FAST Open Autocross - Sep 10 @ Brooksville

[Loren]

General adjustment:

Find a good healthy bump. Railroad crossing or something. Not a harsh one, just something you can "float" over withouth a thump.

Set the shocks full soft. And then adjust one end at a time until you just reach that point where you don't get a second bounce over the bump. The bump gets absorbed with just a single compression of the shocks. That is "critical damping". In a perfect world, that's what you want. Just enough damping to keep the springs under control. That's pretty much what you want for the street, and it's not a bad place to start for autocross.

From there, you can adjust shocks to do two things:

1. Improve steering response. Stiffer gives you sharper response. It may seem counterintuitive on the Konis, because they only adjust rebound damping. But, instead of resisting the outside compressing, they resist the inside lifting. Net result is still more controlled (or less in the case of a transitional element) body roll.
2. Change the transitional balance of the car. Getting a little tail wag coming out of the turn-around? Try softening the rear or stiffening the front. Same thing you'd do with tire pressures or anything else you have to adjust.

But, you can take it too far. For Brooksville, you'll find that you can get away with running pretty stiff shocks. You'll feel the expansion joints, but as long as you have the balance right, it'll be nice and firm and responsive. But, the same settings anyplace that has some bumps or dips and you'll find yourself losing traction on the rough stuff. Street ride quality will also be awful with them stiff.

On a Miata, the fronts are a lot easier to adjust than the rears, so I tend to find a happy medium for the rears, and just tweak the fronts for street/autocross, or smooth/rough surfaces.

Remember, the Koni adjusters will usually allow you to turn the knob about 2.25 turns. The "official" adjustment range is 2 turns starting from soft. If you turn them in the stiff direction until it stops, you're in no-man's land! They'll be Super Stiff. In fact, they will likely be so stiff that they will visibly NOT rebound for quite some time. They're not designed to be run that way, though some people do. Anything over 2 turns gets non-linear REAL quick, and who knows what you're gonna get. Uncalibrated something.

Where you're likely to end up? Probably 1-1.5 turns in the rear. Same in the front, probably stiffer for Brooksville. There's a lot of "driver preference" in there. It's highly unlikely that you'll run much less than 1 turn. But, like any other mod (especially suspension), you should play with the full range of adjustment just to add data points to your internal database!

[Carracer]

Thanks! I will give that a try tomorrow and see if I can dial them in some more.

[twistedwankel]

The last two sets of koni's I've gotten have had 2 5/8 turns lock to lock. I set the rears at 1.75 turns stiff like Loren said because I couldn't get at them at all. Run 1.5 on front on asphalt and up to 2 turns on concrete. Because tire stiffness is very much part of the equation. This latest set of 3 year old BFG's are so nice on the road I leave the fronts set at 2 with excellent ride qualities and 255 tires at 32psi. If I went on a trip I'd do 34psi cold and set the fronts at 1 turn for Cadillac ride.

I put a paint marker where zero is on the fronts for reference.

I was told recently by a prime S4/ES driver that he has different koni/psi settings for every site he races on. He keeps a book.

Loren did tell you to get those cheap Bilsteins and not worry about it I learned that the Bilstein HD's I put on the rear of RX8 are stiffer than the koni's set at 1.75 turns and work in both directions giving a much better ride overall.

I was originally told by a nationally competitive driver to set the koni rears at 3/4 stiff and make any other fine tuning adjustments with the "bars" to make it perfect.

Geesh, you might have to change your driving style now?

[jev61]

Geesh, you might have to change your driving style now?

Yep, he is going to start beating that S4/ES driver on a regular basis. And a certain M3 driver too I bet.

[Solar]

Geesh, you might have to change your driving style now?

Yep, he is going to start beating that S4/ES driver on a regular basis. And a certain M3 driver too I bet.

Not to take anything away from Phillip, but sometimes it takes a little time to adjust to a new suspension, he may find out that his old soft set up worked better for him, I doubt it will, but you never know ?

[Loren]

Philip has been saying that all along.

[Evil MS3]

Looking forward to the first event of the season Not looking forward to the FASTiva being in M3 now LOL

[Native]

Revenge of the Bottom Seeders - The Duel Sequel.

[jev61]

Geesh, you might have to change your driving style now?

Yep, he is going to start beating that S4/ES driver on a regular basis. And a certain M3 driver too I bet.

Geesh, you might have to change your driving style now?

