Active Q (Q45a) review from a non active owner.

[elwesso]

So... right now I have in my possesion one of Ross's 91 actives. I have the green one, with restored active and about 150k miles. Left rear actuator leaks a little but other than that the system is in pretty good shape. All 9 accumulators replaced within the last 6 months. Running on 18in M45 wheels with 245-45-18 tires.

This is my first experience with an active car that was indeed fully active. I know what bad actives run like, I also know what nice stock Qs run like and my modified Q...

Let me preface this with... Only someone who understands exactly the suspension system would really appreciate this car. Also, if you never drive the car hard you would appreciate it. I bet theres probably only a handful of people on this earth that would drive a car like this and truely appreciate it. Always "oh this leaks, oh this sensor went out, blah blah". If you have that attitude you arent treating it like the sophisticated machine it is.

I must also follow this up with, I think I want one.

A stock Q under 90% of driving rides about the same. For granny and gramps who drive in town and maybe take a road trip its really not much different than a standard Q. maybe some bumps are a little less intrusive, but honestly if you went down the same road with a standard Q and then an active Q I doubt youd notice too much difference. Maybe with realy small bumps, but with big bumps not so much.

one notable thing is that lets say your on the interstate and you hit one of those areas where the level of the road changes really quick, the active helps to smooth out that transition a little bit. Instead of just going down you just kinda glide down

Its a completely different story when you take the car to its limits. I cant say that I took the car anywhere near its limits but whenever Id get the chance to take a corner kinda hard Id do it. The thing stays pretty level, but gives you a tiny bit of roll to let you know that you are in fact turning. Dive on braking? no way.

One thing that annoyed me is that when you hit really minor sways in the road the active feels like its compensating well after the bump. LIke youll hit it, its fine, but then it kinda bounces a little. BARELY noticeable. Really I woudlnt mind at all if the active was a little tighter. Id like to feel a little bit more connected with the road. The bumps are one thing but it does get a little dipsy sometimes. I dont like feeling like im riding on a cloud. Id think id want it maybe 5-10% stiffer or less reactive (however you might consider it). Basically what I think the system is doing is when you have something like that instead of just letting the suspension drop the car down to the normal ride height, it lets it down to the normal ride height really slow. I would like this transition to be a bit faster, meaning that it gets me back to "neutral" a little quicker.

one thing that impresses me to NO END is how natural the suspension feels as a whole. If you didnt tell someone that your car had an active suspensoin, theyd never know. This is how the car is SUPPOSED to feel! you dont really feel the active "doing something", you feel it react to road conditions. This may seem contradictory to what I said earlier, but I think that is how its supposed to be.

I could just see some loaded guy who doesnt know crap about cars buy the fully loaded Q45a and not realize what he has. he probably would thikn "why did I pay 5000 extra for this, oh well i paid in cash anyway"... Most people dont care about this kind of stuff... I think you should have had to apply to get a Q and then apply again to get an active Q, have your application reviewed by a board and then you were ALLOWED to buy a Q.

In the end, driving this car made me appreciate Q's that much more. What sickens me is probably even most of the people ON THIS FORUM dont even know exactly how great of a car the Q was when it came out. They think "oh I got a great deal on it, and its a pretty nice car". No sir, this car is one of the best cars EVER MADE. Admittedly, thats how probably everyone on here including myself got into Q's to START with, but I want everyone to realize exactly how great of an HONOR it is to own a Q and treat it as such.

This particular Q, outside of the active, is in OK shape but Im making it better. I wouldnt say its in rough shape, but its going to be a top performer once I done with it.

[ScottJackson]

nice description. That's why I'm happy to just put 600-800psi in the accumulators and let it ride. It may not be a full nitrogen charge, but I like the ride a bit firm. Only bad thing is a few of my accumulators are leakers and the two rear actuators are leaking also. Oh well. Maybe some day, after a new set of injectors and A/C compressor, I'll get around to trying to find seals for the actuators and some kind of replacement for the accumulators (prob farm impliment nitrogen accumulators).

[Black stallion]

The official poster child for the Q.

I couldn't agree with you more Wes. The first time I sat in one in '91 I knew I would own one. It took me 9 years, but you know the cliche'.

Even after desperate attempts of my mechanic buddies (afraid of the Q) to talk me out of it and other folks asking how I could afford it, I did it anyway and since NICO don't regret a single minute of it.

Now if I could just get my wife out of it long enough to do some more mods

It is something to be said about driving a 13 yo luxury machine around town and then getting out on the highway with no hesitation and spanking half the "new" cars out there and not even wake the kids.

I for one can second that you cannot appreciate the thought and craftsmanship put into this car until you dive into one for yourself.

[96Qowner]

It is something to be said about driving a 13 yo luxury machine around town and then getting out on the highway with no hesitation and spanking half the "new" cars out there and not even wake the kids.

Yup! I've been runnin' the two-lane rural roads this summer, out in no-people western Minnesota. 55 mph? Bah! Passing? Yes!

So Wes, you think the difference shows up primarily at the extremes? That surprises me a bit. I would have thought the Active would be most effective in town, around corners and over irregularities in the street. Although it makes sense if the extreme handling feels better right up until the true extreme. I'd rather not have a computer running things when the tires lose lateral traction. I'll put it back inline myself, thank you very much.

I really wish I'd known about the Q45a when I bought mine (heck, I wish I'd known about the no-VVT 96).

[elwesso]

Maybe I wasnt clear...

I can definitely tell a difference when cornering over a stock Q, its night and day.. I know that the computer is programmed to allow some body roll, and honestly I like it. If it stayed dead level that would be really weird, but this just lets you know that the car is doing something and you are indeed taking that corner way too fast!

