Active air suspension

Southdowners

Southdowners

Free Member
Joined
May 7, 2015
Posts
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Location
West Sussex
Funster No
36,248
MH
Concorde Charisma
Exp
Since May 2015
We're thinking of having active air suspension fitted and wondered if anyone here has it and, if so, what are their thoughts on it?
 
I assume you are looking at either VB or Goldschmitt.
Had it fitted because our van had such a hard ride, it thumps over the bumps now rather than crashes, the ride is not as soft as I was expecting. Stability though is brilliant you can overtake an artic at 70 and take your hands off the wheel and the van still keeps a straight line, a great improvement in crosswinds as well. Self leveling is good when parking also being able to raise the ride height when off road.

We originally had the VB fitted but we had problems with the ride height at the rear, it just didn't work with our chassis so had it removed & a full refund.

In comparison, I would say with the Goldschmitt the front end is slightly softer and has a bit more travel when leveling. The Goldschmitt comes with all the bells & whistles, emergency inflation valves, sport mode (lowers the van above a set speed) & axle weight gauges, not sure about there accuracy though. Had the Goldschmitt fitted in Belgium as it was nearly £1500 cheaper than the UK.
 
Southdowners said:
We're thinking of having active air suspension fitted and wondered if anyone here has it and, if so, what are their thoughts on it?
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I think someone in your Concorde group C and T had it fitted at SAP, they are on Fun as well (y)

Martin

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funflair said:
I think someone in your Concorde group C and T had it fitted at SAP, they are on Fun as well (y)

Martin
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Hi Martin, yes Chris and Tracey had it fitted. Their vehicle is the same as ours but they had air suspension on the back only when the bought it. We've spoken to them and It has improved the ride on their vehicle.

It's difficult to determine whether it would be worth having in our case. We already have air suspension all round but because we tend to travel on a lot of narrow, bad roads we pitch and roll quite a bit. We're hoping that the active air suspension will improve the ride but we don't know anyone who has the full air suspension then upgraded to active air to compare the two.

I believe that Kaye has active air in her new vehicle. Do you know what they think of it?
 
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Lenny HB said:
I assume you are looking at either VB or Goldschmitt.
Had it fitted because our van had such a hard ride, it thumps over the bumps now rather than crashes, the ride is not as soft as I was expecting. Stability though is brilliant you can overtake an artic at 70 and take your hands off the wheel and the van still keeps a straight line, a great improvement in crosswinds as well. Self leveling is good when parking also being able to raise the ride height when off road.

We originally had the VB fitted but we had problems with the ride height at the rear, it just didn't work with our chassis so had it removed & a full refund.

In comparison, I would say with the Goldschmitt the front end is slightly softer and has a bit more travel when leveling. The Goldschmitt comes with all the bells & whistles, emergency inflation valves, sport mode (lowers the van above a set speed) & axle weight gauges, not sure about there accuracy though. Had the Goldschmitt fitted in Belgium as it was nearly £1500 cheaper than the UK.
Click to expand...

Thanks Lenny. It would certainly be worth a trip to Belgium... Did you have air suspension already and then add the active air?
 
Southdowners said:
Hi Martin, yes Chris and Tracey had it fitted. Their vehicle is the same as ours but they had air suspension on the back only when the bought it. We've spoken to them and It has improved the ride on their vehicle.

It's difficult to determine whether it would be worth having in our case. We already have air suspension all round but because we tend to travel on a lot of narrow, bad roads we pitch and roll quite a bit. We're hoping that the intelligent air suspension will improve the ride but we don't know anyone who has the full air suspension then upgraded to intelligent air to compare the two.

I believe that Kaye has intelligent air in her new vehicle. Do you know what they think of it?
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I know they love the van and yes it is the full “active air” but again they don’t have the standard non active to compare with. When I drove a Morelo and was asking about full air suspension the sales guy said don’t do it on anything less than 9 metres and if you do you will end up fitting “active” to calm it down.

Martin
 
That's interesting Martin. Ours is 8.6 mt

Ours is great on good roads but if you're on poor surfaces with an adverse camber you do get pitching.

Perhaps we need to test drive one.

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Southdowners said:
We're thinking of having active air suspension fitted and wondered if anyone here has it and, if so, what are their thoughts on it?
Click to expand...

Have it on my car and I have tried it on and off a few times and cannot tell the difference, maybe more noticeable on a Motorhome?
 
Lenny HB said:
Not quite sure what you are referring to as "Active Air"
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I'm not sure of the technicalities of it but from what I understand it is an intelligent, I think computerised, system which works as you drive to ensure a smooth ride.

Actually Lenny I've found something online which can explain it far better than I can.... this is from Outandabout Live.....

'The new ActiveAir system can be fitted as an all-new system to motorhomes that do not have any suspension upgrades or can be fitted as an enhancement to motorhomes that already have VB’s air suspension system fitted.

