Damping settings, ??trackday experts??

[MarkM]

I have coilovers on my 182 that have adjustable damping, I think they have 24 clicks of adjustment.

Andy, GDI, set them originally to 50% front and 33% rear(from softest). Which is fine but I feel like I should be playing with them a bit more for best setup.

Any suggestions for a good setup or how to obtain one? I imagine it is trial and error to a certain extent.

What am I looking for? How well it turns in, balance in cornering, how it feels under hard braking and accelleration. Then there is wet dry setup etc. which is probably overkill on the road maybe summer winter setup is more relevent.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[stu8v]

Its all about a combination of spring rates and damping, damping is only half the story.

 

[MarkM]

Its all about a combination of spring rates and damping, damping is only half the story.

OK, spring rates are fixed though arent they (I have neither the time the money or the knowledge to go out testing loads of differnet springs).

How do I optimise my damping around my fixed spring rates?

NOTE: this is for a road car used for daily driving etc. I am not trying to reach the perfect setup for my car as a race/rally car would.

The coilovers are ledas with 200lb springs front 250lb rear (as recommended by leda for fast road use).

Stu your the guy with the rally car?? If you are it is expert opinion from the likes of yourself I am after.

 

[run115]

Mark, this is as you said a trial and error thing. Race teamschange settings for different tracks, so there is no ideal setup, so what you should do is play with them, i think i would leave the front as it is though, and play with the rear only.

Vince

 

[Andy GDI]

mark

Leda offer a FOC spring exchange, so if you want to try a firmer spring then its just a case of getting them off...

i am running 225 lb and 300lb, others are running 275 and 350....

I find the setup supple on the road, with good control even in shhite conditions.

 

[Gary G]

Mark, I had the 200lb springs and in my opinion they are a little on the soft side....the 225's that I changed to made a big difference to the front end, turn in is much better and the car feels more agile.

 

[stu8v]

OK, spring rates are fixed though arent they (I have neither the time the money or the knowledge to go out testing loads of differnet springs).

How do I optimise my damping around my fixed spring rates?

NOTE: this is for a road car used for daily driving etc. I am not trying to reach the perfect setup for my car as a race/rally car would.

The coilovers are ledas with 200lb springs front 250lb rear (as recommended by leda for fast road use).

Stu your the guy with the rally car?? If you are it is expert opinion from the likes of yourself I am after.

Yes i do have the rally car but i set it up as per Pug sport reccomendations as they have done lots of R+D.
Perhaps it would help if you identified where you feel it could be better, IMHO the adjustable damper settings are only of value if you change springs for different circumstances on a regular basis, even then you would need to know the damping ranges in which it works.
Again IMHO they are a bit "gimmicky" a good matched "fixed" damper is sometimes better as there is no option for fiddling so you cant get lost in setting them up.
I dont know many people that use adjustable damping to be fair most run either tarmac or gravel spec which are mostly fixed spring/damper combo's.

sorry i cant be much help.

 

[MarkM]

Thanks for the info.

Gary how does the Leda spring exchange work. I might try 225fr 300rear.

What I have noticed is the back end hitting its bumpstops over large bumps (I assume this is the case as there is an all mighty crash from the rear if I go over a pothole.)

Andy have you get any tie in with Leda yet. ie. can I go through you to get the springs exchanged?

Cheers.

 

[rmccardal]

Running 250/300 9 clicks front and rear ... nice and firm

You can call John direct to sort the spring swap.

 

[Gary G]

Mark, give John a call on 01376 326531....he will arrange to send you the new spings (FOC) then you will need to change them over and return the old ones.

Odd that you should mention the problem with the rear as mine makes very little/virtually no noise and i have stripped out interior! lol. If I remember rightly you are running a 6" 250? I would go to a 300lb 5" for the rear and have John send you new abutments also (cut down thread to reduce any chance of the spring making contact).

From what I've seen having no interior makes a massive difference to the height of the car at the rear! Mine is not as low as Andy GDI's and we have the same setup.

 

[MarkM]

I emailed leda a couple of hours ago. Just received an answer back confirming the arrangements for swapping the springs.

So just to get this right I am going for -

225lb front
300lb rear 5"
new abutments with cut down thread

How good are Leda by the way. You cant beat customer service like that.

 

[Gary G]

Yup thats right Mark! You will need to have both lock rings on the rear....myself and Andy only have the one and with the interior it lowers the car quite a bit! Just mention to John that you will require height adjustment on the rear so not to cut it down too much.

The 225's will feel much better mate....get them on ASAP

 

[MarkM]

Cheers Gary I will get it sorted tommorrow.

Note to anyone reading - Leda exchange the springs free of charge you just need to pay the postage. Worth paying that little bit extra sometimes.

 

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Cheers Gary I will get it sorted tommorrow.

Note to anyone reading - Leda exchange the springs free of charge you just need to pay the postage. Worth paying that little bit extra sometimes.

that is great service.