This is exactly my setting for the street as well. I've found if you don't match the rebound to the compression the shocks either "lag" or have this awkward "float" characteristic that lets you know you're not in the right ballpark. Of course, this may vary with other results, but I've had 2 sets of v3 and am now on a set of clubsports, so I would hope I've used them enough to at least understand what they do slightly.


Rob - Billy Johnson helped me set up my first car, he said to always set the shock to FULL STIFF and then back off from there. I found it odd you do the opposite. Does it even really matter? I stuck with the advice Billy gave me, for obvious reasons but figured I would ask.

 

I'm just following Penske's tuning procedure but I admit Billy J knows shock tuning and KW V3s.

 

I think it's because the standard V3 uses the stock top hats which fit the main spring, the Clubsports come with top hats that fit the helper springs.

 

what do you mean by this "match"?

it looks to me that i use high bumo dumping but middlerange rebound damping.

 

I think the KW manual mentions the same thing. All settings should be set after first setting the dampers to full stiff for consistency purposes. Rob guide says that you should use the softest setting and go stiffer, so if you follow kw/billy's advice - when you are setting them to full soft, you'd first set them to full stiff for 1-2 seconds and then immediately set them to full soft

 

No, you set them to full stiff and then back off to the setting you want. I've seen it done by Billy many times over. Why would you set it to full stiff and then go to full soft and then adjust? I don't follow the logic there.

I think so long as you are on one end of the spectrum (full soft or stiff) before you go to your choice setting, it acts as a "reset" and you're good to go. I don't doubt Rob knows what he's doing by any means, and either method will work fine. (Again, my presumption for the time being.) Your results may vary.

 

Actually the KW manual says to never run the shocks at full stiff or full soft. The current V3 and Clubsport manual does not have a "start-up guide" like Penske provides, just some very general tips on shock tuning.

http://robrobinette.com/images/S2000...ort_Manual.pdf

 

No, you set them to full stiff and then back off to the setting you want. I've seen it done by Billy many times over. Why would you set it to full stiff and then go to full soft and then adjust? I don't follow the logic there.

I think so long as you are on one end of the spectrum (full soft or stiff) before you go to your choice setting, it acts as a "reset" and you're good to go. I don't doubt Rob knows what he's doing by any means, and either method will work fine. (Again, my presumption for the time being.) Your results may vary.
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KW & Billy J set the shocks to full stiff before setting the desired position to confirm the "0" reference. Full stiff is more definite than full soft.

The Penske "Start-up Guide" that I used in my tuning guide is a way to start from scratch and get a good initial setting. Starting with both settings 1 setting from full soft (because KW says not to use full stiff or full soft) will teach you a lot about shock tuning. The start-up procedure is not required because there is so much data out there on setting V3s and Clubsports on S2000s.

 

Thanks for doing this. Really helped out.

 

very helpful, Rob...Thanks! I think I may be misunderstanding something, and hope you can clarify. The "fine Tuning" section seems at odds with the flow chart floating around car forums (based off Greg Simmons from Penske and found in Staniforth's Competition Car Suspension book. The "+" means stiffer and "-" softer, correct? Here's that flowchart diagram, taken from the Lotus forum, but also linked here somewhere IIRC (I assume increase=stiffer and reduce=softer)



Can you clarify this? It *seems* your understeer suggestion may be at odds with the diagram. What am I missing?

Steve