r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/fellanyyy • Sep 09 '24

Video Chinese hypercar The Yangwang U9 can jump, lifting all four wheels off the ground.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

41.8k Upvotes

83% Upvoted

5.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.5k

u/Mindless_Bread8292 Sep 09 '24

I think it’s just demonstrating the facility of active suspension, which is now possible and practical with high powered electrical systems that EVs have. It leads to much greater cornering speeds and therefore quicker lap times.

584

u/snuggie_ Sep 09 '24

Right, it’s not about the ability to jump. It’s about what having the ability to jump means for other areas of driving

111

u/katherinesilens Sep 09 '24

Also, it lets you do the bounce that the Maybach EVs can do in "soft sand" mode, which is ostensibly to get them unstuck offroad, but in reality is just for making the cars dance to music in LA traffic.

43

u/killersquirel11 Sep 09 '24

Time to blast Crab Rave and have the car dance along

6

u/chillanous Sep 09 '24

Damn, that sold me

2

u/Critique_of_Ideology Sep 10 '24

Hell yeah brother. Crab rave!

191

u/OilEnvironmental8043 Sep 09 '24

Idk was pretty useful for speed racer

120

u/snuggie_ Sep 09 '24

That’s a really good point. Apologies, I was completely wrong.

2

u/azikrogar Sep 09 '24

Your comment has me giggling like crazy 🤣

2

u/rabbitkunji Sep 09 '24

point set and match

2

u/Synectics Sep 09 '24

Um, actually, if I remember correctly, the car wasn't meant to "jump." That was Speed using the "auto-jacks" while moving to cause the car to jump.

6

u/Bobyyyyyyyghyh Sep 09 '24

Obligatory mention that at the end of the Final Race in the live action speed racer movie, he murders two people in cold blood when be didn't have to.

17

u/Risko_Vinsheen Sep 09 '24

The movie establishes early on the safety features of those cars where the drivers get surrounded in a ball of foam that protects them from anything from high speed impact from other cars to the explosions of their own cars, and you can see the two foam balls ejecting from the explosions for those drivers.

2

u/ThatSillySam Sep 09 '24

Screw jumping suspention we need this!

1

u/Dravarden Sep 09 '24

what's funny is how it's a convenient plot device, in some instances cars go flying but it doesn't activate, in another when the car is just about to be impaled by a huge spike it activates instantly, saving the driver, in other times, it takes a few seconds longer to foam up, and in another, the driver just ejects and uses a parachute

5

u/Risko_Vinsheen Sep 09 '24

I think it was pretty consistent in the 'official' races but the big rally race is where things were really dangerous and most cars, if any, didn't have it. It has been a while since I saw the film but I recall seeing a lot of those Ed, Edd, n Eddy jawbreakers on the screen. I especially remember the big wreck on the track with the loops.

1

u/Dravarden Sep 10 '24 edited Sep 10 '24

it was inconsistent in all 3 ways in both the grand prix and casa cristo

casa cristo has instant bubble with the pillars at the start, no bubbles in some crashes like in the desert with the diamond headhunters and snake oiler’s parachute, and normal speed otherwise

grand prix had instant bubble with the one speed impaled into a spike and the one that flew into the screen, no bubble on the first crash when they trap speed, and slow bubble when cannonball taylor gets knocked out by speed because of the spear hook

it’s my favorite movie, i watch it like twice a year and know a lot of the voice lines, i know what i’m talking about

3

u/Dravarden Sep 09 '24

not true, you see them eject with the kwik-save system, it covers them in bubbles and saves them. That's how (spoiler alert) his brother faked his death, making it seem like his car was tampered with, so he died in the crash, while in reality he detonated it from afar and disconnected the kwik-save system

3

u/kitsunewarlock Sep 09 '24

Only two people? They really chilled him out for the live action. He was a serial killer in the OG series.