It just feels natural. Your comment about "I'd rather not have a computer running things when the tires lose lateral traction". Thats my point, is that you dont even think about the computer doing anything. You dont feel it compensating, it feels like it should.

In town i still dont think it rides much different than the stock Q's with 15in tires. Maybe being a passenger would be different, but you still feel the road and I wouldnt have it any other way.

All I can say is, after I took a few corners in this thing I was tempted to strip my Q of its multilink suspension parts and swap them on the active Q and then keep it....

[lino]

All I can say is, after I took a few corners in this thing I was tempted to strip my Q of its multilink suspension parts and swap them on the active Q and then keep it....

No cheating Wes!

If you want an ACTIVE suspension then you should buy one like the rest of us and build it up from scratch

[elwesso]

If I ever find a nice 94 active Ill buy it... Id like to just sell my Q, but after not driving it for a week, i realized I cant live without that car.

[96Qowner]

It just feels natural. Your comment about "I'd rather not have a computer running things when the tires lose lateral traction". Thats my point, is that you dont even think about the computer doing anything. You dont feel it compensating, it feels like it should.

I'm curious about how it feels at the very edge - did you take it that far? How's the transition?

I'm always subliminally aware of what all four suspension corners are doing while I'm driving. I can feel how the suspension members load and unload as the weight of the car shifts around. And from all the years of driving on ice and snow, I'm also always aware of how the tires are gripping, seating on the roadway, etc. You know how it feels when you're driving a partially snow-covered road - the tires grip and ungrip over patches of dry surface, catching the car and undulating through the suspension.

So, anyway I figure the Active must react differently. After all, the computer is dynamically adjusting the car's weight balance by manipulating the "shocks", so weight transfer is clearly going to be different between an active and non-active, changing the "normal" way that the suspension would load. This should be ideal in town, but I wondered how it would behave at highway speeds when the car loses its line - when it skews slightly sideways. At that point you need to feel how the suspension is loaded in order to bring it back into line. Once or twice every winter, I usually manage to kick the car out of line at 70 mph or more under slippery conditions. You have less than a second to finesse the thing back, or you're gonna take a sideways ride into the ditch.

You're saying that one of the things that struck you is how natural it feels. Food for thought - not what I would have expected either. It makes the car that much more appealing.

I'd really like to hear from some other Q45a owners. Most won't have had the experience of driving both, but I'd love to hear how the Active really handles at the extremes. We know, for instance, that skidpad tests don't give the advantage to the Active - not something that interests me much, anyway - very little of my driving involves anything resembling a skidpad. What matters to me is how the suspension handles dynamic loading - something more like a slalom. How does it behave at the edge, when you're tossing it around and have that split second to fix things? Better? Worse? Just different?

[elwesso]

Once I get the car running again (hopefully this afternoon) im gonna take it on a curvey road that Ive taken in my Q dozens of times and see how it compares.

[ScottJackson]

I drove my active Q last winter quite a bit. I only really lost traction at 70+mph with it once. It was not a good feeling at all. Of course, I was really sideways in a hurry and looking out the passenger side window as I was going down the interstate. The body doesn't feel natural when whipping from one direction quickly to another. Other than that, I like it.

[Jehangir]

Its fun reading your posts. I don't know too much of the mumbo jumbo behind the suspension. But I can tell you my lil hoopty has been a lot of fun driving. Whats sad is the passengers never have a clue about whats really happening. Mostly, everyone in the car feels like we're out for a Sunday drive as we go around corners and around the offramps. The only thing I can say as a negative about my suspension is: I am ALWAYS worried my actuators or accumulators are going to go out. I know I'LL have a tough time footing that bill. That being said, I also know these suspensions are extremely durable and pretty tough too...... Okay no more pontificating as I'm probably going to jinx myself now....

[lino]

Its fun reading your posts. I don't know too much of the mumbo jumbo behind the suspension. But I can tell you my lil hoopty has been a lot of fun driving. Whats sad is the passengers never have a clue about whats really happening. Mostly, everyone in the car feels like we're out for a Sunday drive as we go around corners and around the offramps. The only thing I can say as a negative about my suspension is: I am ALWAYS worried my actuators or accumulators are going to go out. I know I'LL have a tough time footing that bill. That being said, I also know these suspensions are extremely durable and pretty tough too...... Okay no more pontificating as I'm probably going to jinx myself now....

What parts have you replaced from your active suspension so far?

[Jehangir]

I changed my 4 main accumulators, my fore/aft sensor. and an O ring on my actuator. But thats about it.. oh and I've ended up changing the fluid a couple of times

[DetroitJazzMan]

If I ever find a nice 94 active Ill buy it... Id like to just sell my Q, but after not driving it for a week, i realized I cant live without that car.

Im with wes......still looking for a nice 94-95 Active, reflecting back, I should have bought that 93 active with 12K on it. OOOOH weeellll, there has to be another one. that is a very well written test report there wes. you might be ready for Motor Trend!

[lino]

I changed my 4 main accumulators, my fore/aft sensor. and an O ring on my actuator. But thats about it.. oh and I've ended up changing the fluid a couple of times

Where did you get the O ring for your actuator?

[elwesso]

Im sure he meant accumulator....

[Jehangir]

Actually The O ring was on pipe leading to the top of the left rear actuator. You can get them in any hardware store. But Keith sent me one in the mail. The whole thing took me about 20 mins.

[lino]

Alright thanks.

[raulr903]

i always get confused with the actuator and accumulators what do they do where are they located at and i read that they have some seals for the actuators or accumulators what is this another name for struts .........

[elwesso]

the actuators are the "struts". the accumulators are the little can things attached to the actuators.