Dialing in suspension settings

[MPower7]

Hey Guys,

Let me just first day that I must have searched and read most threads on this topic for the past few days.

I just recently did my first track day at Sonoma Raceway after installing KW Clubsports. I'm looking for some guidance, whether anecdotal or not. I feel like my car is leaning over too much when entering a corner as well as a bit of understeer/scrubbing on corner entry. The tracks I run, Laguna, Sonoma, thunderhill are relatively smooth and I like the balance of the car. If it gets away from me it's usually in the form of predictable oversteer.

My question is this, to keep the balance of the car but reduce roll can I simply stiffen the rebound and compression in the front and rear the same amount. For example stiffen all settings by 2-3 clicks and reassess?

Car details:
275 square nitto NT-01s - broken in
KW Clubsports - manufacturers recommended settings
Front toe-0
Front camber-2.4 (for some reason this was the max camber the shop could get out of the plates. I suspect the top hats were installed on the wrong side after they were rebuilt. This may be the reason for slight understeer on corner entry?

Thanks - Cam

[dparm]

Print this, laminate it, and keep it in your toolbox. Note these assume you are not doing something from a technique perspective causing the under/oversteer.

[derbo]

forgot where I got this from but it's been saved in my phone notes for awhile




Edit: found it

https://robrobinette.com/S2000KWV3Tuning.htm

[MPower7]

Originally Posted by dparm

Print this, laminate it, and keep it in your toolbox. Note these assume you are not doing something from a technique perspective causing the under/oversteer.

According to this it looks like I need to stiffen the front and rear sway bars before changing the suspension settings.

To experiment before committing to this I will change the following settings.

Change front and rear Compression from 6 to 5.

Change front Rebound front from 6 to 5, rear from 9 to 7.

Hoping this will keep the balance of the car the same but just tighten it up a little.

[derbo]

Originally Posted by MPower7

According to this it looks like I need to stiffen the front and rear sway bars before changing the suspension settings.

To experiment before committing to this I will change the following settings.

Change front and rear Compression from 6 to 5.

Change front Rebound front from 6 to 5, rear from 9 to 7.

Hoping this will keep the balance of the car the same but just tighten it up a little.

I would advise to work on one axle at a time so you know which change did the change.

[tsk94]

MPower7 As derbo said, I'd suggest starting on just one axle at the time. Since the issue is with the front axle, start there.

One thing to keep in mind with suspension tuning is it's always a give and take. It's almost impossible to fix the 'problem' but maintain the exact same overall balance. You can have it be close, but something will change (given up) to fix the current problem you're experiencing. The goal is to minimize the overall balance change as much as possible, since you're happy with it how it is.

If I was experiencing this issue on my car, this would be my approach:
- Since you feel like the front is leaning too much on corner entry, it could be that the entry understeer is caused by the front being too soft in roll. So first step would be to stiffen the front sway bar and try that
- If that helps, but doesn't solve it completely, the next step I'd take is lower the front of the car a bit
- If you still need more, then I'd go to dampers and increase the front rebound a few clicks

One, or a combination of these, should fix the issue without a huge change in the rest of the car. I would leave the rear damping where you had it until the issue with the front is solved. You might need to tweak the rear settings after sorting the front out to get the balance back where you like it.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by tsk94

One thing to keep in mind with suspension tuning is it's always a give and take. It's almost impossible to fix the 'problem' but maintain the exact same overall balance. You can have it be close, but something will change (given up) to fix the current problem you're experiencing. The goal is to minimize the overall balance change as much as possible, since you're happy with it how it is.

This is kinda what scares me about adjustable suspension: that I will spend more time fucking around with it inbetween sessions and just end up making the car slower. My coach has suggested I buy one-way adjustables, set them once based upon my preferred "feel", and then leave it.

IOW: "set it to fast mode"

[tsk94]

Originally Posted by dparm

This is kinda what scares me about adjustable suspension: that I will spend more time fucking around with it inbetween sessions and just end up making the car slower. My coach has suggested I buy one-way adjustables, set them once based upon my preferred "feel", and then leave it.

IOW: "set it to fast mode"

That's fair. I do think some people spend way too much time fiddling with dampers, rather then just driving the car and to a certain extent learning to drive around a setup that isn't perfect.

However, I still think it's a worthwhile investment. Gives you the flexibility to tweak the car to your liking, for a given track or conditions, different tires, etc. Just keep good notes of changes you make and what they did and it's pretty hard to screw it up. Especially if you have data as well, you can reference what changes did what, how they felt to you in the drivers seat and how that's reflected in the data.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by tsk94

That's fair. I do think some people spend way too much time fiddling with dampers, rather then just driving the car and to a certain extent learning to drive around a setup that isn't perfect.

However, I still think it's a worthwhile investment. Gives you the flexibility to tweak the car to your liking, for a given track or conditions, different tires, etc. Just keep good notes of changes you make and what they did and it's pretty hard to screw it up. Especially if you have data as well, you can reference what changes did what, how they felt to you in the drivers seat and how that's reflected in the data.

For sure. I just hate working on my car at the track unless it's an emergency. And while I do parrot the whole "drive to the traction you have", I'd feel sick if I spent thousands on a damper setup that didn't actually make the car consistently faster.

[tsk94]

Originally Posted by dparm

For sure. I just hate working on my car at the track unless it's an emergency. And while I do parrot the whole "drive to the traction you have", I'd feel sick if I spent thousands on a damper setup that didn't actually make the car consistently faster.

Totally understand. But I'm quite confident in saying that any decent aftermarket suspension upgrade for your car will make the car faster. Unless you royally f up the settings, it will be better then stock. Whether it's a 1 or 2 way though, that's up to you and how much you want to spend.