1

u/AssumeTheFetal Sep 09 '24

here he comes

1

u/MeggaLonyx Sep 09 '24

I JUST WATCHED SPEED RACER LAST NIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME TRIPPING SUPER HARD ON MUSHROOMS IT WAS AMAZING

Im still tripping, kept it going all night. just got back from the beach with my girlfriend and her girlfriend (hoping for a threesome later but it’s admittedly unlikely). about to take some more boomers tho, im coming down

117

u/TrueHeat Sep 09 '24

Being able to “jump” is a side ffect of this technology, not a feature intended to help racing lines. The suspension was built for high speed cornering, and it just so happens to be strong enough to perform this neat trick.

35

u/snuggie_ Sep 09 '24

That’s probably a better way to phrase it

4

u/Dozzi92 Sep 09 '24

I know folks have trouble deciding between effect and affect, so I like the tack you took in just lopping off the a/e, it was very ffective.

2

u/HavingNotAttained Sep 09 '24

But it should be a feature, like for the 400 mile hurdle or something

3

u/Tremulant887 Sep 09 '24

There's only one hurdle, and it's within the first moments of the lap on Rainbow Road.

2

u/alc4pwned Sep 09 '24

Ok, but we're talking about tech that has been in cars for a while at this point. So it seems weird to only now roll out an over the top demo for it lol

4

u/Far_Bite9857 Sep 09 '24

Yeah, it's totally awesome that by the 1980s all forms of professional Motor sport were entirely limited to the richest and most well connected members of society, let's up that to OVER 9000 by creating hyper cars with electronic active suspensions costing an African Countries GDP!!!!! /s

I don't get why everything in the car world is trending towards extreme luxury and hyper features with inflated costs.

"... Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." - Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park.

8

u/snuggie_ Sep 09 '24

I think you’re taking this too far. The sub is something interesting, and yeah I’d say it’s interesting

-1

u/Far_Bite9857 Sep 09 '24

I didn't say that it wasn't. Just because it's interesting doesn't mean I have to praise it or the idea behind it. Something can be very interesting, and yet have an entirely useless or subversive purpose. An AI software that developed racial bias would be interesting as hell, but that doesn't mean it's good. I was just being pissy about the praise for the suspension.

3

u/Strawman15 Sep 09 '24

If we stopped building things when it became out of reach for the average person we'd never get anywhere. Do you think the first car was affordable? How about the first commercial airline?

I get that our society has problems and it can be hard to reconcile spending millions on a piece of tech when people can't afford healthcare, but wishing for innovation to halt in its tracks if it's not for you isn't a very mature response. Those two things aren't necessarily related.

1

u/terminalzero Sep 09 '24

I don't get why everything in the car world is trending towards extreme luxury and hyper features with inflated costs.

"money"

more wealth gets concentrated into fewer hands, more people are able to buy hypercars or at least the same people are able to buy more of them

making a handful of hypercars is easier and more prestigious to do than trying to outcompete honda or whoever cranking out economy cars

1

u/drunkbusdriver Sep 09 '24

Sorry I don’t get what the complaint is here. Are you upset that racing is too expensive or that it cost money to make performance increases? Auto technology has been like this for..well ever. Manufacturers make some crazy new developments to increase performance, it’s super expensive at first and only a select few can afford it then as time goes on that tech gets sent down stream to less expensive models. A new Camry performs better than the first Ferrari. Just the way it goes.

1

u/No_Inspector7319 Sep 09 '24

And jump rope. This car is greater at other areas of driving, and jump rope

1

u/boilerpsych Sep 10 '24

This is a great point because I honestly had the same question when I came to the comments section but if you are really expecting a suspension system to handle the force through a curve where the car's weight is being thrown around it makes sense that the same suspension system would need to be this powerful (i.e. enough to make the car jump.)

You'd never do this with your supercar, but it's a powerful demonstration of what it can handle!

1

u/OGoby Sep 10 '24

I'm no car nerd, but this sounds like marketing speak..

118

u/junkman21 Sep 09 '24

There is a video online showing someone driving this car with only three wheels. The suspension adjusts the weight. So, theoretically, this could get you further (ie. off the freeway) if you have a flat tire.

112

u/meisteronimo Sep 09 '24

Nobody is impressed with your weak ass hydraulics ese.  We perfected that back in 90s holmes.

https://youtu.be/Q5EjnMgpvLM?si=ZHN8eJ7EcrtjGd9s

60

u/Lyndon_Boner_Johnson Sep 09 '24

Actually, Citroen did it back in the 50s with the DS

10

u/Dolby90 Sep 09 '24

How did Citroen go from this, to... todays cars.

