Coilover - Suspension Settings - Possible Sticky?

[Zilli]

Hi all,

Can i suggest that we make a sticky thread where we can all post the settings on our coilovers, and discuss what works well, what doesn't work well, or just in general some information for the people who are new to the adjustable suspension world?

For me, i just got the BC N+, and i havent touched the damper adjustments yet, simply because i dont know what effect they will have on the car. So i'm wanting to learn more about how the different stiffnesses and adjustments affect the performance of my car.

I had them put in at Powerplay, and they set it to 7 at the front and 8 at the back. it has a very comfortable ride, and im surprised at how smooth the car is considering how low it sits.

However, a few questions.

1) What is everyone else running Street/Track, and why?
2) What affect does having the front stiffer than the back have?
3) What effect does having the back stiffer than the front have?

And just general experiences?

I basically want a resource where we can share experiences and learn from each other.

Hope this works, because we've got some great knowldge in here

[BlitZ]

I know some might disagree

but
different driving styles, tracks, environmental conditions, coil over types all effect the way in which u would want to set your coilovers..

[|N|]

i dun think its useful .. the best setting i find could be the worst for u ... everyone has different different style in a way ...

u should test urself and find out wats best for u

[Zilli]

i understand, but dont you think having a resource for different experiences would be useful?

In any case, theres only 2 responses all day, so i'll just try elsewhere maybe

thanks fellas... this thread can be closed

[aaronng]

It differs for the brand of coils, spring rate of the coils, model of car and even the thickness of your front and rear sway bars, model/stiffness of tyres and even tyre pressure! There are too many variables and yes, one person's favourite setting might end up being the worse one for someone else.

[iced]

im with aaronng.
there are too many variables.

car
track
weight
tyre size
tyre type
wheel alignment.
swaybar thickness
spring rate
damper rate
can go on all day.

to answer your questions
stiffer rear gives less understeer.
but stiffer rear contributes to a very bumpy ride.
as for spring rate you cannot compare spring rates for a Dc2 vs a dc5 just an example.
One uses McPherson front, one is double-A-arm. Typically the later will require stiffer rates to compensate. 12kg front for a dc2 is ok. 12kg front for dc5 for a daily will be killer stiff.

I would start with an aggressive wheel alignment and then fine tune your damper to your liking.
The spring rates that the N+ come out of the box are fine.
The thing is the cornering limit even with good street tyres with coilovers is very high. You will unlikely be able to be able to tweak the dampers 100% just by driving around the block.

[CTR Coupe]

heres my post from the Cusco thread


My spring rates are a lot softer 4k front 3k rear. Run around town I’m usually 2 front/1 rear mostly for comfort reasons. I run 2/2 for spirited driving.

Semi slicks are required to take full advantage of the higher dampener settings. On the road I would keep the dampeners low as its easier to lose traction with the state of our crappy roads at the higher settings it’s too stiff to keep contact with the road.

2/1 car feels neutral pushed to the car tends slightly towards understeer its not really noticeable until you run out of grip.

2/2 the car feels very neutral even tending a bit towards oversteer conditions very slightly however this setting is a little more unpredictable at the edge of the grip levels.

3/2 ran this setting once too much understeer(for my liking) as my tires didn’t have enough grip to keep contact with the road. (Not crappy tires either silica based high end road tires. Hankcook Ventus V8 RS)

Never run the rear harder than the front 1 /2, 2/ 3 or 3 /4 etc. the car can get very tail happy/unpredictable.

And don’t be a dumbass and do this to be massive FWD drifto master you will only spin the car/lose control. If you want to see what it does do it on the track where there are less obstacles to hit.

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64701

Like everyone above me has said it really depends on the rest of the cars setup and your driving style

[Zilli]

thanks fellas

[e240]

thanks fellas

Your best bet is to do your own data tracking. Get yourself to a track day and make it count!

As this was my first year ever driving on circuits, and never having driven at any of the local tracks, I did not have data to go by on car setup. Asked around but as the other poster's said, I usually got conflicting suggestions.

So what I did was try and make every lap count at track days. Don't just idly drive around the track. Either get a lap timer or somebody to time and write down your times for you.

Get a notebook, record down Cold and hot tyre pressures, Damper settings & any changes you have done. Match these against the lap times. Everytime you make a change, note it down and match it to the lap times. By the end of the day, you'll have some data to go by for the next track day.

Cheers

[Zilli]

Thanks a lot for a very constructive post mate

[SeverAMV]

just remember that stiffer settings can be unstable when on bumpy surfaces, as your suspension cant bounce to keep the wheels on the road as well if you've set it too stiff to bounce (bound/rebound wise).

but yeah, take the time to push the car in the way you normally would. if you think your car understeers too much, try to stiffen the rear a little or loosen up the front a little. if it oversteers, do the reverse. but set the stiffness to a level that you will be able to live with on your day to day driving/weekend warrior stuff. if you dont like it, you can always adjust it. and just a tip, but if you change your setting, dont just go and change it again just because you found a steering quirk in the first corner of that lap, keep going for a couple of laps to find most of the strengths and weaknesses.

ride height also plays its role. try to play around with the ride height setting until you can find the ideal centre of balance/weight/gravity. you'll know you've gone too low if the cornering is as bad as it was when it was raised.

oh and another tip, work on one variable at a time so you can isolate the effects of altering that variable. and also note that sometimes it may not be the suspension setting that is the problem, but your driving style. sometimes it may be better to alter your driving style according to the setting. ie, if you find it unstable when you trail brake, try to brake before the corner, and then just cruise thru the entry of the corner and power out with understeer. or some other style you'd prefer.