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Is Umbrella the only company that offers on the fly suspension adjustments?
- Thread starter EAC
- Start date
I need to do something soon. These boards are beginning to drive me nuts.
EAC, I've done a lot of study and analysis on vehicle ground clearance, scraping and related geometry over the past few years while developing the iLIFT(R) systems. From the photo I can see that the your car is most likely to scrape the front at the entrance of the ramp and the rear is most likely to scrape at the bottom of the ramp. You could get more clearance at these points by lowering the center of the ramp and making the ramp more of an inverted arch instead of a flat ramp.
If you want to eliminate the ramp a lift system will surely help you to drive into your garage and also let you drive anywhere else that a lowered car would normally scrape.
Feel free to send me an email at [email protected] or call me at 559-GO-ILIFT (ph. 559-464-5438) to discuss how to handle severe scraping situations like yours.
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Anecdotal, but I've encountered a situation a couple of times that has required my raising the rears only.
I have an NSX-R styled rear diffuser and am lowered. When backing into parking spots at local meets, there have been times that I've backed up a little too far over parking blocks. Certainly, the diffuser had already scraped by the time I had discovered it, but I lift the rear when I leave to avoid scraping again.
Not sure if this makes raising the rears independently a real need, but it was certainly convenient when I needed it.
Thanks for your input. Would raising the front along with the rear also avoid the scraping in that situation?
It would. In those particular situations, I really only needed to lift an inch or so to clear the curb; so whether it's front + rear or rear only, that little bit of clearance is all that I really needed. Since I have independent front/rear controls, I lift the rear only.
For reference, here are pics of how my car sits on 18/19s. Given the lift that I have, there should be enough to clear even if I'm sitting on 17/18s and lifted on all four corners.
Thanks for your detailed input.
I personally have not found the need to raise only the rear of my car.
When I set out to develop an intelligent lift system, I wanted it to be as user friendly and simple and to NOT add unnecessary features and components like switches.
I especially did not want to require owners to cut holes in their dashes or center consoles to add aftermarket switches.
I also did not want to require the driver to take his eyes off the road to look for the switches to press while trying to go over an obstacle in the road.
The iLIFT(R) Systems have been intelligently designed to eliminate the need to add switches for the driver to operate the system and yet the driver can easily control the system whenever he wants the raise the front, or raise the front and rear or lower the car.
By eliminating the need to add switches in the car, the installation is potentially easier and cleaner.
I could add a rear only lift function to the iLIFT(R) Systems but that would make it less simple and less intuitive for the driver to operate... unless I gave in and required the use of aftermarket switches to operate the lift system like other systems use. That would take away one of the unique benefits of the iLIFT(R) intelligent suspension lift systems and make it less ....intelligent.
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Completely understandable given your goals. Certainly looking forward to seeing it in action and possibly replacing my current setup with yours.
A couple of questions regarding the controls, though. From what I've read, it seems that your system will be automated to some degree and may be manually controlled as well. Do you know how many full lifts (front + rear) you can get out of a single charge? I ask because if automated, and one enters a parking lot with several speed bumps, I'm wondering how many obstacles it will be able to automatically avoid before having to recharge. As to the manual controls, you mentioned that the driver need not take their hands off the steering wheel to lift/lower the car. Would this aspect of the solution work for guys like me who are running an aftermarket steering wheel?
A couple of questions regarding the controls, though. From what I've read, it seems that your system will be automated to some degree and may be manually controlled as well. Do you know how many full lifts (front + rear) you can get out of a single charge? I ask because if automated, and one enters a parking lot with several speed bumps, I'm wondering how many obstacles it will be able to automatically avoid before having to recharge. As to the manual controls, you mentioned that the driver need not take their hands off the steering wheel to lift/lower the car. Would this aspect of the solution work for guys like me who are running an aftermarket steering wheel?
Thanks for your interest and questions.
The iLIFT(R) systems are capable of driving over multiple obstacles that require added lift for clearance. The biggest test of this is in parking lots with multiple speed bumps and parking structures where you can drive up a dozen or more ramps in a single parking structure. The iLIFT(R) systems can accommodate such obstacles that are numerous.
I'm trying to keep some of the details confidential until I present the iLIFT(R) Systems at NSXPO.
I hope you understand that I'd like to save "some of the thunder" for the live presentation at NSXPO where people can see the iLIFT(R) in action for the first time.
overall weight and complexity of install would also be good to know. sounds very cool!
I designed the iLIFT(R) Systems to be as versatile as possible. They will offer a selection of different components to match the preferences of different drivers and the requirements of different vehicles. For example the total lifting capacity can exceed 6,000 pounds but our NSX's only weigh less than half of that. The weights of the systems will vary depending on the components selected by the buyer.
