Best coilovers for application

**leitch** · 05-08-2012, 09:50 PM

Absolutely. But we all like playing with **** we don't fully understand because we think it'll make us faster. :-p

**kaanage** · 05-08-2012, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by Preen59

KW Clubsport do. They also have Clubsport 3 way which have independently adjustable low and high speed bump AND rebound.

.... Extremely expensive and not needed for nearly all motorsport applications. Still, they're available for the cars that do (and the engineers good enough to tune them).

Sorry, they don't have separately adjustable high and low speed rebound - the 3 way is high/low speed compression and overall rebound. It'd be 4 way if there were separate high and low speed rebound circuits (rebound is mainly a factor of the spring rate in any case so the reponse is inherently high speed).

See about half way down this page - KW clubsport /// high quality coilover kits for on and off the track performance

GP motorcycle rear suspension, which I would argue is more critical than any road car requirement, is 3 way adjustable - I had a WhitePower unit with all this (and it didn't make me go any faster due to sheer lack of talent

). In the end, a suspension expert (multiple Australian champion in my class) set all the rates in the paddock (slight adjustment from the factory starting recommendations) and I wasn't able to improve on them at all with my fiddling.

Originally Posted by Preen59

My advice would be to sort your driving out before you worry about shock control. In a lot of cases, there is little wrong with the chassis and a lot more to be found in the driver.

Generally speaking, when I crew for someone (and the same goes for myself) we'll have a base setup and I won't change that much, if at all until their technique is right. Getting the thing to turn in better is a waste of time if they're not turning in early enough (for example). You'll find tenths in the chassis, but you'll find seconds in the driver.

+100
I FULLY agree. Fiddling with suspension settings when you haven't fully understood ALL the characteristics of your vehicle is almost guaranteed to make you confused, slower and frustrated (see my comment about the WhitePower rear suspension above). We used to refer to it (along with left field engine mods) as "tuning yourself to a standstill".

**Preen59** · 05-08-2012, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by leitch

Absolutely. But we all like playing with **** we don't fully understand because we think it'll make us faster. :-p

Hahaha. Fair call!

Originally Posted by kaanage

Sorry, they don't have separately adjustable high and low speed rebound - the 3 way is high/low speed compression and overall rebound. It'd be 4 way if there were separate high and low speed rebound circuits (rebound is mainly a factor of the spring rate in any case so the reponse is inherently high speed).

See about half way down this page - KW clubsport /// high quality coilover kits for on and off the track performance

GP motorcycle rear suspension, which I would argue is more critical than any road car requirement, is 3 way adjustable - I had a WhitePower unit with all this (and it didn't make me go any faster due to sheer lack of talent

). In the end, a suspension expert (multiple Australian champion in my class) set all the rates in the paddock (slight adjustment from the factory starting recommendations) and I wasn't able to improve on them at all with my fiddling.

+100
I FULLY agree. Fiddling with suspension settings when you haven't fully understood ALL the characteristics of your vehicle is almost guaranteed to make you confused, slower and frustrated (see my comment about the WhitePower rear suspension above). We used to refer to it (along with left field engine mods) as "tuning yourself to a standstill".

Looks like that was my misinterpretation when I spoke to Erik last time. You are correct!

I have an ex kart racer mate who we used to call "carbie". He'd spend hours and hundreds of dollars trying all sorts of different carbies, looking for "that edge". Same dealio.

On the kart racing topic, I have a dyno sheet from an engine I built last year and threw on a (completely wrong for the application) chassis with the only complete carbie I had (used to run it on the ARC Watercooled engine- Was a prototype from my engine builder). Anyways, built it, ran it in, tuned it, took it to the dyno. I had guys chasing me about it because they'd never seen an AFR so flat across the full rev range. Wanted to know what the secret was. No secret, no electronics, no crazy modified carbie- Just tune by feel.

**Preen59** · 05-08-2012, 10:43 PM

Also, I think this is the longest consecutive set of posts in the Polo section from me without pissing someone off.. Go me. Haha.

**kaanage** · 05-08-2012, 10:53 PM

You state what you know (which is HEAPS) and what your opinion is (which is invariably well thought out). Why would you pi$$ anyone off?

Keep posting, dude.

**Buller_Scott** · 05-08-2012, 11:12 PM

Originally Posted by Preen59

Also, I think this is the longest consecutive set of posts in the Polo section from me without pissing someone off.. Go me. Haha.

yeah wtf? even with my horribly on-off crappy indonesian internet connection, i still manage to pi$$ people off at least once a month, on here.

i'd thought my set up was perfect for what i use the car (touge on the weekends, otherwise a daily driver), but now that the car's going to be a bit lighter up front, i might have to revisit this haha.

**Preen59** · 06-08-2012, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by Buller_Scott

yeah wtf? even with my horribly on-off crappy indonesian internet connection, i still manage to pi$$ people off at least once a month, on here.

i'd thought my set up was perfect for what i use the car (touge on the weekends, otherwise a daily driver), but now that the car's going to be a bit lighter up front, i might have to revisit this haha.

I've been quiet for a while.. Haha.

Bit lighter up front?