Модераторы: Typhoon, russiangirl, Лютег, Mur
Alfa's master of suspense
Drive a recent Alfa Romeo, Fiat or Lancia and you will feel the hand of Philippe Krieff, suspension supremo. He is charged not only with making these three marques’ suspension systems work, but also with making the cars feel as the brand values suggest they should. He is the first to admit there is still work to do.
On the regular Mito’s sometimes rubbery feel, he leaps to the defence of the basic handling balance. ‘It’s quite stiff at the rear,’ he explains, ‘and if you turn in quickly the rear axle helps a bit with a little toe-out under lateral force. That can give you the rubbery sensation.’
What about the steering, then? ‘It’s a problem with electric power steering compared with hydraulic,’ he says. ‘There’s a bigger inertia in the whole system, and more friction, which gives a less natural feeling. We use algorithms in the electronics to compensate for the inertia and the friction, and to try to mimic natural feedback. The Mito is already better than the Punto here because the motor has more torque. Everyone will eventually go to electric power steering for the better mpg and because you can customise the feel. There’s a new generation of electric power steering coming which will more closely reproduce the hydraulic feeling.’
Krieff is pleased with the Mito QV’s adaptive damping. ‘It’s a Skyhook system, continuously variable, able to control high-frequency wheel movement and the longitudinal braking and pitch motion. It uses information from three body sensors, two wheel sensors and the ESP to help control yaw rate and stability, checking each separate parameter every 10 milliseconds. And it can learn your driving style.’
He is also the man behind the Abarth 500’s massive improvement in driving dynamics over the regular 500. So what happened with the 500 Esseesse, the car that seemingly lives on its solid bumpstops? ‘That was done by the Abarth team. It has stiff springs, it’s lower, it looks good, but I don’t like it. I’m like you, I don’t like a car to be too stiff. It takes away the pleasure.’
The Fiat group’s king of chassis dynamics declares the 500 Esseesse a dud. That, to me, is a sign of great hope.
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