F1 News
- July 21, 2006
Advanced dampers are history
The FIA have ruled that the Advanced Damping system that Renault and Ferrari (and probably a few others) is to be banned as it contravenes Article 3.15 of the technical regulations (it stipulates that all devices influencing aerodynamic performance of the car must be rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car and must remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car)
The system worked by suspending a mass in the fluid of the damper. The effect of this is used in many other applications, from cranes to geophysics and gave the cars an advantage over rough terrain like kerbs where the tyre wall could not damp enough of the vibration.
With this technology gone, the Renault and Ferrari (and others) may find it a little more difficult to 'ride the kerbs' as they have in the past, and I would assume the FIA are hoping it will lower corner speeds as a result.
I wonder where teams sit with using the variable damping systems used in new cars like the Audi TT that has a charged fluid in the dampers. That is probably banned under the active suspension rulings however.