The ActiveAir system, which does not yet have a UK price but is expected to cost around £8,000 supplied and fitted.

ActiveAir is a combination of VB’s fully automatic four-corner air suspension and new ‘VB-Dynactiv’ adaptive shock absorbers. It can switch between three modes (Comfort, Standard and Sport), which are managed by a combination of height and gyroscopic sensors. These sensors feedback the behaviour of the motorhome to an ECU, adjusting the damping force to reduce pitch, roll and tilting. As a result, driving stability is vastly improved, and braking distance reduced by up to 15%.

The system is operated by a switch on the dashboard, but is an intelligent system that also analyses driver style alongside conditions and adapts automatically.'

We already have full air and so would be looking to add it on. It's trying to decide if it will make enough difference to justify the cost.... Mmmmm decisions!
 
Coastal Cruiser. said:
Have it on my car and I have tried it on and off a few times and cannot tell the difference, maybe more noticeable on a Motorhome?
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As you suggest, the issues of pitch and roll in a 6t motorhome at 3.6 metres tall over 8 metres long are quite different to a car.

Martin
 
Southdowners said:
That's interesting Martin. Ours is 8.6 mt

Ours is great on good roads but if you're on poor surfaces with an adverse camber you do get pitching.

Perhaps we need to test drive one.
Click to expand...
We took an 850L out from Niesmann caravanning in Polch but it only had the rear air, they have some pretty poor back roads around there fort a test drive and it was a bit roley poley.

Reading on a German liner forum the general consensus is that the "active damping" firms up the ride a bit but is worth it in terms of a more controlled ride.

Martin

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Southdowners said:
I'm not sure of the technicalities of it but from what I understand it is an intelligent, I think computerised, system which works as you drive to ensure a smooth ride.

Actually Lenny I've found something online which can explain it far better than I can.... this is from Outandabout Live.....

'The new ActiveAir system can be fitted as an all-new system to motorhomes that do not have any suspension upgrades or can be fitted as an enhancement to motorhomes that already have VB’s air suspension system fitted.

The ActiveAir system, which does not yet have a UK price but is expected to cost around £8,000 supplied and fitted.

ActiveAir is a combination of VB’s fully automatic four-corner air suspension and new ‘VB-Dynactiv’ adaptive shock absorbers. It can switch between three modes (Comfort, Standard and Sport), which are managed by a combination of height and gyroscopic sensors. These sensors feedback the behaviour of the motorhome to an ECU, adjusting the damping force to reduce pitch, roll and tilting. As a result, driving stability is vastly improved, and braking distance reduced by up to 15%.

The system is operated by a switch on the dashboard, but is an intelligent system that also analyses driver style alongside conditions and adapts automatically.'

We already have full air and so would be looking to add it on. It's trying to decide if it will make enough difference to justify the cost.... Mmmmm decisions!
Click to expand...
I would say after reading that the Goldschmitt is semi active It adjusts to maintain a constant ride height.

We only had a standard Fiat/Al-Ko suspension before having it fitted, as you already have full air, I'm not sure if there would be a great deal of benefit on a Motorhome, I assume you would have to scrap the existing system.
 
Lenny HB said:
I would say after reading that the Goldschmitt is semi active It adjusts to maintain a constant ride height.

We only had a standard Fiat/Al-Ko suspension before having it fitted, as you already have full air, I'm not sure if there would be a great deal of benefit on a Motorhome, I assume you would have to scrap the existing system.
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Hi Lenny

The "active" bit is the addition of active dampers, yes you have to scrap the existing oil shocks and replace with the new magnetic dampers and various sensors but the original full air suspension stays in place though.

The system is by VB so will not retrofit to Goldschmidt as far as I know, it was first developed in conjunction with Meier and Morelo so Morelo had it as an exclusive OE fit for at least a year.

Martin
 
I didn't realise when @Southdowners asked the question that VB had bought out a full active air system I thought he was just referring to standard full air suspension, so it makes my replies irrelevant.
 
Lenny HB said:
I didn't realise when @Southdowners asked the question that VB had bought out a full active air system I thought he was just referring to standard full air suspension, so it makes my replies irrelevant.
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Somebody will find it useful Lenny so I wouldn't feel too bad ;)

Martin
 
Lenny HB said:
I would say after reading that the Goldschmitt is semi active It adjusts to maintain a constant ride height.

We only had a standard Fiat/Al-Ko suspension before having it fitted, as you already have full air, I'm not sure if there would be a great deal of benefit on a Motorhome, I assume you would have to scrap the existing system.
Click to expand...

I think its more than maintaining a constant height Lenny. It 'reads' the road conditions and immediately adjusts the ride. In addition I believe you get 3 manual selections. When ours is fully loaded we'd prefer our brakes to be a bit more positive - apparently the active air assists with braking.

We would keep the existing system as the active air is an add on. We'd value the opinion of someone who has had the basic air suspension and then had the upgrade so we'd know the difference between the two systems.

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