Device for controlling suspension shock absorbers of vehicles with skewed phantom substitute

A device for controlling damping coefficients of shock absorbers of a four-wheeled vehicle having a vehicle body, front left, front right, rear left and rear right wheels each supporting the vehicle body at a corresponding portion thereof, and the shock absorbers each acting between each of the wheels and the corresponding portion of the vehicle body, comprising:

• means for constructing a phantom damping system composed of a phantom side shock absorber disposed vertically at a skewed position laterally inside of a turn running of the vehicle and longitudinally shifted from a center of gravity of the vehicle body in a direction of an acceleration or a deceleration of the vehicle to have a lower end movable along a ground surface together with the vehicle and an upper end vertically movable relative to the lower end with a first phantom damping coefficient therebetween, and a phantom angular shock absorber arranged to act between the upper end of the phantom side shock absorber and the vehicle body with a second phantom damping coefficient therebetween, such that the phantom damping system provides the vehicle body with a substantially same phantom vertical damping force against a vertical movement of the vehicle body, a substantially same phantom angular damping moment against a rolling angular movement of the vehicle body during a rolling of the vehicle body due to the turn running, and a substantially same phantom angular damping moment against a pitching angular movement of the vehicle body during a pitching of the vehicle body due to the acceleration or the deceleration of the vehicle, respectively, as the shock absorbers acting between the wheels and the corresponding portions of the vehicle;
• means for calculating values of at least the first and second phantom damping coefficients for obtaining an optimum rolling and/or pitching performance of the vehicle body by the phantom damping system during the turn and/or acceleration or deceleration running of the vehicle;
• and
• means for controlling the damping coefficients of the shock absorbers acting between the wheels and the corresponding portions of the vehicle body based upon the calculated values of the first and second phantom damping coefficients.