active suspension

I have also posted this question on ananther forum, so some of you possibly saw this.

Anyway, I have a question, or rather a field of interest, in which maybe some of you can help/enlighten.
Where can I find information about the so-called active cars of tje late 80s and early 90s.
I know Lotus started with experiments in this field, and I know it resulted in the glorious Willimas FW14 in which Mansell and Prost became rather easily champion.

But what exactly was active? How did it work? Did the cars still have conventionale springs?
And: why was it that Williams could dominate so easily, i.e., why didn't the others, for example McLaren, catch up?

And where there other types of racing cars, for example sports cars, in which this has been tried?

mat

Ligier Started with a derivated from citroên suspension it was I believe in 1983 with Jean Pierre JARIER
Lotus with A.SENNA totalise 2 wins GP DETROIT & MONACO GP IN 1987

Yes, Ligier first ran some sort of active suspension in 1983, the same year Lotus used theirs in two races, but Lotus already tested a prototype version of their 1987 system in 1981/2. BRM even tested the Citroën system in the 50s. The cars usually had springs and no conventional dampers, but hydraulic dampers instead.

Originally posted by fines
Yes, Ligier first ran some sort of active suspension in 1983, the same year Lotus used theirs in two races, but Lotus already tested a prototype version of their 1987 system in 1981/2. BRM even tested the Citroën system in the 50s. The cars usually had springs and no conventional dampers, but hydraulic dampers instead.

Does anyone of you know where to find more information on this subject, for example on the Ligier-Citroen system?

And concerning BRM: was that an active system, or just the hydropneumatic spring system of Citroen?
What did they expect?

mat

I will check in french magazines, I know there is
obviously a record in my library . By the way
this system was I think an heritage from the
controversy TALBOT/MATRA/PEUGEOT story

bob

I don't know much about the BRM system, just that it was "Citroën-like". Don't even recall from where I've got the notion.