Korea will be a very interesting country to see and even if the track has only just been finished in time, I am confident that everything will be fine. I am very much in favour of new races and I think it is a benefit for all of us in the sport. It should not be too complicated to learn the layout and we are used to adapting quickly to new circumstances. “We are very pleased to be visiting Korea next week and are looking forward to the experience of racing in a new country for Formula One. It is important for the future of our sport that we continue to expand our global fan base therefore we are very pleased that the venue is ready in time after some uncertainty. “The first Korean Grand Prix will be a completely new experience for everybody involved in Formula One and our team welcomes this new race onto the calendar. The organisers have had a challenging period of time to get the new facilities complete according to the initial plan but everything seems to be ready now. We are looking forward to an exiting first race at this new track in Yeongam where we can hopefully continue to get the maximum from our current technical package, as in the last races, and score additional points.
At low speed or at a standstill, the system draws on pressure from the accumulator (central reservoir) with a charging pressure of 227 psi (16 bar) to ensure rapid and noise-free ride height control. The AIRMATIC system offers a sports suspension and comfort suspension in one. The system's adaptability solves the usual suspension tuning conflict between comfort and high dynamic handling by adjusting the springing and damping rates in response to driving input and road conditions. Under normal driving conditions, the entire air volume remains active to provide optimal comfort - as with soft-rate conventional springs. When cornering at speed, however, AIRMATIC briefly releases a portion of the air volume, resulting in a "harder" spring rate to reduce pitch and roll. The air reservoirs are integrated into the spring struts in front and remotely mounted on the subframe in the rear. The suspension computer considers input from two body level sensors on the front suspension and a third on the rear suspension. In addition, the AIRMATIC control unit receives signals from three acceleration sensors on the body and a steering angle sensor, and uses these to determine the required shock absorber force and spring rate.
Solenoid valves on the shock absorbers provide four levels of damping, determined by the computer in response to sensor input. The E-Class uses stage 1 where there are small body movements, such as in steady-state driving. If the speed of movement on the part of the body exceeds a certain level, the system switches back and forth between the second and third damping stages to compensate for body pitch and roll. In addition, the driver can select from two suspension damping settings, from maximum comfort to sporty. The system switches thresholds between the four stages and the spring rate. When the driver selects the sport program, the harder springing and damping stages are activated earlier than in the comfort program. Automatic level control maintains the same spring travel regardless of vehicle load. For traveling over rough roads, the driver can raise the body by one inch at the touch of a button. The car automatically returns to normal ride height if speed briefly exceeds about 75 mph, or if the vehicle sustains 50 mph or higher for more than five minutes.
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