Mazda reveals new comfort-focused electronic chassis system

Passengers' bodies counters these small, violent, movements by tensing muscle groups, especially the main muscle in the side of the neck which helps support the head. This leads to stress and driver fatigue.

The overall philosophy of reducing the amount of driver effort at the wheel, properly supporting the driver, improving the driving position and lines of sight out of the car and greatly reducing the amount of unexpected shock loading on the driver’s body will become central to Mazda engineering and design policy.

One Mazda engineer admitted to Autocar that the company was rejecting the notion that improving driving dynamics inevitably meant increasing a car's general agility. "We cannot optimise our vehicles for what is a small customer base [which wants sportier chassis tuning]. A more relaxed driving experience frees the driver’s mind, and will make the drive more fun."

Mazda sources insist that the new philosophy of maximum driver comfort, more effortless progress and greatly reducing fatigue over long journeys is more in tune with shifting global tastes, seen in rapidly expanding trends for 'wellness' therapies and 'human-centred' personal luxury.

GVC - How it works

We experienced the G Vectoring Control on both the current Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 at a test track on the outskirts of Paris. Mazda engineers say the longer-term strategy is to engineer cars which maximise "smooth transitions between the different G-forces generated by braking, turning and accelerating".

Rather than using classic torque vectoring techniques such as braking individual wheels to encourage a car to, for example, turn more briskly into a bend, the Mazda GVC utilises tiny changes in engine torque output to "optimism the vertical loading on the tyre’s contact patch".

Just using information from the steering angle and vehicles speed, the GVC control software can reduce the amount of torque belong delivered to the wheels by the engine.

Even though the reduction is described by Mazda engineers as 'trivial - a maximum reduction of 30Nm', this and the extra loading of just 5kg on each tyre is enough to make the vehicle track much more accurately, mostly thanks to a more efficient use of the tyre’s contact patch.

Mazda says that it is only because the combustion processes in the SkyActive engines as 'so accurate' that these minor torque changes are possible. Experiments with the previous generation of Mazda engines showed such accurate torque variation was impossible.

According to the company, thanks to GVC, 'the vehicle moves more precisely as the driver intends, reducing the need for steering corrections - many of which are performed unconsciously. The driver feels more at one with the vehicle and more confident because the car follows his or her intended line precisely. Cumulative fatigue on long drives is reduced and smooth transitions between the G-forces acting on vehicle occupants reduce torso-sway, improving ride feel and passenger comfort'.