Anyone use it on the regular basis?

I've heard some people say it can wear out bags etc however I thought with what they go through when you're driving that wouldn't be the case?

Also are the bags supposed to completely depressurise when Access mode is selected or does it keep pressure in the bags?

Thanks

H

Not regularly but it doesn't completely depressurise the springs, it just lets enough air out for the height sensors to say it is down to just touching the bumpstops. Only time I've used it is to lock the car in access for some of the very low height clearance multi storey car parks in France.

I regularly drop mine down to access height when parking up and have never had an issue with it. The last car we've had 10 years and only replaced the bags when we got it.

I'd have thought that keeping the rubber moving would be better for it than letting it sit in one position for ages.

David.

I drop mine fairly regularly to r&r canoes or bikes from the racks.

i don't have EAS but my general rule is, use it or loose it . most things don't wear out they age and deteriorate especially rubber components

I leave mine permanently locked in motorway mode. I find this a happy compromise, better for getting in and out and I prefer the handling at low speed, I also prefer the way it looks when parked up. Driven it like this for 40k with no problems.

Thanks all..

Guess i should use it more often.

Always used it, especially to attach and detach the trailer (what a blessing, air suspension!).
Also with passengers, parents and woman's parents are older and somewhat of short leg reach :-)

To prevent the bothering system interruption when a door opens, I've inserted a switch that allows me to disable the 'door open' signal, so that the car can continue to go down. I wish we could setup Access Mode at limited speed like newer RRs can do, to do this in ours we need a way to fool the EAS which looks for the "P" and the vehicle speed at zero...
Anyone want to play? :-)

leolito wrote:

I wish we could setup Access Mode at limited speed like newer RRs can do, to do this in ours we need a way to fool the EAS which looks for the "P" >and the vehicle speed at zero...

But you can? Select Access, push the inhibit button and it stays in Access. I use it often in some of the French underground multi-storey car parks that have very little headroom. It complains if you reach 35 mph in Access but without the inhibit pushed in, it will rise to normal whether you want it to or not.

Uhm ... mine won't go into Access unless I am at zero speed, even if I pre-selected before.
What you are suggesting in mine works in that "crawl mode".

I mean I'd like to select access mode and the lady to drop her fat body onto access before I stop (say, under 10 km/h), this way it is fully down by the time you stop :-)

I don't think I've ever tried selecting Access while moving, I tend to select it then hit the inhibit button while stationary then drive off in Access. As long as you are doing less than 35 mph, I thought you can push the Inhibit button and then select Access while moving. I'll go outside and try it in mine shortly and let you know what happens.

Just been out and clogged the traffic in the village. Driving at around 10 mph in standard height, push the Inhibit button, select Access. It drops to motorway height, motorway height light lit with Access height light flashing. Slow right down, into N, foot off the brake pedal (as all suspension movement is inhibited when the brake pedal is pressed) and it drops down to Access. Back into D and drive off slowly in crawl mode. As soon as the speed increases up to maybe 5 mph, as the Inhibit button is still in, it rises to Motorway height.

Or just kill the EAS completely then you'll be in Access height all the time......

OK, this is standard behaviour.
Now, my neighbour's L405 and his previous L322 both had the option to drop to Access already on the move he uses this entering our complex, so by the time he is in front of his garage the car is already down. I believe this is an improvement of the way the EAS works on the P38, which does not allow it to drop down until it is stopped.

as all suspension movement is inhibited when the brake pedal is pressed
I removed this very annoying feature on mine. Nothing bad came out of it, and only one very slight thing has to be considered, which, being myself the only driver, once I am aware it is OK.
This is: lifting and lowering the car changes the caster angle, and if the brakes are pressed it does provide a lot of resistance and the axle moves against the brakes. Therefore if I am in a condition in which the brakes are pressed AND the EAS comes on, I simply use the hand-brake ...
Probably this is the reason why the inhibit is in the first place, but I see it instead as an additional on-off cycle on a system already troubled by a myriad of other factors ....

