To Skyhook or not to Skyhook?
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It computer control of the shock dampening. In theory, it is supposed to allow the suspension to adapt to road surface and load changes dynamically. It has a sport setting that stiffens the overall shock setting.
IMO it doesn't work very well with the OEM suspension set up on my 04 Spyder but not sure about a GT. The stock springs on my Spyder are softer than your grampa's buick but the shocks are quite stiff especially in the sport setting. This makes for interesting handling - choppy on rough pavement when the sport setting is activated but so much roll and dive at speed that it almost made me seasick.
Adding a set of stiffer aftermarket springs greatly improves the overall handling and allows the car to be driven in the non sport setting (for compliance) while retaining body control.
IMO it doesn't work very well with the OEM suspension set up on my 04 Spyder but not sure about a GT. The stock springs on my Spyder are softer than your grampa's buick but the shocks are quite stiff especially in the sport setting. This makes for interesting handling - choppy on rough pavement when the sport setting is activated but so much roll and dive at speed that it almost made me seasick.
Adding a set of stiffer aftermarket springs greatly improves the overall handling and allows the car to be driven in the non sport setting (for compliance) while retaining body control.
i guess your question is in relation to a GT-S.
i would say NO to skyhook on the GT-S, as per recommendation by maserati themselves. they say the skyhook is out of character for the Granturismo S.
really, the suspension is tune just right for a very sporty ride in the GT-S. depends on the road you are travelling, if it werent full of pot-holes, the (bilstein?) suspension is just perfect for the GT-S.
btw this topic had been discussed less than a month ago
http://www.maseratilife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5910
http://www.maseratilife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5910
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Im not sure why everyones only reasoning for not getting Skyhook is because "the GT-S was not designed with it" , Im sure there were a lot of things that were not "designed with" the car, but that doesn't mean you should not buy it, or it detracts from the car. If you want a track car, the GT-S is not the right choice, if you want a little softer ride when not out flying around in Sport mode, then Skyhook IS the right choice.
Does anyone have any info on the Skyhook actually taking something away from the GT-S, maybe a few pounds added to an already overweight car? Anyone have numbers of 0-60, or Nurburgring times, with and without Skyhook, did Maserati even test that? If not, Im not seeing where the justification is, that Skyhook is bad. Someone please enlighten me
Does anyone have any info on the Skyhook actually taking something away from the GT-S, maybe a few pounds added to an already overweight car? Anyone have numbers of 0-60, or Nurburgring times, with and without Skyhook, did Maserati even test that? If not, Im not seeing where the justification is, that Skyhook is bad. Someone please enlighten me
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In Theory, the Skyhook option should be an upgrade and for what it's worth, I do believe it will be the way to go. However, I just don't have enough experience with both to say for sure on the GT-S.
I can tell you that it's a worthwhile upgrade on the 4200, GranSport and QP models. Actually, I really believe it makes a huge difference on these cars. The main difference is that the suspension will be kept soft when you need it to be and will be stiff when it needs to be. With that said I don't believe that the setting are correct and thus, we're working for a fix to this which should be released soon.
There should be no reason that adaptive suspension dampening would be a bad thing. So long as it's designed correctly. The problem with the 4200 and Gransport was that the springs were not designed properly for the car. Once you load in the right set, the car performs very well without being too harsh. Being that this is a new Gen of car, it should be better.
I'll update this thread once I have more experience to say whether or not my thinking is consistant with what we've observed.
Best Regards
I can tell you that it's a worthwhile upgrade on the 4200, GranSport and QP models. Actually, I really believe it makes a huge difference on these cars. The main difference is that the suspension will be kept soft when you need it to be and will be stiff when it needs to be. With that said I don't believe that the setting are correct and thus, we're working for a fix to this which should be released soon.
There should be no reason that adaptive suspension dampening would be a bad thing. So long as it's designed correctly. The problem with the 4200 and Gransport was that the springs were not designed properly for the car. Once you load in the right set, the car performs very well without being too harsh. Being that this is a new Gen of car, it should be better.
I'll update this thread once I have more experience to say whether or not my thinking is consistant with what we've observed.
Best Regards
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236 Posts
My own experience of this is as follows. I currently have a QP Sport GT-S which did not have any option to have skyhook and has fixed rate dampers. I came out of a 4200 Coupe GT that did have Skyhook and which frankly was not that great, but as has been mentioned that may have simply been a function of the springs being poorly designed.
What I CAN say is that the ride handling compromise for the QP on the fixed rate dampers is virtually perfect in my view for such a large heavy car. Maserati have done a truly impressive job of retaining sufficient compliance in the suspension to make day to day driving over a variety of poor surfaces completely acceptable but at the same time retaining sufficient body control such that everything is kept in check when "pressing on"! If Maserati have got a similar set up on the GT-S (I am due a test drive very shortly but suspect dealer car will have skyhook) I would look to save the cash and stick with the non skyhook set up. Hope this helps.
What I CAN say is that the ride handling compromise for the QP on the fixed rate dampers is virtually perfect in my view for such a large heavy car. Maserati have done a truly impressive job of retaining sufficient compliance in the suspension to make day to day driving over a variety of poor surfaces completely acceptable but at the same time retaining sufficient body control such that everything is kept in check when "pressing on"! If Maserati have got a similar set up on the GT-S (I am due a test drive very shortly but suspect dealer car will have skyhook) I would look to save the cash and stick with the non skyhook set up. Hope this helps.
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