This city bus may just have more comfort and safety equipment than your new high-end Ford Raptor or Ram TRX. It has a height-adjustable air suspension with weight estimation. It has adjustable dampers. It has a full compliment of cameras and radar sensors to be able to avoid collisions and provide a perfect bus stop approach every time. Let’s dig in!
You may have heard of ZF because they produce some of the most reputable automatic transmissions for pickup trucks and SUVs. They design and make much more than that. We filmed this video in Jeversen, Germany at a ZF testing facility.
The city bus you see here is equipped with what ZF calls their new “skyhook suspension system”. It’s their next generation of adaptive dampers that can adjust in real time. While a bus like this should never go off-road, it still needs to be comfortable for all passengers on rough paved roads in a variety of conditions. This adjustable suspension can do just that. It can keep the bus mostly level during a sudden lane change maneuver. It can also be set to a softer setting depending on the need.
The adjustable air suspension is quick to respond. It has a kneeling function while stopped. This bus has one the most powerful and quiet electric air compressors that I have ever seen.
This bus can provide emergency braking capability to avoid hitting a pedestrian or a stopped car ahead. It also has a driver assistance technology to help steer the bus up to a curb at a bus station with millimeter precision and consistency. Bus drivers can get tired or distracted. This technology can help.
Please join me in this video below for our first ever city bus video.
