Page 81 - ATZ WORLDWIDE

QUOTATIONS
software security to protect data from THE CHASSIS OF THE AUDI A8
intrusion attempts by hackers (Sebastian PLAYS A PIONEERING ROLE
Labitzke, ITK Engineering) in their ple- Peter E. Pfeffer, Munich
nary presentations. The Audi A8 is setting new standards in University of Applied
Sciences:
the premium class. Carsten Jablonowski “Despite growing
from Audi gave a detailed explanation of complexity, the chassis
STEERING FEEL BECOMES LESS must take the next step
IMPORTANT the development objectives for the car forwards.”
and its chassis control systems. The
In his keynote speech, Professor Stefan fifth generation of the luxury model is
Gies, head of chassis engineering at intended to provide the highest possible
Volkswagen, described what is currently levels of ride comfort in every market Stefan Gies, Volkswagen:
happening in the chassis sector. He and, in particular, in China and the USA. “The chassis is still
playing an active role.
explained that the chassis is still playing In addition, customers who prefer a more It remains responsible
an active role, despite the fact that every- sporty driving style must also have out- for transferring the power
one is talking about autonomous driving standing handling at their fingertips. to the road.”
and electric cars. It remains responsible To ensure that the A8 was the best in
for transferring the power to the road. terms of comfort, its developers focused
But changes will soon be taking place. on the control of the body (frequency
Steering and braking feel, which have range from 1 to 3 Hz) and the insulation Burkhard Wies,
been fine-tuned and improved over sev- (frequency range from 3 to 8 Hz). As Continental:
“Intelligent tyres will
eral decades, will become less important, Jablonowski explained, they have become an integral part
because in future autonomous cars will achieved their goal with this top-of-the- of the vehicle control
brake and steer independently. Instead, range model. The A8 has a multi-link system.”
different aspects of ride comfort and rear suspension system from the second
driving dynamics will take centre stage. generation of the Volkswagen Group’s
These will involve preventing sudden modular longitudinal matrix (MLB). PHOTOS: Uli Regenscheit | ATZlive
acceleration or deceleration and fast cor- Unlike previous versions, the rear axle
nering, because vehicle occupants who is designed as a strut-type component.
are reading the newspaper or checking Air suspension with damper control
their e-mails will want to have a smooth comes as standard. An active chassis
ride in future. A two-pronged approach that uses preview sensors to reduce body duced, including variants for summer,
is needed: Current driver assistance sys- movement is available as an option. for winter and for all-year-round use.
tems must be developed gradually, but Other options include fuel-efficient eco-
we also need to create systems that com- A WIDE VARIETY OF TYRE TYPES tyres and special ultra-ultra-high-perfor-
ply with SAE levels 3, 4 and 5. “We’re mance (U-UHP) high-speed tyres. For
going up a gear, but I don’t yet know In his speech, Burkhard Wies from tyre developers and manufacturers such
whether everything will happen quickly Continental explained that tyres have as Continental, the most important con-
enough,” said Gies. However, at the same to perform a range of different functions sideration is providing exactly the right
time it must be possible to take a techno- some of which have never been required product for both manufacturers and end
logical leap forwards in order to move before. Recent changes have resulted in consumers. The development of modern
directly from SAE level 3 to level 5. a wide variety of types of tyre being pro- driver assistance systems could bring
Vision Zero, the objective of eliminating
deaths on the roads throughout the
world, one step closer. In an autonomous
car, intelligent tyres would become an
integral part of the vehicle control sys-
tem, because they could measure pres-
sure, temperature, distance travelled,
service life, load and friction.

A RETURN TO MUNICH
© Uli Regenscheit | ATZlive once again in the Bayerischer Hof Hotel
The next chassis.tech plus will take place

in Munich (Germany) on 12 and 13 June
2018. The call for papers has already
been sent out and we are accepting sub-

An opportunity for networking: during the breaks, animated discussions took place around the missions up to 27 October.
20 exhibition stands Michael Reichenbach
ATZ worldwide 09|2017 79