I had to think about what you meant by this. I think I would describe the ride as smoother. With a progressive spring rate, major jolts are definitely more absorbed by the dampers .. so will feel smoother.

 

The three height index points are at any points you choose throughout the range of travel. The ride height is recalibrated everytime you hit the button - so, when you add the bricks, the rear will droop. When you hit the button, the car will ride level (or however you've programmed it to ride). The ride will be a bit rougher because of the increased pressure in the air spring but the progressive nature of the springs will make it as reasonable as possible.

 

Because the Praxis system is active, it will level automatically for any change in load when the change occurs. The button does not need to be pushed as it only changes the ride height to the next calibrated position.

*Not* to dispute Dexter's comment about the ride being rougher ... and I haven't tried this yet with a concentrated load like bricks, but I am thinking that the ride might actually be smoother with more mass in the car. The extra mass requires a bigger shock (bigger or more abrupt road bumps) to cause the same distubance for the occupants. In other words, the suspension is forced to absorb more of the shock ... which is ok as it will still have the same travel as it does unloaded. In contrast to a conventionally sprung system.

Of course, the increased air pressure in the suspension ... ... hmmm, this may not be so obvious 1 way or the other. Experimentation or math may be required to answer, and I don't have any building projects coming up in the near future; so maybe a few plugs can be found.

I am certain that a fully loaded car (4 ppl + driver + full trunk) will *not* feel the road or speed bumps in a Praxis equpped car as those same ppl would in a conventionally sprung car.

 

It works because it doesn't have any specific "resting" or fixed length. They hold your car where you want them to. I too would like to be the first to test it on the wagon. My Praxis savings account has been severly depleted this Christmas season...

 

Basically, any given sedan setting would be the same on the wagon, except for the wagon having much less negative rear camber than a sedan. Adding a set of camber bolts to go with your Praxis system will take care of that, however. Short version, it will work just fine on a wagon. The adjustability of the system means that the minor valving and weight distribution differencesbetween the sedan and wagon can be accounted for.

 

Something to mention: When Sport Compact Car did their review of the Praxis, they mentioned that a weakness was encountered when the car was parked on an unlevel surface the suspension was incorrectly calibrated upon startup and took about 10 minutes to correct itself.

This is true - the system calibrates itself upon startup with the assumption that you're on a level surface. However, the system entirely RE-calibrates itself when you hit the button to change height. The solution to the problem would be to hit the switch-mode button one up and one down when you start driving on a level surface and it will recalibrate itself instantly for the flat surface.

Hope this preemptively answers any concerns about this aspect of the Praxis system.

 

interesting...I am a sporty driving guy. Used to a lower civic...the wagon is rediculous in comparison. I would like to lower my wagon but I am also an avid snowboarder and mountain biker so I need clearance for snow and the occassional dirt road. Something like this would be great.

Someone needs to slap this system on a wagon and put it through the ringers for use like this. Snow/then drop it to sport for the fun ride home..etc...dirt..and what not. Find out how much utility this can truly give. Or is it for the city driver that tracks there car. If you get this on your wagon keep us updated..for $3500 I wanna know it's gonna work on my wagon.

 

Hi Dexter ... I noticed that article. There was also another recently in Grassroots Motorsports that had a comment about that.

My experience with my system ... this only occurs when demonstrating/showing off to ppl. For me this is often at some track like Summit Point, WV & parked in a grassy area == lumpy ground. Additionally, my system only has the issue when raising & not lowering.

At anyrate, when it is time to get to the staging area the system finds itself before I get to the pits.

 

On spring rates - I have a great graph that shows the dynamic spring rates. I'll scan it tonight and post it. Should be up around midnight ET.

 

Take a look at this:

 

Hey Dexter, I must have been a sleep for a couple of weeks & just did see the spring rates graph .. thats great.

I *assume* that this is for stock weight. What if I have it loaded down with 4 of my big a$$ed buddies in the car with me ... I'm not riding in that back seat! Anyway, the ride height does stay the same, so the position of the air bags on the cones in the struts is the same .. but the air in the bags is compressed more & would result in a stiffer ride?????

It seems to me that ought to be case, but I have not been able to tell conclusively; it feels the same. Maybe you have that info also?

 

Also, are those curves with the dampers adjusted to Track/Sport/Touring *AND* the height position is set to the corresponding hight? I would think, but just wanted to make sure.