An improved
system and method for personalizing the ride and / or handling characteristics of a motor vehicle are disclosed. An example
system for personalizing or individualizing the ride and / or handling characteristics of a motor vehicle is disclosed, which includes a
processing unit, a memory unit, an interface unit, and a plurality of electronic control modules coupled to each other by a high speed
data rate communications
bus. The interface unit is also coupled to a read unit and a
wireless input unit. The
system can be operated in a centralized mode or a distributed mode. The read unit and
wireless input unit can read in or receive, and forward to the interface unit, an individual's personal motor vehicle ride and / or handling characteristics data stored in a memory component of a device in that individual's possession. For example, an individual (e.g., driver, etc.) may carry a palm device (e.g., PDA, Palm
Pilot®, etc.) including a memory component that stores that individual's personalized ride and / or handling characteristics data. The read unit can include, for example, a
docking station for the palm device, which conveys the individual's personalized data from the memory component in the palm device to the interface unit. As another example, the individual may carry a cellular
radiotelephone including a memory component. In this case, the
wireless input unit can include, for example, a cellular
radiotelephone or similar device that is compatible for operations with the individual's cellular device, and the individual can use the cellular device to transmit the individual's ride and / or handling characteristics data from the memory component to the interface unit via the wireless input unit. Thus, the
processing unit and / or control modules can execute suitable algorithms for controlling the ride and / or handing characteristics of a motor vehicle, based on the individual's personalized data. Also, the use of a high speed
data rate communications
bus enables the system to meet future high speed
data rate and
processing requirements (e.g., drive-by-wire, etc.).