Testing, testing
RICHARD LANE
The suspension of future McLarens might be aided by artificial intelligence
W e often hear damper engineering talked up as a bit of a dark art, and there’s plenty of truth to that. This is one corner of the car industry that demands not just mathematical rigour but also world-class seat-of-pants feel from its practitioners – something of a synaptic je ne sais quoi to weave into all the objective, properly measurable stuff. Perhaps the only area that exceeds damping in terms of intricacy is tyre development, which remains a wild west.
As road testers, it’s good practice to worm our way into conversation with damping engineers whenever the chance presents. Their ultranuanced work is never less than fascinating.