As it is, Ram trucks are already performing well both in terms of ride quality and market sales. But if there’s a way to enhance their handling, it’s a welcome improvement.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles knows this and has, in fact, acted on it as it recently unveiled a purpose-built dynamic vehicle simulator it acquired that can help enhance the development process of its cars and pickup trucks.
The device isn’t cheap. For a price tag of $10 million, there is reason for concern that it will affect the retail prices of future truck and car models. But if it means better handling and ride quality, consumers will probably warm up to the idea.
The Vehicle Dynamic Simulator is currently at FCA’s Automotive Research and Development Centre in Windsor, Ontario, where it is working on a Ram 1500.
In the facility, a Ram 1500 cab sits on six actuators that allow the simulator access to the truck’s nine freedoms of movement: left-right, up-down, fore-aft in small doses, pitch, roll, and yaw. Three other movements are then controlled by the tripod, which consists of three larger actuators that allow the simulator to inflict more force on the vehicle and introduce simulated slip angles into high-dynamics cornering.
The simulator’s main purpose as a ride-and-handling tool is to assist in identifying interior component problems early in the development, thereby allowing FCA to address the problem before coming up with a final production prototype.
With the introduction of the Vehicle Dynamic Simulator in the company’s truck and car development process, it is also expected to shorten production time by months. This means there is likelihood that future-generation Ram trucks and other models from the lineup will reach dealership a lot sooner than expected.
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