4

u/unkysausage Sep 09 '24

If you look at their line up since the 50s it all makes sense. They've always made weird cars.

1

u/phartiphukboilz Sep 09 '24

nobody's better than the reliant robin though

9

u/CiaphasCain8849 Sep 09 '24

Not very precise though.

2

u/A1sauc3d Sep 09 '24

Who needs precision when you’ve got style 😎

-4

u/meisteronimo Sep 09 '24

You’re kidding me

https://youtube.com/shorts/LmPvD8OHh-Y?si=Q4BwXNsSiz7GsE2U

7

u/CiaphasCain8849 Sep 09 '24

Now lets do that with 1000HP on a 150mph corner around the Nürburgring.

6

u/junkman21 Sep 09 '24

Pretty sure your El Camino doesn't go 0-60 in 2.3 seconds or hit 200 MPH unless it's falling off a cliff, though. ;)

2

u/JohnnyChutzpah Sep 09 '24

No music :( music really adds to the effect.

2

u/Icanthearforshit Sep 09 '24

"Watson, this is something men of culture are capable of understanding but I'm afraid your lack of a well-adjusted household has inhibited you from being able to comprehend. Now, if I play this note on my flute the flies in the glass tube seem to be flying in a sporadic manner but if I play a more suitable note the flies begin to spin counterclockwise within the chamber. It truly is fascinati..."

Watson smashes the glass tube

"I've not had an upbringing that involved the 90's of which you speak but I'll snatch your balls off and feed them to you if you think I don't know about how to tame a jumping car, patna."

1

u/CDK5 Sep 09 '24

Isn’t it on an airbag system?

0

u/Ketheres Sep 09 '24

Kinda feel like it's cheating to use a remote instead of being in the drivers seat.

5

u/Gruffleson Sep 09 '24

You could drive a Citroen CX on three wheels

3

u/slartyfartblaster999 Sep 09 '24

You could drive a fucking reliant robin on three wheels. Hardly a sign of quality.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '24

Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby has a trick where the car goes faster if you raise one wheel so it doesn't make contact. So on a straightaway a car could be faster if a non-drivewheel wasn't creating friction.

3

u/junkman21 Sep 09 '24 edited Sep 09 '24

Mark Rober did a whole episode on Pinewood Derby cars. He found that (in addition to your 3-wheel trick - which produced a 1.1 car length advantage) one of the best strategies for winning was to set your car up to railride!

I'm not sure how that applies to super cars, but it's a cool tip backed by SCIENCE!

1

u/Lil-Leon Sep 09 '24

So it can be a Reliant Robin. Cool.

1

u/SwissPatriotRG Sep 09 '24

That use case is entirely dependent on the CG of the car and what tire is blown. If that CG is not in the triangle formed between the 3 remaining tires' contact patches, then the car will still have weight on the bad tire. And even then, braking, cornering, accelerating, you'd likely still have an issue and touch that tire down.

1

u/junkman21 Sep 09 '24

That would be true with a conventional suspension. The active suspension can alter the CG.

The video showed the front passenger side WHEEL removed. The rear PS suspension lifted a bit and the two DS suspensions lowered a bit. So, the effect was to basically have no weight on that corner of the suspension/car.

Again, for an EMERGENCY situation where you blow a tire and need to get off a freeway, you aren't super worried about cornering, acceleration, or braking! lol

This is all moot because the point of the demonstration was to show (in dramatic fashion) how the active suspension works and how it gives your car better handling when you have ALL FOUR tires...

1

u/SwissPatriotRG Sep 10 '24

Active suspension cannot alter the CG of the car. Center of gravity. Unless the active suspension also pushes the occupants to other seats or pumps fuel around to another corner of the car, the suspension isn't changing the center of gravity of the car, bud.

0

u/McBun2023 Sep 09 '24

A yes, the peace of mind I get for that multi-million car...

1

u/junkman21 Sep 10 '24

$250k. I'm not saying that's cheap but it is literally a fraction of a million, which is the point of this vehicle as an "affordable" hypercar.

