How often do you adjust your adjustable suspension?

[morgande]

Question for all the folks who have either adjustable sway bars, adjustable dampeners, coilover suspensions or some combination of all 3: do you actually exploit that adjustability?

Do you tend to set it and forget it? Or do you have setting you like to use for normal driving, spirited driving and track use? For those not who set it and forget it, do you think you could have achieved that same setup with a static suspension?

Sponsored

 

[AJ ROJO]

I tune quite a bit. The key for me is to use a log to track the changes I made until I tune it to my driving style and or liking. I started with shock adjustment and then move to sway settings. Once it's where I like it I don't mess with it any more with one exception. If I know I am taking my wife and we are doing a long cruise or toy run then I set it to a softer setting as she hates the stiffer ride on longer trips.

I tried a couple static setups and could not get the feel or response I was looking for so I've gone the way of adjustable coilover/sways setup.

 

[morgande]

I tune quite a bit. The key for me is to use a log to track the changes I made until I tune it to my driving style and or liking. I started with shock adjustment and then move to sway settings. Once it's where I like it I don't mess with it any more with one exception. If I know I am taking my wife and we are doing a long cruise or toy run then I set it to a softer setting as she hates the stiffer ride on longer trips.

I tried a couple static setups and could not get the feel or response I was looking for so I've gone the way of adjustable coilover/sways setup.

The Steeda coilovers, how did you know what spring rate you wanted? I was looking on their site, and I saw they have selectable spring rates. So how do you make that decision?

 

[AJ ROJO]

The Steeda coilovers, how did you know what spring rate you wanted? I was looking on their site, and I saw they have selectable spring rates. So how do you make that decision?

How do you want your car to ride?stiff and Ridged to soft and squishy?

This is very subjected as my tolerance to rough riding is pretty high. I'm used to driving a 2500 truck daily and most of my cars are on the stiffer side.

I run 300lb springs in front and I don't feel that is very rough at all. Honestly with coilover it's easy to tune your spring rates as it's only $120ish to replace front springs.

I just bought the ridetech level2's to see if these are any better than the Steeda setup I've been running. I've got 325 front and 475 rear springs to try out on this setup.

 

[tj@steeda]

The Steeda coilovers, how did you know what spring rate you wanted? I was looking on their site, and I saw they have selectable spring rates. So how do you make that decision?

We do a consultation & provide you with a spring rate that will suit your needs - happy to put you in contact with one of our build experts to maximize your potential!

You can send me your info to [email protected]

Best Regards,

TJ

 

[tj@steeda]

How do you want your car to ride?stiff and Ridged to soft and squishy?

This is very subjected as my tolerance to rough riding is pretty high. I'm used to driving a 2500 truck daily and most of my cars are on the stiffer side.

I run 300lb springs in front and I don't feel that is very rough at all. Honestly with coilover it's easy to tune your spring rates as it's only $120ish to replace front springs.

I just bought the ridetech level2's to see if these are any better than the Steeda setup I've been running. I've got 325 front and 475 rear springs to try out on this setup.

Look forward to your feedback :cheers:

TJ

 

[AJ ROJO]

Look forward to your feedback :cheers:

TJ

You bet! I will be calling soon to get an appt to get my alignment and corner balancing done

 

[NightmareMoon]

I change my shock settings every time I go to a performance event (autox or track day), which is like twice a month. I'll also change the shock settings when I'm going out with a car club on a sporty ride, or going for a long road trip.

For daily commuting its set-it-and-forget-it.

My adjustable swaybar I don't change. Its set where I like it for events and doesn't get in the way much on the street.

 

[GT 550]

Good question [MENTION=27033]morgande[/MENTION]. IMHO most people with adj susp either know what they're doing and get results (20%) or don't and go backwards (80%).

Adj is great if you know what you're doing or are prepared to learn. First you have to correctly interpret what the car is or isn't doing, what you need to adj to make it change, and what the other effects of that change might be. Unfortunately it's not plug and play / linear so you can't be assured that a given change will have a given effect unless it's a coarse change, there are too many variables. Most people who can do this acquire knowledge through determination and diligence and there's a reason why suspension is sometimes referred to as a black art. To make full use of adjustability you need to know the difference for example between compression and rebound and what you're particular damper is adjustable for (most entry level adj are only rebound), high and low speed damping and the effect roll bar adjustments, tyres and weather will have on a given day not to mention lowering and spring rates. And then do back to back identical laps to verify.

If you're just guessing and don't know what two clicks softer on the rear/one click harder on the front or softer rear bar/harder front will do it becomes a bit of a maze unless you can buddy up with someone who knows their way around these things. Some people tool around with adjustment and end up worse than oem and the car either feels unpredictable or does something nasty, because the limit of grip is exceeded in ways it wasn't before and reality overtakes driving skill when you least expect it.

Adj can be good too for a set and forget that's outside the valving specs of a non adj. For example you might want a really comfort oriented ride because of the roads you travel on 90% of the time, and the ideal valving might be outside what the non adj offers.

My rec FWIW if you're starting out is to talk to folks like @Steeda and tell them what you want. They will know their product and recommend accordingly. But if you're hell bent on getting adj, buy a book first and read about suspension tuning before you drop mucho beer tokens on something you might not get any advantage from. If you want to go fast often the best bang for buck is tuition, learn the characteristics of your car and how to exploit them.

Just my 2c, not trying to put you off. There are awesomely experienced people on here who've been there and back with the S550 and are kind enough to share their experiences with us, learning from the info they post here is a good start.

Sponsored