Thread: Drop Spindle Discussion
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Old 05-02-2007, 08:02 AM
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Potenziato Potenziato is offline
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Location: San Jose
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant View Post
@Louis - I think the way a car will handle at the limit will be roughly the same whether you have cheap or expensive tires. I know steering response won't be as good with the cheapies, but I don't think and understeering car will turn into an oversteering car with a trip to the tire store. Eagle F1's are baller!

And, I think Louis' spring rates were too much for the dampers. Felt a bit underdamped from the short ride I got. Maybe with softer springs they'll be just right? What do you think Louis?
The cars feel totally different depending on size and type. I picked up those 17's cheap becasue Jes couldn't take the ride quality with his suspension, Koni and Shankle. I have tried light weight wheel SSR's vs. the Stilauto 17s and the car ride better on the heavy (@20 lbs) Stilautos. Okay, the tires are worn on the SSRs and different so it's not a fair comparison. The car would steer like a truck with 205's and is managable with the 215's. That contradicts most peoples intuition. The Konis are really harsh with low profile tires. The RS is alot better in this way.

The lightweight wheels rides better over fast up and down movements. You could use less damping and softer springs with light weight wheels. However, in terms of ride quality, the tire aspect ratio is going to form a spring and this is where we would perceive the car as being harsh.

So, in reality the suspension is a matched system consisting of the wheel, tires, shocks, springs, swaybars, alignment,etc... See why it's so damn hard to get it right!

I think what you perceive as damping is caused by the spindles. The extension in the front is too great with the spindles. The RS shocks are two inches shorter in travel than a stock shock and the springs aren't fully compressing. It's just my theory. I may buy a set of 100kg front and 50 kg rears to see if this might be a hot street setup. I still like how darty the car is with 125F and 80R.

My test track for suspension is a high speed connector ramp from 101 South onto 85 North. If the car doesn't feel stable at 100mph through here, than it's not on the money.
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Louis

1987 75 RS 24V
1987 Milano Verde ex RS Racing Special (1st RS kit in USA!!!)
2004 BMW M3
2002 Porsche Boxster
Last edited by Potenziato; 05-02-2007 at 08:10 AM.
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