Race Damping suggestions

[DGRacing]

Hi,
I need some advice on good damping settings for my car (2012 Boss) (e.g. how many turns). I am running 295/40/18 tires on 18x10 wheels square.
I have the FR 18000-C dampers and fully aftermarket adjustable suspension parts. Some details on the car setup.

• Heavy front swaybar on stiff
• Light rear swaybar on loose
• Lowered 1.7". Even stance
• Spring rates: 457F/171-257R
• Tires: Hoosier A6

I figure it will need to be even settings front/rear on the dampers since I'm not running staggered tires/rims with different grip characteristics, but I could be wrong given the weight distribution of the car, which I believe is fairly neutral fore to aft?

Darren

 

[isrboss]

The way I made it easy on myself, was to purchase non adjustable damper coilovers, with the proper valving to the spring. All I need is a corner balance, and tune the balance with the my front adj. sway bar, camber, air pressure, rake etc. I kept the factory Boss rear spring/bar lbs/in total in the 430lbs/in range, and I will tune around that. To me rear grip trumps all with this vehicle. I know this does not answer your question, but I feel very strongly that tuning balance with damper hard/soft BS is an improper approach. While that type of tuning may give you an initial balance approach, in a sustained turn you will lose that approach and still need to address the issue with spring rate, sway bars, camber, air pressure, rake etc.

I am no pro racer, and I will never be, so I keep it real simple on myself. The less things to mess with the better. I will most likely just make it worse if I get my dickbeaters on it. At the end of the day, I just want to leave the track happy and drink a ton of Coors Light.

Good Luck.

 

[iDrive]

Hi,
I need some advice on good damping settings for my car (2012 Boss) (e.g. how many turns). I am running 295/40/18 tires on 18x10 wheels square.
I have the FR 18000-C dampers and fully aftermarket adjustable suspension parts. Some details on the car setup.

• Heavy front swaybar on stiff
• Light rear swaybar on loose
• Lowered 1.7". Even stance
• Spring rates: 457F/171-257R
• Tires: Hoosier A6

I figure it will need to be even settings front/rear on the dampers since I'm not running staggered tires/rims with different grip characteristics, but I could be wrong given the weight distribution of the car, which I believe is fairly neutral fore to aft?

Darren

I assume you set the f/r sway bars by testing. The same should be done for your bump and rebound settings. Work on one end at a time starting with full soft and increase by 2-5 clicks based on total amount of clicks (sweeps). Pulled from Penske's basic start-up:

Start with both compression and rebound at full soft and then increase compression until the car becomes harsh or starts to lose grip. At this point, back off 1 click. Increase rebound until the car become skittish, then back of 1-2 clicks.

Set up compression for bumps in critical areas. Corner entry, exit, braking, etc. Rebound is for stabilizing the car, eliminate the floating.

Your spring rates look in the ballpark but you did not state your f/r sway bar thickness (solid/hollow). Adjust sway bars for steady-state balance in low and high speed sweepers. Sway bars also affect corner entry and exit.

You need to know what the car is doing/feeling in order to make the necessary changes to make it faster around the course. Find out what works and what doesn't. Log all your changes so you can revert to an earlier set-up. You did say "Race".

Dave

 

[DGRacing]

I assume you set the f/r sway bars by testing. The same should be done for your bump and rebound settings. Work on one end at a time starting with full soft and increase by 2-5 clicks based on total amount of clicks (sweeps). Pulled from Penske's basic start-up:

Start with both compression and rebound at full soft and then increase compression until the car becomes harsh or starts to lose grip. At this point, back off 1 click. Increase rebound until the car become skittish, then back of 1-2 clicks.

Set up compression for bumps in critical areas. Corner entry, exit, braking, etc. Rebound is for stabilizing the car, eliminate the floating.

Your spring rates look in the ballpark but you did not state your f/r sway bar thickness (solid/hollow). Adjust sway bars for steady-state balance in low and high speed sweepers. Sway bars also affect corner entry and exit.

You need to know what the car is doing/feeling in order to make the necessary changes to make it faster around the course. Find out what works and what doesn't. Log all your changes so you can revert to an earlier set-up. You did say "Race".

Dave

Dave. Thanks. Yes, I've adjusted the sway bars with testing. I have 36mm up front and 25mm in the rear. It's the eibach adjustable kit. I went from middle setting to loose setting in rear so far. I am definitely taking it as it comes and making adjustments based on feedback.
Haven't used the 18000-C's until this year though.

Still learning how the combination of components interact for the best balance/handling settings. I know there is some 'hard science' in there and of course, every car is unique.

Unfortunately, I can't set rebound and compression independently with these dampers so I'll wait until I get coilovers this winter.

 

[zzyzx]

Darren,

Based on the nature of your questions (very broad and open ended...), you'd be well served reading a few books on the topic. And oldie but a goodie in this book:

http://books.google.com/books/about/How_to_Make_Your_Car_Handle.html?id=cr4IyD5l1NQC

Oddly enough, the Mustang suspension hasn't changed much since this book was published.

And of course, listen to people like Dave who've been doing this a long time.

 

[DGRacing]

Read that a while ago. I know the process for adjusting things as you go. I've been doing it. My question is kind of specific in looking for what damper settings would work well for race applications in terms of front rear bias. Basically a good starting point so i dont have to use all my track time on bad settings.