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On a 16 level adjustable coilover, what would be the benefits of running different levels on the front and back? Would a person typically run an equal level set up?
What if a person had the edfc and could run different levels on preset buttons?
Lastly, if I used the tein flex coilovers for autocross what level settings would be most beneficial?

 
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There's no best settings. It all depends on your driving style and what you want to accomplish.

 
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I disagree. I think that there are optimal settings for every situation. On the track I believe that lower settings would be most beneficial.

My driving style is typical. I 'm not a street racer but take corners moderately fast.

You really didn't answer my question though, what are some of the benefits of running different levels in the front vs the back?

 
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I was saying that there isn't one best setting for every situation. I totally agree that there are optimal settings for every situation. Hence the use of adjustable coilovers.

As for running different levels, I believe that running settings such as a firmmer rear can alter the understeer and oversteer characteristics of the car. But don't quote me on that. Honestly some of the other members (ie zzyzx,boilermaker,robclark) can give more information.

 
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bump

 
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What do you want to accomplish? The firmer the dampening in the rear compared to the front = more oversteer and vice versa.

There is no "best" setting. If you take a turn off camber and have it set one way, the settings will react completely different than if you are on flat pavement. You have to just play with the settings.

For street, I set mine at like 3 front and 5 rear because they are too damn stiff. For track, I was running full hard rear and around 8 front, but it varies. Just fiddle with them, drive and see how you like it. They aren't that difficult to change.

 
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I've done it all with good results. Full soft all around, nearly full hard all around, hard back, hard front, middle, as much rear bias as possible, etc...
Every situation is different, and it depends on a lot. You can always baseline it somewhere, but you'll end up making adjustments as you go. The faster the track runs, probably the harder you'll want them. Twistier courses probably will want something a little softer. Bad surfaces change the settings. A lot plays into it.

 
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Well, He's running Teins. Which to my knowlage adjust both bump and rebound at the same time... Great for a street damper, not so much for a performance damper.... as he's going to have to find a comprimise between rebound and bump for any particular Track/road.

 
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I was told by many that the tein flex would be good for autocross because they have aggressive spring rates of 671 in front and 783 in back; but, that they can also run soft when daily driven.

 
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Dampers don't make them run soft. It just makes the shocks react a little slower so its not as abrupt. The spring holds the car up, the damper just brings it back to a steady state. You're still going to get slammed around on every expansion joint, pothole and other road imperfection.

 
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wow...rob, boiler, and zzyzx...all in a row, lol! Listen to these guys man, the 3 suspension guru's have spoken, you're a lucky man!

 
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the spring rates arnt really the issue, the Dampers are. Rather, its how the dampers adjust both Bump and rebound at the same time.

see, what you may run in to is a point where you need more rebound on the rear end, to get the car rotating better for corner entry, but by raising the rebound, you also Raise the bump valving... which may cause the car to "skip" and be unstable in turns where the pavement is rough.


also, Higher spring rates do not nessisarly mean better handling... Thet difference in spring rates front to rear is whats important.

 
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I understand now that having the back end stiff with a higher rebound is good for corner entry but raising the bump valving is not good.
I don't have the coilovers installed yet so i have a little bit of time. I'm feeling a little buyer's remorse here because they're relatively expensive. I want to use this daily driven car for autocross events in the future. (I have a plan to get new tires and wheels for that adventure.) I want it to perform well at the track and on the street. I was inclined to get these because they were supposed to do both.

Let's say that an experienced autocrosser tuned the dampers to what they thought was best for that day and drove the car well. Will these coilovers, with his set up, be a significant factor in his time trial? Can an experienced driver overcome it? The obvious answer is yes.

My concern is that I'll overpay for something that is going to underperform. What are your thoughts? Should I look into a different kit?

 
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If you've never autocrossed before, I wouldnt spend a dime. I drove the understeering buffalo for at least a year before I bought anything suspension related.

 
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If your iffy about the money, you could always look into the koni GC set up. Again the other guys know more then me haha so I'll let them elaborate. But it is a set up I would look into. Check out boilermaker1's theard here http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=197877

 
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Boilermaker1: "Yes, I expect it will out do the SS... I think it stands a chance to almost out do the Flex kit as well. It has all the features with the exception of adjustable length damper bodies, but the ease of setup flexability from Konis and GCs will probably make it work just as well".

Boilmaker1, what do you think about the comparison between the flex and your new set up?

 
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Well for one, I've never driven a Civic with the flex kit. I've driven a car with the SS kit, from driving around the streets it feels like the konis do work a bit better than the tein dampers but I still can't say for sure if what I've done beats it since I haven't set my alignment straight yet. April 10, I'll know for sure just how good the suspension I built works. If a track day can't find a flaw, then there probably isn't one.

 
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ManUtd0018, The Flex will do fine for both street and track. Like I said, they are a comprimise between a Full street and Full track setup.

 
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You realize that the Flex's spring rates are 12/14? That is way beyond street comfort. We really can't tell you what to set it at because each situation had different factors. Even if you went to a "tuner" to set them, the minute you drive off, you may need to change them again. Autocrossing in the rain will require different settings than running a 100 degree dry day. There are so many factors that you just have to take the risk and do trial and error.

 
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I understand now. Thanks for all your input. I'm sure the flex will work out great. If it doesn't do what i want then i'll screw with it until it does or i'll get another system.

rock on

 
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i have the flex. and edfc

i run

4F///2R===curvy banked roads on dry pavement.

10F//6R===daily driving on flat roads

16F//14R== highway driving

and i switch to 16F/16R in the rain

i have lx w/o abs and i also have 4 pot brakes front..

running full stiff causes my brakes to lock up quicker... because they just kinda skip...

when its soft the dip into the road more and grab better.

also do not run stiff in rain.. the bumpiness causes your tire on the ground to be decreased as u hit a bump it raised but the slow lowering causes it to"leave" the ggroun and then u got a tire that just lost traction=not good i was taking a big chicane at about 90 when my rear driver lost traction and i kinda had WAYYY too much oversteer.. luckily i regained traction b4 fallin of the side of the hill.lol

currently i have 10kg/mm coming for front... to lessen the harshness and it will also gimme a lil extra oversteer plus it'l gimme better accel/dec times in rain cause the tires wont "skip"

the only avail spring rate for rear is a 14 because of how the spring is custom made short as fuc.k for our cars..
so ima run 10/14 and it'l have alot of oversteer but i can dial back the oversteer by softening the rear more than front..

hope that helps...12/14 springs w/ 16/14 dampen rates on 215/35/19 is not very elegant.. add in the pillowball mounts and the road noise isquite bad.. when i redo y srping rates ima insert 1-2 layers of dyna mat (or equiv) to give a lil cushion between chassis/coilover... because right now every vibration from road gets directly deposited into the chassis and is magnified by the alum..

hope that helps.. im sitting here in engineering class writing code and typing as i think of things

riley