How to get that S4 / 335i Feeling on the S550 Platform

Bluemustang said:

Why not just buy an Audi or a BMW? I don't get it

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Sometimes I want my gf to be able to cook lumpia? Should I just go out and get a gf that can cook lumpia? Or maybe I could try and teach her how?

livewire2003 said:

Sometimes I want my gf to be able to cook lumpia? Should I just go out and get a gf that can cook lumpia? Or maybe I could try and teach her how?

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Not saying you shouldn't. No matter what you do it's gonna feel like a Mustang though. Just making an observation. Just seems unfair to compare those cars to this. And in a sense it kind've takes away from what makes a Mustang a Mustang in the first place.

Personally I don't want to be compared to an expensive German car. Otherwise I'd just go out and buy one. The Mustang is kind've an "every man's car" which appeals to me. Plus, the Audi and BMW owners will be surprised when I pass them :lol:

livewire2003 said:

Sometimes I want my gf to be able to cook lumpia? Should I just go out and get a gf that can cook lumpia? Or maybe I could try and teach her how?

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Depends... what's her cup size? :cheers:

Can someone explain how a shock mount that doesn't impact spring rate, valving, or anything else can make such a change in ride quality? Somewhere the logic and physics of this is lost on me. Smells like unicorn flavored Kool-Aid to me.

I have no idea other than if you slowly jack up one LCA you can see the bearing move a lot but the stock mount doesn't, just the bushing flexes. When I installed mine, after the LCA bearings, a lot of the LCA bearing bounciness was gone, almost all of it. I don't think these are totally necessary for anyone who doesn't have LCAs unless they are installing true coilovers in the rear (these are stronger than stock on account of the bearing). And bearings vs. bushings do affect realized spring rate on account of eliminating flex between chassis parts. Well... isolates wheel control more to the spring (and its rate).

[MENTION=25806]SteedaTech[/MENTION] can help answer.

stoli said:

Can someone explain how a shock mount that doesn't impact spring rate, valving, or anything else can make such a change in ride quality? Somewhere the logic and physics of this is lost on me. Smells like unicorn flavored Kool-Aid to me.

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[MENTION=10213]stoli[/MENTION]....I cant explain it. I thought it was black magic and voodoo too until I installed them. There is evidently a decent amount of flex in the stock upper shock mount rubber bushing. I mainly bought them just cause I didnt like the idea of drilling out the stock mounts to accomodate the 12mm Steeda shock shafts. I drilled the stockers initially and ran them. Picked up a set of the Steeda mounts from the forum used but new. Instantly made the rear shocks better. It gave them a positive solid mount on top to base my shock adjustments off of and eliminated the deflection/bounciness.

stoli said:

Can someone explain how a shock mount that doesn't impact spring rate, valving, or anything else can make such a change in ride quality? Somewhere the logic and physics of this is lost on me. Smells like unicorn flavored Kool-Aid to me.

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I made a picture explaining it. Basically you have to think of the reaction forces. The stock mount forces a bending moment in the shock. The low-speed bleed settings on most dampers are also such that that bind from the bending moment is enough to limit the shock movement, and makes the rubber in the mount take the force and displacement. That rubber is quite poorly damped and actually acts like another spring. Putting a bearing joint in the system allows the forces in the shock to stay almost entirely axial and lets the damper actually work properly. It works. I have even talked to a Ford engineer (and friend of mine) in Vehicle Dynamics and he concedes that the lack of bearing at the top mount may have caused their tuning difficulties when trying to rid freeway bounce/chop.

How is the spring impacted by a shock mount?

stoli said:

How is the spring impacted by a shock mount?

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The main suspension spring isn't. The rubber in the mount acts like an additional (but undamped) spring.

The spring isn't affect. The control of the spring is improved.

I can show you on my car if we ever see each other. It's pretty obvious if you look at it once you have a bearing there.

At the very least... stronger.

Doubt it'll make you noticeably faster around a road course if you're happy with what you have now. For me, it reduced the car from being upset in the back on uneven pavement on higher speed turns (when I had the same springs as you).

wildcatgoal said:

The spring isn't affect. The control of the spring is improved.

I can show you on my car if we ever see each other. It's pretty obvious if you look at it once you have a bearing there.

At the very least... stronger.

Doubt it'll make you noticeably faster around a road course if you're happy with what you have now. For me, it reduced the car from being upset in the back on uneven pavement on higher speed turns (when I had the same springs as you).

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That would make most people faster.

Can someone point to a video showing this bend/bind, or is that just an assumption? I'm guessing Steeda has some testing/demonstration of this?

stoli said:

Can someone explain how a shock mount that doesn't impact spring rate, valving, or anything else can make such a change in ride quality? Somewhere the logic and physics of this is lost on me. Smells like unicorn flavored Kool-Aid to me.

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Here's another way to look at it but exaggerated. The shock on the left will compress and decompress much easier when pressing straight down than the one on the right. The is constant pressure being applied to the top of the shock on the right while at an angle. While the stock bushing does deflect, it is still a lot of tension. The bearing effectively allows it to operate like the shock on the left.

stoli said:

Can someone point to a video showing this bend/bind, or is that just an assumption? I'm guessing Steeda has some testing/demonstration of this?

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Oh I see, you aren't familiar with how the axle moves through jounce and compression. Try this exercise. Put the rear of your car on jack stands. Put a jack under your tire and jack it up and let it droop and watch the angle difference. It will be very clear. They don't go straight up and down.

I thought it was snake oil too. But you can feel the difference it makes changing the rear shock mounts to the Steeda versions. It does exactly what it was intended- make the shocks work more effectively.

For someone like me who has replaced bushings in the IRS with bearings and stiffening parts - it can really be noticed. On an otherwise stock car you may not notice much difference due to all the built in compliance from all of the rubber bushings. But if you have IRS mods and high rate springs like me, you'll notice. The road forces have nowhere else to go but into the rubber bushing in the shock mount, which creates a bounciness and just generally odd behavior. I can notice this on rougher roads as well when previously the car felt extremely unstable. They really do work- try it and you'll see.

Edit: it also added back some general compliance to the IRS that I did not have before.