- Banned
- #16
(I was on a plane all day and had to amuse myself some way. It turned out to be this and _Prometheus_.)
1. It's dampers, not dampeners. A dampener would make something wet. A damper is part of a mechanical control system.
2. The 'squishy' is probably your rear subframe bushings doing the Watusy, not the actual suspension. If you replace them or do a lock out lot, it clears the water a bit.
3. Bonded bushings aren't hidden springs; they're intentional ones. Bonded bushings aren't binding, they're deforming in torsion, which is their intended purpose. If a coil spring deflects, it's doing it's job. It's the same with this type of bushing. When F1 does the same basic thing, it's called a 'flexure.'
5. Stock bushings are too soft in the wrong directions and will deflect axially and radially when driving hard, which is bad for camber and toe control. This deflection also slows lateral response. These are their real shortcomings. Having said all this, the reason they are used is because they *reduce* the overall friction in the system which improves. They are not "Binding," which would mean their normal function is causing a severe rate change.
Changing to a monoball or poly suspension points reduces the unwanted camber and toe issues by limiting the deformation, but even the best will add small amounts of friction compared to a bonded bushing. Think of them like individual torsion springs which contribute to the overall stiffness of the suspension Their deformation in this mode is not unwanted or unaccounted for. I may not agree with some of the choices Ford made, but don't think that factors like bushing stiffnesses weren't obsessively considered. They just have completely different design bogies than anyone who is doing anything like track duty.
5a. An easy to see suspension bind situation is in the rear suspension geometry on Fox-bodies.
6. As far as the Steeda dual rates, I think their front spring is the best available for a stock-style spring. I'd consider installing a rear spring conversion which allows the use of standard springs at more suitable rates (Steeda or Mike Maier).
7. The majority of the contribution to harsh ride comes from the rear of the car. Put whatever dampers you want on the car, but if you're running over about 1000 #\in spring, it's not going to ride all that great. This in and of itself may not be a big deal to you, but the problem is that on a street tire, it's going to hurt the ability to put power to the ground.
Another thing is that you're running an HPP like me. With 200# or so less weight on the nose than a GT, our cars have significantly less understeer naturally than a GT due to weight distribution (this is a massively powerful tool). Unless you just really want to bounce around on the top of the road, I don't understand the attraction to a stiffer rear spring (for anyone). It makes ride and handling worse. Stiffer =/= Better
On the RARB, my car came with a 24mm one and I've replaced it with a 20 because that's what it needed. That's with a lot less spring than on the rear spring of the Steeda kit.
At the end of the day I'm trying to help you out. You do you, but you asked for an opinion and there it is.
1. It's dampers, not dampeners. A dampener would make something wet. A damper is part of a mechanical control system.
2. The 'squishy' is probably your rear subframe bushings doing the Watusy, not the actual suspension. If you replace them or do a lock out lot, it clears the water a bit.
3. Bonded bushings aren't hidden springs; they're intentional ones. Bonded bushings aren't binding, they're deforming in torsion, which is their intended purpose. If a coil spring deflects, it's doing it's job. It's the same with this type of bushing. When F1 does the same basic thing, it's called a 'flexure.'
5. Stock bushings are too soft in the wrong directions and will deflect axially and radially when driving hard, which is bad for camber and toe control. This deflection also slows lateral response. These are their real shortcomings. Having said all this, the reason they are used is because they *reduce* the overall friction in the system which improves. They are not "Binding," which would mean their normal function is causing a severe rate change.
Changing to a monoball or poly suspension points reduces the unwanted camber and toe issues by limiting the deformation, but even the best will add small amounts of friction compared to a bonded bushing. Think of them like individual torsion springs which contribute to the overall stiffness of the suspension Their deformation in this mode is not unwanted or unaccounted for. I may not agree with some of the choices Ford made, but don't think that factors like bushing stiffnesses weren't obsessively considered. They just have completely different design bogies than anyone who is doing anything like track duty.
5a. An easy to see suspension bind situation is in the rear suspension geometry on Fox-bodies.
6. As far as the Steeda dual rates, I think their front spring is the best available for a stock-style spring. I'd consider installing a rear spring conversion which allows the use of standard springs at more suitable rates (Steeda or Mike Maier).
7. The majority of the contribution to harsh ride comes from the rear of the car. Put whatever dampers you want on the car, but if you're running over about 1000 #\in spring, it's not going to ride all that great. This in and of itself may not be a big deal to you, but the problem is that on a street tire, it's going to hurt the ability to put power to the ground.
Another thing is that you're running an HPP like me. With 200# or so less weight on the nose than a GT, our cars have significantly less understeer naturally than a GT due to weight distribution (this is a massively powerful tool). Unless you just really want to bounce around on the top of the road, I don't understand the attraction to a stiffer rear spring (for anyone). It makes ride and handling worse. Stiffer =/= Better
On the RARB, my car came with a 24mm one and I've replaced it with a 20 because that's what it needed. That's with a lot less spring than on the rear spring of the Steeda kit.
At the end of the day I'm trying to help you out. You do you, but you asked for an opinion and there it is.
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