Even though the Yamaha Reactive Suspension System (YRSS) is a Yamaha-exclusive and new technology for the snowmobile industry, the interactive shock absorber system is not new technology.
YRSS is being offered as standard equipment on the 50th Anniversary Apex models for model year 2018, the interactive shock absorber system is not new technology. This system was invented in 1991 to enhance side-to-side roll damping control and has been used in the automotive industry since 1997 when it was introduced on the Toyota Supra. Since its original inception, the Relative Absorber System (REAS) has undergone a couple of significant advancements within the automotive industry and later on, Audi (in 2002) and Peugeot (in 2009) joined Toyota with applications on certain vehicles.
REAS, which is the automobile version of this technology, allows damping control of both pitch and roll.
The snowmobile version, YRSS, works on the front suspension only.
Yamaha engineer Jeff Stoxen shared system details with us during a tech session at the annual snowmobile photo shoots, held this past winter in West Yellowstone, MT.