The SnoWest SnowTest crew got a sneak peak of something last spring that we knew could be big when released to the snowmobiling public.
Fox Shocks’ Intelligent Quick Switch (iQS), now available, is bristling with technology and takes a product—Fox Shocks—to the next level.
Our first “official” introduction to iQS came in December in Island Park, ID, with the crew from Fox Shocks and several of Fox’s athletes, including Tony Jenkins, Rob Kincaid, Dave McClure and Dan Adams. We rode several miles of trails (smooth and not-so-smooth) before diving off the trail into the backcountry.
The point of the ride wasn’t really to test or review the Fox shocks—we already know how well they work, as we have experienced the QS3 and Float 3 shocks in lots of snow and dirt (powersports) applications. And in the conditions we rode that day in Island Park, the Fox Shocks—in this case the iQS—were once again stellar.
Let’s pause for a second and get some definitions out of the way. QS3 refers to Quick Switch 3 and iQS to Intelligent Quick Switch.
The shocks used in the iQS system have a familiar Fox Shocks look with one exception: the location of the knob where you would usually change shock settings now houses the iQS stepper motor, which helps change the shock settings electronically as you push a button on the left handlebar. The stepper motor drives a needle that controls the shock settings.
How can you not be impressed with being able to change your shock settings by just pushing a set of buttons on handlebars? It’s crazy easy. You don’t get off the sled and you can change on the fly.
iQS lets the rider choose damping profiles with the handlebar-mounted switch which means you can go from soft to hard to lockout by just pressing the appropriate button. The electronic modal damping control comes via a Bosch suspension control unit (SCU). A full range of adjustment takes place in less than one second and you get all the benefits of Fox Shocks that, even without iQS, offer easy adjustment. Fox QS3 shocks have made adjusting the shocks for the ride conditions so much easier than worrying about counting clicks. Now think of being able to make those adjustments—four “modes” in all—from the handlebars while riding the sled.