2018 Audi A8 Suspension Uses Cameras to Anticipate Bumps

On the eve of its July 11 debut at the first ever Audi Summit in Barcelona (think Coachella for Audi buffs?), the German automaker has released details on how the upcoming A8 flagship sedan's suspension will cosset its owner from the jarring imperfections that plague our roads, taking active suspension technology to new heights for the German automaker.

Using the car's front camera, Spider-Man's Audi (or Tony Stark's, more likely) will be able to see bumps coming and adjust its electromechanical suspension accordingly. As the A8 anticipates a pothole, expansion joint, or piece of roadkill approaching its wheels, it works out exactly how much travel should be delivered to the actuators and braces itself appropriately, "virtually completely eliminating any vibrations and jolts"—a process that only takes several milliseconds. The front camera used to do this apparently is able to generate road surface data 18 times every second.

Audi says its new, fancy, predictive suspension system—a system that's based on the 48-volt electrical system that also happens to kinda, sorta power the entire car—straddles the compromise between "a cosseting ride for the driven and a rewarding experience for the driver" better than ever before, minimizing body roll and the back-and-forth pitching under hard braking or acceleration.

As if the whole predictive camera thing wasn't clever enough, Audi has gone ahead and adapted its active suspension into a passive safety feature. If the Audi A8 senses that a side impact (more commonly known as a T-bone) is about to happen, it'll hike up the side of the car that's gonna get hit by 80 mm in a split second, momentarily adopting the superior crashworthiness of a higher-riding vehicle (we believe they're known as crossovers?), which should give Aunt May some extra peace of mind when Peter borrows Mr. Stark's car for prom duty.

The 2018 Audi A8 is scheduled to finally make its official reveal tomorrow, so stay tuned to The Drive for more details.