Yep, he is going to start beating that S4/ES driver on a regular basis. And a certain M3 driver too I bet.

Not to take anything away from Phillip, but sometimes it takes a little time to adjust to a new suspension, he may find out that his old soft set up worked better for him, I doubt it will, but you never know ?

The last time I saw him borrow a Miata with a suspension that worked, he almost beat me with only a couple of runs to "adjust". That is why I only let him drive the Camry, it wasn't as humbling has him beating me in my own Miata.

[Jamie]

Yep, he is going to start beating that S4/ES driver on a regular basis. And a certain M3 driver too I bet.

We decided one of us would move to M3, where the pickings are easier.

[twistedwankel]

S2 is unbeaten this year. There's a couple guys missing who can kill everyone. One is from UK and one is from Alaska. Geezus Rob is now driving a frickin' Fiero in S5.

Doubt S4 can be tops this year. Doubt Philip can rule the Universe with his current setup. $5 bill on his wiper if I see him. Even Soroya will beat him tomorrow and she never sleeps. Neither does Loren.

Doug

[twistedwankel]

Yep, he is going to start beating that S4/ES driver on a regular basis. And a certain M3 driver too I bet.

We decided one of us would move to M3, where the pickings are easier.

Dear Jamie,

You beat my time on second run with a cone. Philip never did that as he get sloppy seconds. Same car. Hits a lot of cones. Good photographer. Nice guy. I like him. Too bad he messed with his car. VERY unlikely S4 will beat S2 tomorrow. Remember when you ran all in that class? S2 Rules.

Doug

[jaball77]

UPS just dropped off my new shocks. I have been told my car needed them.

Now I can't wait for the battles in S4!

In an effort to combat this new threat I've washed AND waxed the Miata. AND it has a new battery and battery tray! You think that will help?

No? .....Me neither. I think S4 is in trouble.

[Jamie]

Dear Jamie,

You beat my time on second run with a cone. Philip never did that as he get sloppy seconds. Same car. Hits a lot of cones. Good photographer. Nice guy. I like him. Too bad he messed with his car. VERY unlikely S4 will beat S2 tomorrow. Remember when you ran all in that class? S2 Rules.

Yeah...that Gerry guy is showing up in S2 with the same sort of car that took most of the national C Street trophies this year. He's going to rule you all right, like a Catholic nun with a yardstick.

And for all the talk of Philip's new parts, no one's noticed that Jason Ball is joining the S4 party tomorrow afternoon? Not sure if he can drive, but who wants to take a chance beating a trained assassin? Or is that a different Jason? And Tyler back there on tires he got from Pyongyang, waiting to pick off stragglers? You all wish you were running in S4....

BTW...242,000+ on the clock. New engine mounts on order -- I'm tired of watching the shifter move without my putting a hand on it. New clutch and slave cylinder coming, too, as I'm getting very good at rev matching. And some new plugs and wires. Philip's not the only one who can throw parts at a car!

[Solar]

It's been a while since I've ran with you guys, are you still doing the breakfast with eggs, sausage, and bacon ?

[jev61]

BTW...242,000+ on the clock. New engine mounts on order -- I'm tired of watching the shifter move without my putting a hand on it. New clutch and slave cylinder coming, too, as I'm getting very good at rev matching. And some new plugs and wires. Philip's not the only one who can throw parts at a car!

215,000+, so I still have a way to go to catch up. Did the clutch and slave too. Plugs and wires looked good, they'll go another year. New tires and a fresh alignment. But the suspension bushing are pushing out of place, they have to be replaced soon, I am gathering parts for that fun job now. And I did give the car a good wash and wax a few days ago.

[twistedwankel]

It's unlikely that S4 can redeem themselves this weekend. No matter how many miles they put on their cars.

Jason drove my Vette and is a very good/competitive driver. He used to be afraid of Vettes. Now he fears nothing.

I've not driven very many of your cars as you all have lame asses? Think about it. That frickin' Loren let me drive the Fastiva.

The Mayor

[xxAGAVExx]

UPS just dropped off my new shocks. I have been told my car needed

Nice, can't wait till I can upgrade my suspension.


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[Jamie]

That frickin' Loren let me drive the Fastiva.

Loren lets everyone drive the Fastiva. It's seen almost as many butts in the driver's seat as your Vette!

[twistedwankel]

Yeah. Matt's guilty too. I respect both of them.
Prepare to lose Saturday.