Daily Beaters on Air

 I can never understand why there's a faction of people who are against air ride.  This whole Static VS Bags argument really doesn't make sense to me.  If you think about it, isn't it just common sense that you should mod your car based on how you drive it?  I rolled low and static for about 3 years when I had my LS400, and it was always so nerve-racking wherever I went.  I would stress about road construction, potholes, speed bumps, ramps, humps, roadkill, pretty much anything that I had to drive over that wasn't flat.  I had to plan ahead anywhere I went, and I got into a habit of watching other cars in front of me and observe how their suspension respond to road conditions so that I can gauge whether I need to slam on my brakes or not for bumps.  I messed up my front end twice and had to get it repainted, and both times it got messed up within weeks of getting it repaired.  It was starting to get really irritating, and it soon became obvious that air ride was the only way to go for me.  I could care less about being hardcore or whatever, I just wanted to drive around stress free and not have to waste time and money fixing stuff that shouldn't be broken in the first place.

This is the same mindset for AJ, Matt, and Amila.  We all daily our car and we all think alike, we love the low look, but we want to have that adjust-ability for unexpected road conditions.  I have to clear a huge speedbump on the daily just to get out of my neighborhood, so my ride height is usually pretty high.  Matt and AJ likes to roll pretty low on the daily though, especially Matt, he's crazy.  Amila just got air, so I am sure he'll spend a few days finding his ideal ride height.  We're all fitted with D2 Suspension, except for Matt.......he wanted to be different, so he has Air Force Suspension.  For the air management, we're all using RideTech, and we can't be happier with how it performs.  The ride quality is pretty much on par with coilovers, there seems to be no real differences based on our daily habits.  Handling and turning feels the same, although none of us track our cars, so we won't know how it differs when you're auto-crossing or drifting.  The main thing to keep in mind is that if you like the low look and you daily your car, maybe air ride is the way to go.  When you add up the cost of repairs that accrue from damages of rolling low on the daily, it'll be just as much if not more than the amount of additional money you would spend to get air ride.

These pictures were taken at RDU Airport.

-Anh-Tuan Tran