Technical Paper
Superbus Suspension System and Initial Correlation between Vehicle Dynamic Simulations and Testing Results
2009-04-20
2009-01-1371
The Superbus is a new vehicle for collective transport that travels safely and comfortably at high speeds and with good handling. The vehicle is 15m long, 1.65 m high, weighs 9 ton and carries 23 passengers plus the driver. The suspension system has been specifically designed with the aim to provide a good compromise between comfort and handling for the specific operational characteristic of the Superbus. The vehicle travels at high seed (250 kph cruising speed) on dedicated infrastructures and at conventional speeds on existing roads. Therefore the range of operational driving conditions has enforce a new design which uses a double wishbone design, adaptive dampers and an hydraulic lifting systems which varies the height of the vehicle from 70mm to 400mm from the ground. Thought the design phase a number of vehicle dynamics analyses have been performed, which showed that the Superbus is a safe vehicle to drive at high speeds and that is very comfortable.