I used to race Formula Cars and I understand the benefits of light weight and minimum space requirements. I did everything I could to minimize weight and size and to maximize efficiencies while keeping prices reasonable. This light weight will be especially beneficial for owners who race their cars and want to drop them as low as possible for maximum performance on the track. With the iLIFT(R) System they can drive their race car home and raise it as needed to get over the obstacles normally encountered on the way home. I actually got the inspiration for the iLIFT(R) Systems at NSXPO in in Sebring while I was watching the Chinn Motorsports crew loading their race cars into their trailers. I told the owner of Chinn Motorsports that I could develop a lift system for his race cars that would be light weight and would eliminate the need for him to change the wheels and tires just to get the race cars up the ramp.
The Stage 3 iLIFT(R) System system that I use on my car for the front and rear lift weighs roughly 20 pounds. All of these systems add NO unsprung weight to the vehicle.
The owners of NSX's are lucky because I developed a custom application specifically for the NSX (since that's what I drive.) This NSX specific iLIFT(R) System doesn't take up any usable space in the car.... No 3 gallon tank in the trunk... actually nothing visible in the trunk, nothing under the hood and nothing under the car other than the air tube. The name of my company is Stealth Innovative Systems, LLC and the iLIFT(R) Systems for the NSX are VERY STEALTHY!
I spent hundreds of hours developing the Stealthy NSX application that uses custom parts that are made only for the NSX. I't is unlikely that I'll spend that much time and money on developing other custom applications that "fit like a glove" for other vehicles.
The installation times will vary depending on the level of system selected. Installing the lifting components to the suspension is very simple and will take a few minutes longer than simply removing the coilovers and replacing them. The NSX specific custom system will come with an "NSX power package" with neatly pre-mounted components. It will mount with 3 bolts. The custom NSX specific tank will mount with 3 bolts. The wiring will be similar to installing a sound system or an alarm system.
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We need a group buy on this asap
Subscribed!
This sounds like an awesome solution! Can't wait to see pics / videos of it in action.
This sounds like an awesome solution! Can't wait to see pics / videos of it in action.
I'll be making pics and videos available soon.
I shipped my car from Hawaii to Los Angeles and picked it up a week ago for the long drive to introduce the iLIFT Systems at NSXPO. I've been meeting with business associates (suppliers) and interested NSX owners along the way. The reactions that I've been receiving are even more enthusiastic than I had expected. The first person that I showed the system to in Los Angeles wants TWO systems...one for each of his NSX's.
I've driven 2,300 miles so far and should arrive in Buffalo, New York by tonight. In Buffalo I will install an iLIFT system in a customer's NSX who has been on the reservation list since he saw the first working prototype years ago. That will give us two (slightly different) iLIFT systems to show and demonstrate at NSXPO.
We recently became a registered vendor on Prime. I'll start a thread in the vendor section soon.
Here some idea i had if you decide to go this route, pour concrete ramps, custom make it yourself to fit as needed. Was going to pour this on my drive way but turns out my car barely cleared the drive way so just a concept. Could be slide to align.
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That sounds excellent! I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the response.
- Joined
- 2 July 2013
- Messages
- 96
I just posted our first post as a vendor in the vendor section with more information on our iLFT Intelligent Suspension Systems. In that thread, you can reserve a priority position to reserve an iLIFT System.
The first reply to reserve an iLIFT System came within 2 minutes of my post.
Steven Lee
Manager
Stealth Innovative Systems, LLC
The first reply to reserve an iLIFT System came within 2 minutes of my post.
Steven Lee
Manager
Stealth Innovative Systems, LLC
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Truth is reason enough. No need to blindly fan-boi an inferior product especially if you don't know better.
In any event, perhaps the version I was looking at (and help fix) was an earlier generation. There's always that possibility.
- Joined
- 27 June 2003
- Messages
- 4,618
So I guess you know everything that I know about the product? Damn you're presumptuous.. airbags have been around for decades..its public domain. Improving on that concept doesn't mean its a "chinese knock off" as you say. And btw anyone can botch the install of any car part. Does that make the product inferior? No. What have you got to gain by bashing Ravi's work?? nothing other than looking really bad. And no I'm no "fan boy"...... And yes he's always improving his design... I really don't care if you have valid reasons for bashing someone's products but you can't just say its trash.
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Nobody was "bashing" another product. Nobody said it was "trash." A little presumptuous are we?
No need to discourage those who engineer and build better products on their own. Some people have the talent, abilities and enjoy doing so.
Lighten up Francis.
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