Setting for coilovers for trackday

[imprezaworks]

Just curious really. Ive got fk konigsport coilovers and wondered whats the best dampening set up for track? Fully hard or.....

 

[Fred@BTM]

whatever you feel is right

 

[Joah]

From what I have seen/heard most go softer on the front and stiffer on the rear, but as Fred said, down to personal preference.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

I would have said slightly harder at the front, as harder at the rear (wow that sounds dodgy!) can induce oversteer. Again, depends on the car and driver, but ultimately there is a 'best' setting to corner with maximum grip, just have a play around or just leave it with your normal settings and have fun.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

As said, there's no correct setting, just what you want from the car.

Do you want on the rails handling, or tail happy fun?

 

[Sir_Dave]

For me, soft at the front, hard at the rear.

Hard at the front just induces understeer, which is for gays.

 

[Fred@BTM]

^correct

 

[imprezaworks]

Cheers for the advice. Id be looking for handling like its on rails as apposed to lets see how quick i can leave the track lol

 

[Dan519]

just experiment. I'd start semi soft all round, and stiffen the rear gradually until it starts to oversteer, then tweak the front up until it starts to understeer, then soften it a little.

 

[imprezaworks]

Cheers. Think im going to start hard at the rear and 5 clicks from soft on the front. But like you say will have a mess round and see whats best

 

[Scrooge]

Full on hard all round, makes it dangerously fun.

 

[imprezaworks]

Ha ha i like me/car too much to try that.

 

[Scrooge]

I did it for a laugh on my Konigsports, any kind of uneven surface on a road becomes slippery as hell.

 

[Tony Hunter]

Just take the back seats out,you'll be reet.

 

[Toastfrenzy]

I use this to help me work things out, might help...got from a site of which I can't remember. American I guess reading the terms....

[TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR="bgcolor: #555555"]
[TD]

Adjustments[/TD]
[TD]Decrease Understeer[/TD]
[TD]Decrease Oversteer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Tire Pressure[/TD]
[TD]Higher[/TD]
[TD]Lower[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD]Rear Tire Pressure[/TD]
[TD]Lower[/TD]
[TD]Higher[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Tire Section[/TD]
[TD]Larger[/TD]
[TD]Smaller[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD]Rear Tire Section[/TD]
[TD]Smaller[/TD]
[TD]Larger[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Wheel Camber[/TD]
[TD]More Negative[/TD]
[TD]More Positive[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD]Rear Wheel Camber[/TD]
[TD]More Positive[/TD]
[TD]More Negative[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Wheel Toe[/TD]
[TD]Toward Toe-Out[/TD]
[TD]Toward Toe-In[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD]Rear Wheel Toe[/TD]
[TD]Toward Toe-In[/TD]
[TD]Toward Toe-Out[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Wheel Caster[/TD]
[TD]More Positive[/TD]
[TD]More Negative[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD]Front Springs[/TD]
[TD]Soften[/TD]
[TD]Stiffen[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rear Springs[/TD]
[TD]Stiffen[/TD]
[TD]Soften[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD]Front Anti-sway Bar[/TD]
[TD]Soften (Thinner)[/TD]
[TD]Stiffen (Thicken)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rear Anti-sway Bar[/TD]
[TD]Stiffen (Thicker)[/TD]
[TD]Soften (Thinner)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #dddddd"]
[TD]Weight Distribution[/TD]
[TD]More Rearward[/TD]
[TD]More Forward[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[imprezaworks]

Just take the back seats out,you'll be reet.

Flol

 

[Chip-mk1]

Nice summary that table.

Although doesnt help the OP of course as he is interested in damping which it doesnt cover.

The thing to remember is that its your springs that set ultimate roll resistance at the apex of a bend though and hence overall grip (well more accurately the springs and ARB combined), the damping is just about helping them settle in correctly, and trial and error is a good approach.

One thing to remember though is that on initial turn in, basically the harder it is the better it will feel, but ultimately this can lose you grip, so its not always the case that what feels best is fastest, so if you are serious about laptimes you'll need to do trial and error with datalogging not just based on feel.

 

[imprezaworks]

Yeah just going to trial and error like you say. Cheers for the advice though mate

 

[shell-vt]

every track is diffrent so each setting will change

 

[Chip-mk1]

every track is diffrent so each setting will change

Well technically every corner is different, so in an ideal world you'd be able to alater it on a per bend basis.

In practice most people find a setup that is a good compromise between different bends and then just leave it IME, as otherwise you spend more of your trackday trying to set the car up for that one day than you do actually having a good day.
If you go to a couple of different tracks a lot though its worth playing with it a bit at each to a certain extent, but unless you are racing its a case of getting used to the car is as impotant as keep changing the car about and the more you alter it the less you have a feel for it.

 

[imprezaworks]

Just going to give it a few goes, def not going to let it take over the day

 

[Ricardos]

I'm running FK Konigsports, i can't remember how 'soft/stiff' the dampers are dialled in at but after a tweek or 2 i left it. Even half a turn made a difference, what felt right after the last tweek was then left. I don't think i could get into the complexities of constantly tweeking for a supposed 'perfect' set up, especially from one trackday to another. I completely get it in motorsport.

Three things i know that are set and work for me are, front and rear camber and toe out. Combining all this the Clio felt stable, superb out on the Nurburgring. Probably down to driving style as well, more smooth than last of the late brakers.

Also my 2 pence worth i think for the price FK Konigsports are a decent trackday kit, adjustable damping, ride height and camber.... Not bad or £650... Dampers by Koni

 

[imprezaworks]

Cheers for the reply. Will have a play and see how I get on.