I think the concern of inhibiting with brakes on, is that EAS regularly resets itself as you drive. If you are hard on the brakes exactly at the time your suspension is resetting, the ride height will be ridiculously affected. I don't know if this has the potential of being dangerous or not.

Here's a possible dangerous scenario. You're at highway speed going around a tight curve and the EAS valves have just opened to adjust the level, and you slam the brakes. The car will pitch forward flattening the front springs while fully extending the rear springs, combined with fully extending the side of the car that's on the inside of the curve. This may sound unlikely for many, but I live in British Columbia where I frequently drive mountain roads. I'm interested to hear feedback on this from some of you who are way more knowledgable on EAS than I am.

I've had to drive mine in an emergency "hospital related" around some roads at speeds you wouldn't want in a 205gti however the P38 in motorway mode didn't pitch or roll nearly as much as you'd expect,

That included coming around a tight bend and having to stand on the brakes, the front dipped but not a complete decompression, and control remained with me..

When needed you can hustle these big 4x4s/

I think all the various scenarios were thought about when the system was programmed. It was introduced on the Classic when it started to become more of a luxury car than an off roader and started being bought by people as an alternative to something like an S Class Mercedes. They then found that if they drove it like an S Class and had to apply the brakes while swerving it had a nasty habit of falling over. So the EAS was introduced with the lowering at speed to lower the centre of gravity to stop it from doing that. I remember once seeing a comparison between a Classic on coil springs and one on EAS (it may even have been a very early Top Gear) where the older one on coils rolled onto its side while the one of EAS went where the driver pointed it. There's other features that are obvious when you think about it. It won't lower when a door is open otherwise you could drop it down and crunch the bottom of the open door on a rock or high kerb for instance.

If I have need for crawl mode at Access height it is usually when going into an underground car park with restricted headroom. I have to stop at the entrance to get my ticket anyway so rather than hold it on the brake, I drop it into P, poke the rocker for Access, poke the Inhibit button and then drive in keeping my speed down.

Thanks guys. Henry, I'm really happy with the way the P38 handles our mountain roads. My concern is if you allow the brakes to not inhibit the EAS, and then enter into the scenario I described. I think it could be dangerous. I think this is the reason the P38 engineers decided EAS should not operate when brakes are applied.

The p38 doesn't reset the EAS all the time. Yes, it will 'adjust' itself to keep the corners within the target heights, but it doesn't do a full reset.

It will also only open valves on a single axle at a time - it won't open all 4 - so the scenario of the front dropping under braking and the air being pushed to the rear just won't happen. You can see this happening under normal operation - if you select a height, then if going up - the rear axle gets raised first, and then the front will come up. When dropping in height the front will go down first and then the rear will follow. I believe to stop the headlights from being shone upwards to possibly dazzle other drivers.

The ONLY time the P38 will cross link an axle is when you have your foot on the brakes and the road speed is down to nearly zero. It will then open both valves on the front axle to level it side-to-side - again I believe to make sure the headlights are level when you stop. It doesn't do this on the rear axle though. So if the brake inhibit is bypassed, then chances are it won't even do that.

I personally wouldn't disable the brake inhibit, but each to their own.

I've also had a few moments of there nearly being more skidmarks than just on the road. the most memorable of late being on a country road in Ireland, coming around a blind bend to be dazzled by the high beams of a stationary vehicle on the other side of the road. Flashed him and the high beams went off to reveal a tractor/trailer pulling into the farm. Had to STAMP on the brakes and swerve to miss it and it didn't feel like it was going to roll anywhere, but to this day I have no idea how I didn't hit the trailer. If the moron didn't have his high beams on, then I would have seen it a couple of seconds earlier. But was very glad I was in the RR!

Thanks for the info Marty. I forgot about it only doing one axle at a time. I still don't think disabling the brake inhibit is a good idea.
I fully agree with feeling really safe in the P38.