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Concept
Self-levelling suspension
Summary
Self-levelling refers to an automobile suspension system that maintains a constant ride height of the vehicle above the road, regardless of load.
Many vehicle systems on a conventional vehicle are negatively affected by the change in attitude coming from changes in load - specifically a heavy load in the rear seat or luggage compartment. This change in attitude affects aerodynamic properties, headlight aim, braking, bumpers, shock absorption from the suspension and the vehicle's performance in a collision.
Most of the braking power is on the front wheels of a vehicle, which means you will have more effective braking when more weight is over the front wheels. When the rear end has a heavy load, the braking is not as effective. The weight is concentrated on the rear end of the vehicle, and the rear brakes need to do all of the work. When braking quickly in this situation, the front brakes will be easier to lock up because of the lack of weight transfer to the front of the vehicle. Self-levelling suspension lifts the rear end of the vehicle up to spread out the weight more evenly. This puts the weight back onto the front end of the vehicle, which lets the brakes do their job more effectively.
There is an inherent conflict in suspension design - if the springs are soft, the car will be comfortable but dramatically affected by load. If the springs are hard, the car will be uncomfortable, but less affected by load.
Numerous manufacturers realize this conflict and have pursued different avenues to achieve both comfort and load capacity simultaneously.
In France in 1954, Citroën introduced the first self-levelling rear suspension on a production car, and then in 1955 pioneered self-levelling of all four wheels, using its hydropneumatic system. These cars maintain an exact height over the road when the engine is on - height control valves attached to the roll bars via linkages would open to add or drain fluid from the suspension, and when the desired height was reached the valve would automatically close due to its design.
Official source
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