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Aston Martin

Craig Croot, vehicle dynamics engineer

"During development of the chassis behaviour we make extensive use of the Nϋrburgring Nordschliefe circuit in particular and now have a dedicated development facility there. Our approach is to part-tune there, but always over check the dynamic characteristics on the road – especially on the UK’s challenging road surfaces.

"We rely on kinematics and compliance simulation to enable rapid ‘what if?’ design changes and we expect this will be the key development area in the future. The need to continue to reduce vehicle development schedules coupled and products’ shorter lifecycles means that the suck-it-and-see approach to ride and handling development is finished. We’ll also continue to work with our suppliers to develop the technologies we’ve introduced, such as our adaptive damping program with Bilstein.

"Within the existing climate of environmental concerns there will be a stronger drive to minimise weight and thus deliver emissions and fuel economy benefits.

"In 2012, the key technologies for us will be adaptive damping with significant weight saving technologies, linked with active aerodynamics to alter the vehicle’s attitude to suit conditions.

"Anything that helps with crash mitigation will be a winner: active or passive systems. Active front steer is increasingly popular and likely to remain so. Variable ride height makes performance cars more practical and can improve high speed stability through aerodynamic balance. Tyre technology is always improving, enabling reduced stopping distances while maintaining wear rates. We introduced carbon ceramic brakes on DBS and see this technology migrating through to other vehicles.

""Decisions will be based on weight and durability versus benefit to the attribute. The systems will have to deal with more power and be robust. This likely to mean more cooling and weight."

Craig Croot,
vehicle dynamics engineer,
Aston Martin