how stiff is everyones rear suspension?
10-20-2004, 09:21 PM
#1
how stiff is everyones rear suspension? I know stiffening it up makes it bite harder off the line, but how far does this go? I've been watching a few f-body videos and guys like George B. have almost zero rear squat but hook like crazy. Surely there is some limit to how stiff it should be right?
10-21-2004, 04:30 PM
#2
9 Second Club
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: on the dyno tuning in MD
Posts: 2,583
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
I have done a fair amount of research on setting up suspensions, and this is the way I understand it so far:
You are correct that a stiffer rear spring helps the car hook by causing the tires to bite more. The stiffer springs effectively push the tires into the track causing more bite - however, you need enough motion in them to forgive any track irregularities or rough spots. There is a point where a stiffer rear spring does you no good. The rear shocks assist in controlling the suspension movement.
The "squat" in the suspension is a factor of the instant center of gravity. You want the instant center located to give you the most efficient launch - not too much energy wasted lifting the front end skyward (even though it does look cool), yet enough rise to give you the tire bite you need to keep from spinning.
The front springs basically assist the instant center of gravity in lifting the car. The front shocks play a role after the initial bite to maintain traction. Think of it this way, the front springs assist the instant center in pushing the front of the car up quickly, giving you your initial bite, the front shocks "allow" it to rise easily and quickly, then they slowly allow the front to settle back down so you maintain traction through the 60'.
To work the most efficiently, which means you are using the energy to push the car forward instead of wasting it, everything has to work in concert together - and it is a lot more complex than I have explained here or even understand myself.
Hopefully some of the others on here can add some more to the explanation!
You are correct that a stiffer rear spring helps the car hook by causing the tires to bite more. The stiffer springs effectively push the tires into the track causing more bite - however, you need enough motion in them to forgive any track irregularities or rough spots. There is a point where a stiffer rear spring does you no good. The rear shocks assist in controlling the suspension movement.
The "squat" in the suspension is a factor of the instant center of gravity. You want the instant center located to give you the most efficient launch - not too much energy wasted lifting the front end skyward (even though it does look cool), yet enough rise to give you the tire bite you need to keep from spinning.
The front springs basically assist the instant center of gravity in lifting the car. The front shocks play a role after the initial bite to maintain traction. Think of it this way, the front springs assist the instant center in pushing the front of the car up quickly, giving you your initial bite, the front shocks "allow" it to rise easily and quickly, then they slowly allow the front to settle back down so you maintain traction through the 60'.
To work the most efficiently, which means you are using the energy to push the car forward instead of wasting it, everything has to work in concert together - and it is a lot more complex than I have explained here or even understand myself.
Hopefully some of the others on here can add some more to the explanation!
Last edited by BLK02WS6; 10-21-2004 at 04:36 PM.
10-22-2004, 01:30 AM
#4
12 Second Club
iTrader: (47)
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: NE OHIO
Posts: 390
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
With my QA1/HAL Setup, I run 1 in the Front, and 5 in the Rear and the car seems to hookup good, I am going to try to go stiffer in the rear Saturday at Norwalk and see how she does!!!!
