Bullshido

Hey!

First of all, I apologize for starting yet another thread on this topic.

I'm planning on buying a S500 and I've made some research regarding these two suspensions. This has made me understand that Active Body Control always keeps the automobile stable in sharp turns, bumpy roads and also avoids nose dive.

But since I do not plan on participating in any races, which suspension offers the softest(comfortable/isolated) ride driving in a straight line?

Thanks in advance!

Carters550

Stick with your A8 better handling .

Bullshido

Ain't much help to get here....

Diesel Benz

Must be Magic Body Control that gives most comfortable ride too. ABC is based on extremely fast reacting hydraulic suspension (working on top of steel springs), not just a mechanically stiff suspension that would work well for sporty driving.

Magic Body Control has a further comfort aspect on top of ABC: it is able to see the road ahead an adapt accordingly.

You should really test drive both, unless you don't need to consider cost aspects.

Bullshido

Thanks a lot for your input man!

Magic is kinda out of the year model range I'm looking at.

So what ABC does is give a sportier and firmer ride?

MBNUT1

Magic Body control is not available in the W221 only in the latest W222. Sorry I can't advise you as I don't have experience with either in the same car but the owners of ABC swear by it for it's vastly superior handling without exacting a ride quality price. I suspect the airmatic would give a satisfactory ride. The ABC will tend to be more expensive to maintain and will be harder to find. Given that if you are happy with the ride quality of the Airmatic I would go with it.

Welwynnick

No, ABC is still soft suspension, but it almost completely eliminates pitch and roll by dynamically compensating for the acceleration forces.

It doesn't not stiffen up the suspension for corners.

ABC doesn't use stablizer bars, so there's no roll-rock over single pumps, and that made it better riding than Airmatic in my back-to-back comparisons (used to own cars with both).

Nick

Jason B

ABC and the Magic Body control are the same thing basically. They just "renamed it" for 2014. Drive a w222 with it, and you'll know how a w221 rides with ABC. Same.

Mike5215

I believe Magic Body Control differs from ABC in that it's predictive. A set of stereo optic cameras scan the contours of the road for surface and grade irregularities immediately ahead of the car and the car adjusts before it encounters the irregularity. The result is that a lot of imperfections in the road surface are never felt in the cabin. It also does all the stuff that ABC did as far as controlling pitch and roll.

ABC senses pitch and roll in real time and applies counter force as it happens. I drove an 5550 with ABC when I was shopping and I was really excited to try it but honestly I couldn't feel any appreciable difference between it and an Airmatic car.

Welwynnick

Spot on there, I reckon. MBC is a level of functionality that sits upon the existing ABC platform. I think it depends on the roads you drive on and the way you drive. Three years ago I used to own an S500 with Airmatic and an S600 with ABC. I drove them to work on alternate days. My drive is down a winding road with bumps and bends galore, and the ABC car was much better to drive.

Airmatic simply gives you self-levelling to cope with variable payloads, so in most circumstances there's little benefit to ride and handling over conventional suspension. Body control depends on springs, dampers and roll bars. Its well executed, but the body still moves all over the place. With ABC, the more work you put into it, the better it gets.

If you drive mainly in straight lines on smooth roads, I suppose Airmatic works fine, but it still doesn't ride as well as ABC. ABC doesn't use sway bars - there wouldn't be any point. When you drive back-to-back, you can clearly feel their influence over single, larger bumps. The cars rocks from side to side more agressively than it bounces up and down, while the ABC car has low roll stiffness.
As you tell, I think ABC is fab, while admitting it's difficult to look after.

Nick

Bullshido

Thanks a thousand for all the input guys!

I rarely drive, mainly on long cross country journeys in Europe, mostly on flat german roads.

So I think I can live without the ABC, but if a great offer comes up I'll ****** it!

Mike5215

Yeah, I'm in Florida, also a lot of flat roads. ABC is an upgrade but I wouldn't pay any more to get it.

Bullshido

Yeah, not gonna hold out for an ABC.

