Edbun

I've searched the forums, but cannot find this answer. I have an 06 with poly bushings on the front half and Koni yellows all around, set on the lower perch. What settings should I set the shocks on for best handling? I would rather just adjust them myself than go pay someone for the info. Right now, they are all 2 clicks above full soft, but I want to maximize the handling before next year's track times.

Any help??

s2000Junky

You wont. These kind of questions are hard to give, since there is a range based on several factors, which include the surface your driving on, the spring rates your using, including the sway bars, and as always driver preference, doesn't matter what coilover your running. Don't let someone take your money for turning a couple clicks on your dampers. You will be further ahead by trial and error/feel. If the car feels good, your much more likely to be confident and push it harder/go faster. To get there, your priority is to find a damping setting that allows the wheels to absorb bumps without bottoming out to the point of the car losing control, wile also not having so much damping dialed in that the wheels pack up and the suspension creates a similar situation from lack of movement. In other words, find the right balance between enough damping to control rebound so your not bobbling/bouncing around, but not so much damping the wheels cant react and end up packing up losing grip that way. One thing you will learn, is there is no one right setting for all tracks/all conditions on the street. Just takes time to figure out, but you will eventually. Its how I learned over the years, listening to the car behind the wheel for where im driving it. You will find a range and tweak from that point for the conditions.

Car Analogy

Its kinda like asking what size suit should I buy? Its not the same for everyone. Plus, some like more room than others.

The right fit is one that fits you, and you're style and actions.

Same for shock settings. Some of it is the car. The springs, the tires even. Some of it is preference.

Edbun

Thanks, but I was really looking for something that would get me started. Like "full firm would be great for the track, but for both the occasional track day, but mostly street, I've found that (insert number here) off of full firm gives me a nice balance". Or "With your mods, you should go firmer (or softer) in front by 3 or 4 clicks. And in my case, I go x number of clicks off full soft because I like the XX feel on the public roads". Getting to the back adjusters means taking out the lining in the trunk. Not a huge deal, but I'll most likely set and forget it and live with the compromises. Just looking for a starting point.

I am certainly not tuning for racing. It's a daily driver and the fronts seem soft to me. More scraping than before, but not sure if that is due to the lowering or the shocks.

Very different than clothes. More like "I'm buying my first chef's knife. I'm not a chef, but what would be a suggestion for what kind of knife to start at. I'll buy others once I know more".

Car Analogy

Its like clothes in that what fits your car won't necessarily fit mine. My settings might not work on your car, with your springs, your tires your roads, any more than my size 42, but taken in in the waist and sleeves shortened, modern tight fitting sport jacket will fit you.

If they could simply label the adjustments Full Track, Street, Street/Track, etc, they certainly would. But since the settings need to be tuned for each car, they can't.

Chuck S

Yep, lowering the car and aftermarket coil-overs ain't magic.

The only benefit in aftermarket suspensions -- "coil-overs" and the like -- is the ability to tailor the settings for a specific track where there are maybe a dozen specific turns and you can practice and tune endlessly. The OEM suspension is, of course, a compromise but probably better than you'll get just changing the suspension parts without extensive testing. It's fun to watch the Speed Academy guys videos as their cars lap faster but keep in mind their cars are tuned almost exclusively for Toronto Motorsports Park (Ontario) not general road handling.

Better tires are probably the best choice for those of us who don't run a specific track every weekend.

-- Chuck

B serious

Why...would you drop stock springs to the lower perch? Usually, you want to increase the spring rates to make up for shortened travel.

You're using stock springs at a height that is lower than they were designed to be used for. Koni yellows have LESS bump damping than stock shocks. Those two factors will explain your scraping.

Konis are only adjustable for rebound. They will only get stiffer in relation to spring EXPANSION...not compression. So the point of the adjuster is to use it to dial out oscillations from a certain spring rate. The adjuster will not make compression stiffer.

Example: You use stiffer springs if you want an appreciable increase in roll/ride stiffness. Then you up the rebound damping til you reach an acceptable amount of oscillation from said spring.

Adding rebound damping does increase initial turn-in roll stiffness because it is harder for the outer spring to expand. So dialing up the damper will make transitions easier. But you'll need stiffer springs if you want the car to have more compression resistance.

Dialing in too rebound damping much will cause the suspension to pack down over bumps....and your scraping will become worse.

The reason why nobody is giving you a magic number is because one doesn't exist. S2000 springs come in all different stiffnesses. And people's preferences vary.

There is a dial. Turn the dial til it feels right to you.

Start at full soft (full clockwise). Dial up until it becomes harsh over successive bumps. You'll probably end up at full soft for stock springs. Maybe a bit more because you're crushing your bumpstop and adding spring rate involuntarily.

Rebound adjustable shocks with a softer bump curve (like Koni Yellows) are OBVIOUSly supposed to be used with stiffer springs. Konis also have less overall travel than stock.

You can't just put the stock springs on the lower perch and go on living your life....unless you're fine with the significant drawbacks of doing so.

Apex1.0

I spent lots of time tuning my Koni yellows. These are very good shocks for the money, however they do have their issues. One is the lack of compression damping relative to rebound damping potential. These shocks actually need pretty stiff springs to work well. The lowest I ran was 450lbs. With 500lb spring 1/2 turn out from soft was a good daily setting with 1.25 turns out being a good track setting.

with stock springs, you should be in the 0-1/2 turn out range.