help needed in adjusting compression and rebound

[ChewToy]

so I bought a book called "tune to win" thinking it would help me with adjusting my DA Koni's and it didn't help as much as I would have liked. There have been a few autox courses this year that were extremely bumpy and I wasn't exactly sure what to adjust to keep the pogo stick in the rear under control. I inevitably softened my rebound, only to realize later that I should have softened my compression, OR should I have added more rebound? Are there any sites that tells you how to adjust your shocks for different situations? Koni's tuning guide is good, but assumes your tracking the car on a road course. Can someone give me some tips? I'll be in a local solo drivers school Saturday so I plan to do alot of testing then. I'm thinking I'll run a few laps almost full soft on rebound with as much compression as I can get in it without skating across bumps, and then dial in the rebound to get rid of any pogo action that may come up. What would you guys think of this approach? And what approach do you guys (with double adjustable koni's) use when in competition?

[Specter325]

The West Texas Chapter of the SCCA has a great mini tuning guide for suspension adjustments.

http://www.wtrscca.org/tech.htm

print it out and put it in your notebook where you keep track of your settings and what the car is doing. You are keeping a notebook aren't you? If not email me and I wil send you my excell setup sheet that you can use as a starting point for your own.

[Bollini]

If not email me and I wil send you my excell setup sheet that you can use as a starting point for your own.

Specter, is there anyway you can post a link for your template? I am sure it would be a valuable resource for all.

Thanks,
Thad

[Specter325]

I tried to attach it to the post but they would not accept a xls document. I am going to try to change it to a type they will accept.

[Specter325]

Lets see if this worked. Here is my setup sheet from excell converted to txt. It should give you an idea of what you are tracking.

[benaj]

Bimmerworld also has a nice chassis set-up sheet available for download from their tech section to print out and take to the track:

http://bimmerworld.com/Tech/CHASSIS.doc

[Law]

Seriously, part of what you paid was for support. TCK knows their stuff and should be providing this level of general support. Not trying to be terse but it would take a book to describe how to tune double adjustables for beginners. Now if you had specific questions - for example, in fast open turns with stutter bumps, my car starts to transition to understeer midcorner (fine before that), it would be relatively easy to assist in a brief internet response.

[ChewToy]

Seriously, part of what you paid was for support. TCK knows their stuff and should be providing this level of general support. Not trying to be terse but it would take a book to describe how to tune double adjustables for beginners. Now if you had specific questions - for example, in fast open turns with stutter bumps, my car starts to transition to understeer midcorner (fine before that), it would be relatively easy to assist in a brief internet response.

The guys at TCK (mainly Pete) has been real helpful with his suggestions, however at the end of the day, he's not an autoxer. For starters, I'd like a good baseline starting point for compression for my setup ie 500# springs all around.. sways set soft/fr and med/rear. The search continues...

[yokoseiki]

I tried some of Pete's suggestions for bump and rebound and they were pretty close for autox.

However I run the a lot less rebound in the rear. Higher rebound settings in the rear made turn-in very poor during autox, but would probably be recomended on the track to promote more stability while braking.

I usually start with 10 clicks front bump and 8 clicks rear. Last autocross I went all the way back to 8 clicks front and 6 clicks rear with 1 turn rebound in the front and only 1/2 in the back which feel pretty close to what I run on the street !

I rarely touch bump from by baseline settings and usually start with 2 turns rebound front and 1.5 in the back. When I get understeer on entry I reduce the rear rebound, when I get understeer on exit I decrease front rebound, when I get oversteer on exit I decrease rear bump. I only reduce bump in the front when I reach my "min" for rear rebound.

On the track I run "Pete's" baseline which has much higher rates as I want all the weight transfer to happen much slower. During autox I drive in mostly neutral to oversteer modes, I guess that's my driving style, so I like to feel the weight transfer quickly.

[ChewToy]

I tried some of Pete's suggestions for bump and rebound and they were pretty close for autox.

However I run the a lot less rebound in the rear. Higher rebound settings in the rear made turn-in very poor during autox, but would probably be recomended on the track to promote more stability while braking.

I usually start with 10 clicks front bump and 8 clicks rear. Last autocross I went all the way back to 8 clicks front and 6 clicks rear with 1 turn rebound in the front and only 1/2 in the back which feel pretty close to what I run on the street !

I rarely touch bump from by baseline settings and usually start with 2 turns rebound front and 1.5 in the back. When I get understeer on entry I reduce the rear rebound, when I get understeer on exit I decrease front rebound, when I get oversteer on exit I decrease rear bump. I only reduce bump in the front when I reach my "min" for rear rebound.

On the track I run "Pete's" baseline which has much higher rates as I want all the weight transfer to happen much slower. During autox I drive in mostly neutral to oversteer modes, I guess that's my driving style, so I like to feel the weight transfer quickly.

what are you running for springs?