how much dampening is good?

[casquillacciott]

Im running koni yellows and tein s techs on my 5th gen prelude with an aftermarket rear sway bar, just wondering if its better to have it softer at the rear compared to fronts or can i just have it all the same? will the rear sway bar effect the settings i have in the rear etc? I've got it set halfway all round at the moment but just wondering if it will be worse off going more etc coz i do like the harder feel.

cheers

[senna]

Its ultimately up to you and what works with your set-up

The front and rear shocks have different valving rates, so you don't have to run the same settings F&R, however you do need to keep the same setting left to right.

As an example i run the front damper son my EK at 1 full turn up from base, then the rears are only half a turn.

With your bigger rear swaybar you could probably keep the damper softer, since the swaybar is working to control the body roll and you won't have to rely on the shocks as much.

[Mikecivic78]

As an example i run the front damper son my EK at 1 full turn up from base, then the rears are only half a turn.

this exactly what I had it on with an EM1 with Koni yellow and Eibach pro kit. I found it best with 26mm front sway and rear 22mm sway

[DreadAngel]

Following on from Senna's comment,

You want to avoid overdampen the rear as your car will be very unsettled during braking and cornering, it'll be susceptible to hopping? therefore reduces the amount of time the tires are gripping reducing your confidence. Afterall how many of us like the rear of our FFs to break out during those moments...

You won't notice this too much on smooth roads but its very noticable on bumpy ones...

I find when I dial in my dampers, I start off with the softest setting [Some of my friends go hardest first, its up to you], drive around roads you know as you did with your old setup, you'll quickly find the differences between your old and new. You then start playing around, 'usually' go the middle setting drive around then tweak it again. I know its time consuming but you learn a lot more about tuning your car this way, even if you're not mechanically adept, you can tune your suspension by feel It's a good learning experience.

When my EG had Koni Yellows [This is ages ago so I don't recall it entirely], I had it @ 1st click first drove around then switched to the 3rd click? Front was communicating perfectly but rear was a nervous wreck so backed it down to 1st click. It felt planted but not edgy enough so switch to 2nd click, spot on

Like Senna mention, it comes down to how you like your car. I like my car very neutral in feel and stable, some of my friends prefer the car to have a understeer bias, they can control and push harder with it.

[curtis265]

i have mine on max soft.

cos it feels nice

[senna]

Good Post, rep added

The hopping effect can happen because the dampers are set too firm on rebound, so when you hit a bump the shock compresses but the spring can't extend back down quickly enough to continue pushing the tyre on to the ground.

Now if you imagine this scenario then throw a second bump shortly after the first, the shock is still compressed when the second bump hits so there is little compression stroke available and this leads to the car becoming light on that corner/side/end

This is why i always bang on about compliance and not having rock hard set-ups....90% of people try to set up a street car for a race track

[casquillacciott]

thanks guys! ill lower the rears a bit i think, hit a little pothole in the road yesteday, quite a loud noise wen the dampening is stiffer, its quite a shock wen ur driving!

[wastingtime]

Whats the ride like with teins and konis on soft? I want to upgrade but I will miss the comfy ride lol.

[DreadAngel]

You want better handling with factory or better comfort? They're kinda inversely related...

If you don't want a harsh feel, go for quality dampers [Koni or Bilstein (Digressive Pistons)] with correctly matched springs [Need the correct spring rate to go with the shocks otherwise the shock's valving won't match the springs] then finished off with swaybars.

This way you're not relying on rock solid suspension to 'improve' [It doesn't really improve imo, all it does is brutally eliminate body roll through force and makes the car all too twitchy] your car's handling performance rather you let the suspension do their job and the swaybars to tighten your car's body roll =)

Talk to Senna about a setup that might suit you. It's also best to take a ride in friends cars that have the same car and suspension setup you're choosing between. Afterall the 'feel' of the suspension is very subjective, what you feel is harsh and unacceptable for someone else is firm and acceptable.

Same car is very important cause there are some complete suspension layout changes in Hondas with the older models [Pre-2000] using completely different setups to newer models [Post-2000] making suspension ride and feel very different. Tuning Macpherson [EP/EU/DC5/etc] is a pain in the arse and to really get big improvements sometimes its unavoidable to go race car hard/sensitive unless you have budget to go for higher end products like the Bilsteins. The Double Wishbone in the ED/EG/EK/DC2 are much easier to tune in the sense that even if you 'firm' it won't be so nervous ie lot more forgiving, not so harsh, etc. Try the same thing with the Macpherson equipped cars, you'll be in for a shock, its like you're driving a touring car.

[Alvis]

^ great thread - rep to Senna and DreadAngel

[Mikecivic78]

double wishbone setups are good for reducing positive camber in corners and reducing bump-steer. It is a good , albeit expensive setup, so not many manufacturers use it any more

I bought my 1st macpherson strut car 3 months ago, an 01 WRX Sedan. It's hard to tell the difference too much because my rex only has 66k on it while my Hondas always had 150,000+ on them. There is some bump steer evident in my Suby. It's stock and is a bit of an understeerer. My 1st mods will be an adjustable 22mm rear sway (or better tyres)

[senna]

Hey Mike, make your second mod changing the terrible fluid filled caster bushes (front lower control arm, rear bush) it will improve acceleration and steering feel. Aim for a double offset or anti lift kit