Hydraulic suspension: what are its differences and features?

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

The first car to have hydraulic suspension was

French "Citroen DS". A lot of time has passed since the debut of the newly developed chassis (1954). During this period, mankind managed to develop three generations of this suspension. However, now fewer and fewer manufacturers equip their cars with just such a running system, giving preference to "pneumatics". However, in the US, hydraulic suspension is still highly valued. But why do drivers love her so much?

Design Features

First, let's look at its design. Shock absorbers are the main feature here. The hydraulic suspension is equipped with special conical parts. They differ from conventional shock absorbers in that they are filled with special oil. Also, each part has spherical hydraulic accumulators.

Advantages and disadvantages

So let's start with the positives. The hydraulic suspension was originally distinguished by its durability. And if the pneumatic system can last a maximum of 150 thousand kilometers, then the hydraulics - as much as 400 km. So many

car owners call it "indestructible". And given the quality of the road surface in Russia, hydraulic suspension becomes a must. In addition, it provides the best running smoothness under all conditions. The hydraulic suspension on the VAZ behaves softer in the pits than the pneumatic one. In addition, you can adjust the vehicle's ground clearance without leaving the passenger compartment. Moreover, you can change the clearance at any speed and even cornering. But this becomes possible only with the third generation of the Hydractive system.

However, the hydraulic suspension of Citroen C5 and VAZ is far from ideal, and it has its drawbacks. The first drawback is hidden in the oil. The fact is that this liquid is used not only in the suspension, but also in the brake system and power steering, respectively, if a leak occurs, three systems will break at once. It is also worth noting the high cost of maintenance. At Russian service stations there are not so many normal services involved in the repair of hydraulic suspension, so the price of the service is not the most democratic. Actually, because of this, many modern automakers have stopped equipping their cars with hydraulic suspension.

Conclusion

Because of their shortcomingshydraulic suspension is not very popular with drivers, because at the slightest malfunction you will have to go to a technical center and pay a lot of money for maintenance. As for global manufacturers, the following can be said about them. In an effort to make their cars as reliable and cheap to maintain as possible, many import concerns prefer a more modern - pneumatic - suspension. According to experts, this step is quite correct and deliberate. And we can only look at the photos and admire the high ground clearance of such cars.