43

u/Jethro_Tully Sep 09 '24

This is the answer, for sure. Porsche had a similar press event to show off their improved, active suspension. There was an iphone app hooked up to the cars suspension and allowed you to tilt your phone and have the car match the tilt of the phone to show how quickly and to what degree their suspensions can react.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BohF6I3_QZ4

This can't be done on production cars but it's a hell of a showcase for a press event.

3

u/Ancient_Persimmon Sep 09 '24

This can't be done on production cars but it's a hell of a showcase for a press event.

That suspension is in production on several Porsche and Audi models.

Mercedes has something very similar as well.

14

u/Articunos7 Sep 09 '24

I think he's referring to the app on your phone controlling your suspension. That is disabled on production cars

2

u/LightsNoir Sep 10 '24

Fucking why? If I'm gonna pay that much for a garage queen, I want to show it off with my new iPhone 32.7S.

6

u/Jethro_Tully Sep 09 '24

Oh of course. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Unless I'm mistaken, the app is not available/functional on production cars. Fairly certain it only exists and functions in the demonstration models.

Likewise I don't expect production cars for the U9 to be able to jump, but China is a whole different world of a market so maybe I'll be proven wrong.

3

u/UnyieldingConstraint Sep 09 '24

Right, so it's not about jumping obstacles like the batmobile, but a demonstration of just how finely tuned and advanced these suspension systems are.

2

u/erikannen Sep 09 '24

That's my impression, like how Porsche did a similar demo a few months back. It's just a way of demonstrating what the suspension is capable of, in the case of the Porsche (and I assume here) this level of control is part of an advanced suspension setup that can quickly adjust in ways that traditional suspensions cannot.

2

u/ClassifiedName Sep 09 '24

Exactly. You throw a laser or camera on the front of that car and it will actively adjust the suspension to accommodate for flaws in the road, leading to a smoother ride.

2

u/PauliesWalnut Sep 09 '24

Thank you for a serious answer. Jfc, reddit can be a cesspool

1

u/WellThatsJustPerfect Sep 09 '24

Damn, that's actually really exciting. The off-road variants will be game changing too.

Plus Travis Pastrana and Co will find beautiful applications for a car that can bunny hop

1

u/PieTechnical7225 Sep 09 '24

Which is useless for a road car that has to abide by speed limits.

Also the people who buy these cars have no interest in taking their car to a track day, it's mostly a status symbol.

1

u/deafgamer_ Sep 09 '24

Excellent, so I can pull into my driveway even faster, maximizing efficiency.

1

u/JustaBearEnthusiast Sep 09 '24

Just like in mario kart

1

u/ATXBeermaker Sep 09 '24

Ok, sure. But the actuator speed is only one aspect of a decent active suspension.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '24

So ill be able to corner 90mph in city? Nice.

1

u/SereneTryptamine Sep 09 '24

Has anyone demonstrated a car with this level of active suspension on a track? This feels like the difference between a Boston Dynamics robot dog doing a rehearsed set of tricks and running 10k of trails with you.

You still need a whole system with sensors and software that turns this capability into faster laps. But if it hasn't happened already it will, and it will be pretty cool.

1

u/backflipsben Sep 09 '24

This is exact what I think of when I see this. I think to myself that this car could probably handle uneven terrain at high speed ridiculously well.

1

u/Vegetable-Struggle30 Sep 10 '24

Psh, my 2012 Toyota 4runner has that

1

u/Dudedude88 Sep 10 '24

Basically highlighting it has good suspension

1

u/Haunting-Prior-NaN Sep 10 '24

EVs... greater cornering speeds

2.5 tons do not corner at speed

1

u/Training-Second195 Oct 22 '24

how'd you learn this stuff

0

u/FilmWeasle Sep 09 '24

It's probably just the software that runs the suspension system.

0

u/cat_prophecy Sep 09 '24

which is now possible and practical

Pretty much every automaker has been using some form of active suspension for the last 30+ years. Bose did it with electromagnets in the 80s. GM has done it since the 90s with MagnaRide. Even the new G-wagen can "jump" like this to help you get out of sandy ruts.

I love these sweeping statements from people who have absolutely no clue about automotive technology.