I wrote s n atch and it got censored...hehe

Jason B

The car drives like a dream without it. I wouldn't want it to ride any better. Stay away from ABC, because then, it may make you want something you don't need that is extremely hard to find in a s550.

Welwynnick

.... so you're saying ignorance is bliss?

Bullshido

This is exactly what I was thinking.

Is it worth all the trouble of finding and maintaining, probably not.

ImInPA

Here's my two cents. With regards to ride quality, you have to keep in mind that this is an S-Class. A vehicle, considered by many, to be the finest riding automobile in the world. Of course ABC or MBC will add that incremental advantage, but, I believe one would be hard pressed to call the ride of the standard Airmatic suspension on the S anything less than fantastic. Anything above and beyond that is just a bit more frosting on an already delicious cake.

Jason B

Where is the "like" button for that last reply

Mike5215

True. If anything the ABC rides a bit firmer. There's always a trade off between a soft ride and good handling. Airmatic is decidedly soft. ABC strikes a balance and allows a big car to handle like it was smaller and lighter. On the twisties, and for hard launches you'd love ABC. If you don't typically toss your S around, and you don't see a lot of twisties, Airmatic will be perfectly fine. I wouldn't hold out for ABC but if the opportunity arose all things being equal I'd grab it.

Jason B

Got with airmatic, and buy a s2000 for the twisties

Welwynnick

Perhaps ABC is indeed a bit firmer than Airmatic, but that's not the reason it handles better.

The whole point of ABC is to avoid the eternal compromise between soft and comfortable on the one hand, and firm and sporty on the other.

Airmatic, like any passive suspension, uses springs and stablizers to provide the resistance to roll. They only generate that resistance once the body has rolled.

Active suspension generates that resistance using hydraulics, so they corner flat, but still use soft springs.

In the world of suspension design, its Utopia.

That doesn't mean everyone should have ABC though, as its definitely difficult to maintain.

Nick

marthyh

Airmatic to my knowledge is not spring loaded and passive.

The vehicule level on all four corners is constantly monitored with the help of sensors ; a controller then adjusts by means of pressure compensation, the respective individual struts,a fairly active process.

The only conventional (non active) parts on an airmatic-system are indeeed stabilisers and inside the strut an hydraulic shock absorber.

Welwynnick

Airmatic has air springs and is passively self-levelling, while ABC has coil springs and is actively self-levelling.

Passive self-levelling is a slow-acting response to payload, and active self levelling is a fast-acting response to g-forces (though it is load levelling as well).

Mike5215

Airmatic is continuously monitoring the ride height at the rear axle and each front corner, and using a pump to add or bleed air to compensate. That would be the definition of "active". ABC is a cool gizmo but lets not get carried away. If it was vastly superior it would be standard. Mercedes isn't exactly known for short changing the ride or handling of its flagship sedans. Your sig indicates you drive a W220. Have you been able to drive 221's back to back with/without ABC?

Welwynnick

That's not what active suspension means. Airmatic is just self-levelling - to compensate for varying payload, and to allow the use of soft springs. "Active" in the contect of ABC means dynamically levelling. It means that the suspension can react fast enough to compensate for acceleration, deceleration and cornering forces. Specifically, according to MB, ABC has a control bandwidth of 5Hz. Airmatic is much lower - a small fraction of a Hz - so it doesn't compensate for acceleration. When you run an ABC car through a slalom, the suspension reacts fast enough to keep the car level. Airmatic can't do that - it rolls around like a conventional car.
It is vastly superior, but its expensive. Its standard on the V12 and AMG models.
No, but I've driven 220's back to back with / without ABC, and they're much the same under the skin. If anything, the 221 ABC system is better than the 220's - faster acting, reduced roll, more reliable.

There just seems to be some misaprehension about what ABC does. For example, many people think it stiffens up the suspension in corners, but it doesn't, its just as soft. Not looking for an argument here, believe me, I have much better things to do.

Nick