andrewhake

Thanks for the explanation Andrie, many good points. Still trying to wrap my head around a few things.

My understanding with a proper length damper (1 adjustment perch) is that as you raise or lower the ride height (the spring perch) you are not really applying a "preload" or compressing/uncompressing the spring at all, but rather are increasing/decreasing the overall length of the damper and affecting the length of it's stroke? Because the damper length is better matched to the particular car though and therefor has a longer overall stroke, you have a larger window to make these adjustments. Doesn't that mean that there is 1 optimal ride height for a particular set of springs on a that particular damper though? One height that uses the damper in the most effective way? (ignoring for a moment the minor adjustments that would go into corner balancing, etc.) That is what I am most interested in knowing. It makes sense though, that the proper length damper could support a range of ride heights (as long as they aren't extreme in either direction) and still remain very effective.

And with a damper with 2 separate adjustments the main sacrifice is overall stroke length of the damper because it has to account for the extra space needed for the adjustable lower mount and as you mentioned the damper length may not be optimized for the specific application. Even though you don't effect the actual stroke of the damper when adjusting ride height with this type, you may still end up with less effective stroke than the proper length damper with specific application?

Andrie

The keyword is proper length damper. I've seen single perch damper with wrong dimension too! Don't get too hung up on that. For instance, if you have a same length damper as stock with the same stroke, you can't lower the car much with the lower spring perch. Because if you lower it too much, you loose travel, and the damper will bottom out. The damper body need to be shorter too, so the top hat doesn't bottom out on the body. Ideally, for the most range of adjustment, you want the shortest body you can get away with, with the longest stroke you can attain given that body length. Too long of a droop can be managed with long helper springs as long as the piston doesn't hit the bottom of the damper body at full compression. However, short body, long stroke mean, limited volume on the body and might sacrifice damper characteristics. It is always a compromise. Finding the best compromise is the key.

Keep in mind, there is also a length of compression for any given springs. Typical race springs 6" long with 800 lbs rate has about 3.5" before it has coil bind. You need to refer to manufacturer spec to find out about the actual values.

andrewhake

Thanks again!

TougeHorseman

I wish I could understand that! Nice write up boys!

s2kenv

native SF w/ KW V3s

chuhsi

Does anyone in the bay area have the Ohlins DFV? it's the $3k setup. I'd love a ride to see if they're overkill for what I want or just right.

yamahaSHO

I can't imagine that the roads you're referring to being horrible compared to what we have to deal with here in the Midwest.


To side with the above... Although not S2000 specific, I built my STi to be a good street car and the KW v1's have been great for giving a nice ride (firm, yet compliant) without sacraficing all the performance. People riding in my car have described my car being more Porsche-like when referencing the ride and sound (equal length header). I went with V1's as for a street car, I didn't see a need to spend an extra $600 to have the adjustibility I did not want to mess with anyway.