sffree

I have H&R sport springs with Koni yellows.... I currently have all 4 shocks set at one full turn from soft towards firm. Is there a better method that works well for our cars (02 civic coupe)?

robbclark1

iTrader: (8)

What do you mean? Just set it how you want it. Soft will equal closer to stock ride quality whereas harder will equal more performance, stiffer ride, and a little harsher ride.

Jodster

iTrader: (8)

It all depends on what kind of driving you do and what condition the roads are around you. For me, the Koni I use to have I turned them all the way up and then loosened them 1/2 a turn in the back. In the front I turned them all the way up and loosened them 3/4 of a turn. Just try different settings until you get them to where you want.

Zzyzx

Shocks are very important to the final tuning of your suspension. as we allready know shocks have 2 major jobs. 1 is to control the oscillation of the springs (Making them not bounce). 2. Controling how fast weight is transfered between the tires durring a turn Greatly Influincing Transitional cornering. So you can see that proper shock tuning is Very Important to Performance handling. Most people just use it for comfort though.
SO....
Here ya go:


The basic effects of tuning shocks
Increace Rebound and Bump rates = Ride Harshness increases.

Increase rebound rates only=on bumps, tires ay leave track surface.

Increace buimp rates only=body roll resisted; outside tire loaded too quickly; car won't stabilize into a turn.

Decrease rebound and bump rates = Ride harshness decreaes; car may float over bumps.

Decrease rebound rates only= on bumps, tires follow track surface more effectively; car may continue to oscillate after bumps.

Decrease bump rates only= body rolls quickly; car is slower to respond to turn-in.

and heres how to this effects handling
Problem:
Corner entry understeer = Front shocks are too soft in bump (Weight isnt being transfered to the front quickenough, so the front tires aren't making enough traction for the turn in).

Corner Exit understeer = Rear shocks are too soft in bump or Front shocks are too stiff in rebound. (Weight is being transfered to the rear too quickly, so onece again the front tires will lose traction and you'll understeer)

Corner Entry oversteer = Rear shocks are too soft in rebound.(Wieght is being transfered off of the rear too quickly)

Corner exit oversteer = Rear shocks are too soft in Bump.(Wieght is being transfered on to the rear too slowly)

This is Very simplified, but is a good place to start.
You can see that you can use your shocks to tune out some of the cars bad habits
Unfortunatly Konis are only single adjustible in (Bump I think) so you'll just have to live with Konis rebound settings.

Thats why I'm saving for KW's Type 3 suspension!!! They have both Bump and Rebound adjustiblity.\


Oh ya, any time you get mid corner understeer or oversteer thats a Spring tuning issue.