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WATCH: Pothole-detecting tech could help smooth out a bumpy ride

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<i>Image: iStock</i>
<i>Image: iStock</i>

Potholed roads not only make journeys uncomfortable but harsh impacts with severe potholes can also cause damage to a vehicle’s wheels, tyres and suspension systems, resulting in hefty repair bills.

Ford is limiting the impact of damaged roads for drivers of the all-new Ford Focus now on sale by introducing innovative pothole detection technology.

Pothole detection technology

The system senses when a wheel is falling into a pothole and adjusts the suspension to limit how far the wheel drops.

READ: WATCH: Huge potholes shred the tyres of 19 cars

Because the tyre and wheel do not fall as far, they do not strike the opposite side of the pothole as harshly on exit.

The rear suspension can respond even faster than the front, with a signal from the front wheel providing a pre-warning to the rear wheel before it reaches the pothole. This all happens in a split second.

"Our engineers are always searching for the roughest roads to really test our suspension to the limit, but more and more we're noticing that the rough roads are finding us.

                                                                      Image: iStock

Guy Mathot, Ford Focus vehicle dynamics supervisor, said: "Potholes are a problem that isn’t going away anytime soon, but with our advanced suspension technology for all-new Focus, we've been able to reduce their impact." 

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