General Motor’s Magnetic Ride Control Dampers were the coolest suspension at PCOTY 2022

While Porsche’s move to double-wishbone front suspension for the 992-generation 911 GT3 grabbed headlines, it was the Corvette C8 Stingray that featured the most advanced suspension at MOTOR’s Performance Car of the Year 2022 testing.

All Corvettes sold in Australia are fitted with the Z51 Performance Pack as standard – traditionally an optional extra in overseas markets – meaning that the car is fitted with the fourth generation of General Motor’s Magnetic Ride Control dampers. Otherwise known as Mag Ride (MR) 4.0.

GM claims that MR 4.0 is the fastest responding suspension system currently available. Bold claims aside, we can confirm the system is able to give the C8 a fantastic ride compliance matched with supreme body control thanks to its very clever design.

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Magnetic Ride Control is in essence adaptive dampers that are, well, constantly adapting.

It functions by having electromagnets paired with magnetorheological fluid inside the shock absorbers themselves. These can then be continually carrying the damper rates of the car.

Accelerometers at each corner of the car are able to read inputs from the road surface up to 1000 times a second, initiating changes in the magnetic charge inside the fluid for an almost immediate adjustment of damper rate.

It’s a no brainer that being able to adjust damper rates on the fly at such a rapid rate allows the C8 to maintain a better hold of the road by maximising each tyre’s contact patch at any given moment.

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For the fourth-generation system, GM moved from having position sensors on each corner of the car which would try and calculate roll and pitch, to actual accelerometers that instead measure those factors. More accurate information means the dampers can better adjust to match what is happening.

Another feature for the Corvette was the addition of an Inertial Motion Unit, or IMU, that is again able to measure the car’s true heave, roll, and pitch signals instead of relying on synthesised calculations of these factors.

All of this information and inputs are fed to the Magnetic Ride dampers, which in turn have their own individual controllers that compute the data themselves.

Australians will be familiar with earlier versions of these magnetic dampers from HSVs of yore, but MR 4.0 takes things to a new level.

As a result of the improved fidelity and accuracy of the readings, the C8’s suspension was some of the best in the field at PCOTY 2022.

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