An empirical hybrid shock absorber model capable of capturing nonlinear and hysteresis characteristics of shock absorbers is built.The nonlinear characteristics are modeled by algebraic function and the hysteresis effects between shock force and shock velocity are modeled by neural network.To develop the empirical hybrid shock absorber model,a Mazda CX-7 front shock absorber is tested by a displacement-controlled hydraulic shock absorber testing machine.The hybrid shock absorber model is built and validated using the experimental shock absorber data.The RMS value for the hybrid shock absorber model is 60.28N at the velocity range from-1.3m/s to 1.3m/s.