Ride quality - shocks

[CFster]

Colin,
Experience tells us that the simplest solution is usually the best solution. With a low profile tire, the air pressure can make a HUGE difference so I would play around with that a bit. Does your car have a full, sound deadened interior or is it a stripped down streetfigher? Noise plays a huge part in our perception of ‘ride quality’ as well.

Do you have cut stock style coil-springs on the car to get it lower? If not, what springs do you have? I ask because you mentioned ‘wallowing’ which can mean many things to different people. To me it means your spring is too soft but other indicators, such as not hitting the bump stops and having a harsh ride, lead me toward the spring being too stiff.

Here’s an editorial that Chris Alston wrote a while back. CLICK HERE. It references both handling and straight line applications. Some good info, for instance “If your car rides like crap, it’s got the wrong spring in it! That’s why so many street machines ride like skateboards.” Also, THIS ARTICLE about coilover conversions has a lot of good tech info.


If you’re not at the settings SC&C designated, it’s possible you’re topping out the shock. This can contribute to poor ride quality. Call Mark and go over your setup. He knows how to tune your configuration better than anyone else. If you’re running it different that he designed for you, then that’s issue #1.


Rebound typically has the largest effect on what we experience as 'ride quality.' The springs are pushing the wheel down into the ground and the car up into the air. They do most of the work when it comes to compression damping, providing they are the proper rate for your application. From there, the rebound keeps it from feeling ‘springy.’


Actually, our compression resistance force changes significantly throughout the dampening range so I’m not sure if you’re referring to a QA1 or a VariShock. You don’t have to worry about ‘packing’ on these shocks. These are street cars and are not valved stiff enough for that to be an issue.

Incidentally, the shock dyno numbers you posted are not really comparable. The VariShock numbers in your original post are from a coil over body. The valving is slightly different for the 'bolt-in' shocks. Also, the valving is different between set valve, 1, 2, & 4 way adjustable as well. I don’t have a smooth body graph to share so we’ll just run with what you posted as it’s not drastically different. I’m pretty sure the ridetech info is also for a coilover as they don’t currently offer an HQ smooth body/adjustable ‘bolt-in’ style shock for your car. Herb is running a coilover body in his car. You could put those in, or you could spend an extra $48 to get a double adjustable VariShock. The Viking is a DA shock of unknown configuration.



That said, here's what I see when I look at the numbers you provided. The curve is important too, but this will do for now.
- VariShock - Primarily rebound dampening is controlled by the knob. Compression dampening follows slightly behind rebound damping.
- ridetech - Rebound dampening has narrowest range listed, has the most rebound damping at full soft and full stiff. Compression damping stays relatively static.
- Viking - DA Shock, can be tuned for softest rebound and stiffest compression of those listed. Has middle of the road rebound range. (Unless you compare it to the VariShock DA which can )



For reference, I have attached a copy of the VariShock coilover single and double adjustable coilover dyno graphs.

VariShockQ1_dyno.pdf VariShockQ2_dyno.pdf

Carl,

I'm running the SPC springs that Mark sold me with my AFX kit. They haven't been altered in any way. I'm also running spacers that he gave me, so I'm sure if there were any travel issues he would have made me aware of it.

The car is dynomatted on the floor and trunk. Full interior.

What I mean by wallowing is if I turn my shocks down to zero then yes it will bottom out and is generally scary during weight transfer and going around corners.

What I find interesting about the dyno charts you posted is the rebound range is virtually the same but the compression force is significantly higher on the Q2s. I'm not sure how the Q2s would help in my situation as I'm experiencing more of a harsh compression event.

[Carl @ Chassisworks]

Carl,
What I find interesting about the dyno charts you posted is the rebound range is virtually the same but the compression force is significantly higher on the Q2s. I'm not sure how the Q2s would help in my situation as I'm experiencing more of a harsh compression event.

Yes, the QS2 has a lot more available compression dampening. That doesn't mean you have to use all of it. The benefit of the double adjustable is that you can independently control the restistance force. The compression/bump is not tied to the extension/rebound. The DA shock was designed with more available compression because of this. It would be extremely unlikely that anyone would run both knobs a full 16 clicks tight.

Likewise, running a QS2 full soft on both paths would cause the car to 'wallow' as the valving is essentially turned off. You would basically be running on just the springs. What you are descibing to me sounds like a spring rate issue but could be any number of issues.

In the end, if you're having ride quality issues you need to talk to the guy who configured your package. You have our shock, but not springs, spindles, or a-arms that we supply; all of which matters in the overall setup. Mark Savitske is one of our most intelligent dealers, has written an excellent book on suspension tuning, and is the best person qualified to discuss his setup.

When you made your purchase, SC&C gave you very specific settings to use, along with specific ride height requirements. Go back to the original settings and set-up and start logging data about what setting you used and how the car responds, etc. We can then talk about how to make adjustments to create the ride and performance you want.