicle feel more secure, especially for the passengers,” S-Class Chief Engineer Dr Hermann Storp said during the S-Class Coupe launch in Tuscany this week.

“It’s the world’s first seeing suspension system, but it’s an extension of the Magic Body Control we launched in the S-Class limousine.”

The Curve Tilting Function will be an option on the S-Class Coupe (and will find its way into the S-Class limousine as well) and is designed to lean the car heavily towards the inside of corners.

“This reduces the lateral acceleration for the passengers and that means they’re always more comfortable. They don’t experience the same lateral acceleration because the forces push them more down into the seat and less sideways across the seat,” he explained.

The system piggybacks the Magic Body Control package, which uses a stereo camera mounted behind the windscreen to scan the road up to 15 metres ahead for unsettling bumps and then organises the active suspension in time to neutralise them.

To deliver the Curve Tilting Function, Dr Storp’s team combined the Magic Body Control hardware and software and dialed in steering angle, acceleration, lateral acceleration and even satellite-navigation data to detect corners and judge their severity.

“But what it does not do is add to the maximum cornering speed of the car because it is just more comfortable,” Dr Storp insisted.

“If you want to drive faster around corners, we suggest you use the Sport button.

“On country roads in particular, the Curve Tilting Function enhances enjoyment and comfort but the aim is not to achieve higher cornering speeds. It’s to make the car glide more elegantly through bends.”

Depending on the severity of the corner, the system’s computer activates each of the four suspension-topping 'plungers' independently in fractions of a second to tilt the car, lifting the outside while lowering the inside.

The Curve Tilting Function operates in the Curve damper mode of the S-Class Coupe, but remains switched off in both Comfort and Sport modes. It operates between 15km/h and 180km/h.