Audi is now offering another high-tech innovation for the Audi A8 luxury sedan - predictive active suspension. Depending on the chosen drive settings, it gives the brand's flagship model the supreme ride comfort of a chauffeur-driven limousine or the firm handling of a sports car.

Predictive active suspension in the Audi A8 is a fully active suspension system. Electromechanical actuators adjust the suspension to lift or force down each of the luxury sedan's wheels individually, managing the body's ride height in every situation. The active suspension can lift or lower the body by up to 85mm from its central position at all four corners within five-tenths of a second.

In conjunction with the air suspension and Audi drive select dynamic handling system, predictive active suspension in the Audi A8 enables an unprecedented spectrum of driving characteristics.

In the 'dynamic' profile, the luxury sedan acquires the handling of a sports car: The A8 turns in firmly, and when cornering fast with 1g of lateral acceleration, the body roll is limited to just 2 degrees - as opposed to more than 5 degrees with standard suspension. In every driving situation rolling moment is optimally distributed and dive when accelerating or braking is reduced to a minimum. The result is rail-like precision and guaranteed safe handling characteristics.

If, on the other hand, the 'comfort plus' profile is selected in Audi drive select, the luxury sedan glides with velvety smoothness over any bumps in the surface. The predictive active suspension works together with the front camera to identify uneven surfaces before they are reached and predictively regulates the active suspension.

Even before the car hits a bump, the predictive function signals the correct positioning travel to the actuators and actively adjusts the suspension. This reduces body movement and compensates almost entirely for long road undulation or unevenness. This complex process takes just a few milliseconds: The camera can generate information about the surface 18 times a second.

Even when standing still, predictive active suspension still comes with its benefits: When the door handle of the A8 is operated, the car body is quickly raised by up to 50mm for easier entry and exit. While with pre sense 360°, in an impending side impact at more than 25km/h, the active suspension raises the body by up to 80mm on the side of the impact. This brings the sill into a better position to absorb the impact energy. Deformation of the cabin and the loads acting on the occupants can be reduced by up to 50% compared with a lateral collision in which the suspension is not raised.

Customers in Europe can order predictive active suspension in the Audi A8 from August 2019. The extra charge in Germany is €5,450 (approx. $8,329).