Please bear in mind this question is coming from a rookie weekend autocross warrior (~1 yr. experience) and a track/lapping day wannabe who's trying to understand the subtleties of suspension dynamics...

All that being said, can y'all help provide an answer to my Q? Or maybe a better way to ask it is what are the drawbacks/dangers of either over-dampening or under-dampening your shocks to a given spring rate?

And here's another question: I'm currently running off-the-shelf Koni yellows (single adjustables) matched with Comptech sport springs which are rated at 330 ft/lbs front and 210 rear (both progressive). So, if you accept popular opinion that my Konis can handle spring rates up to 600 ft/lbs, then should I simply set my front shocks at about 50% firm and the rears at about 33% firm and then simply just leave it alone (i.e., "set it and forget it" to coin a popular infomercial slogan)? Would not these shock settings provide a "matched" dampening rate to the spring rates? Or do we also need to address the fact that my Koni yellows are only rebound adjustable, and that both the compression are rebound characteristics need to be addressed? As you can tell, I'm struggling to figure this out.

As always, your input is appreciated.

 

hum, I am not a guru on suspension settings, so I'll just talk about what I know and hope it helps some...
The way I set up my Konis is that I used a "light" setting at first (the softest), and noticed that it was under-damped (i.e. there was some bounce to it). So I increased the rebound damping until it eliminated the bounce and stopped right there. Theoretically, I should have a critically damped setup where after compression the car goes back up and that's it (no further oscillations).
If I had kept on increasing the rebound damping, I would have stepped into over damped territory, where the car would have been slower to bounce back from a compression. While that would feel more stable, it could also lead to the car jacking down on rippled pavement, and even slow down transitions when going through esses for example.
It seems to my novice mind that ideally, a balanced car would need a critically damped setup to perform at its peak. However, you can dial in oversteer or understeer a little bit by playing with the shock setting. I'm don't think that it is the right way to do it, but I suppose you could fine tune it that way. Maybe there are specific track layouts and conditions that would require different settings, but that gets to be too advanced for me. I have my car setup that way for both the street and the track, and it handles just fine for me. People (instructors) have complimented me on the handling of the car, so I figure it can't be too far off. Maybe when I get to be a better driver I will mess with it some more, but for now, it is indeed "set and forget".

As far as compression damping goes, that would control the speed at which the suspension compresses over bumps, and how fast it sets when turning in (for the outside wheels, and that is also dependent on rebound settings on the inside wheels). I would imagine that too little damping would feel like a "loose" car over bumps, and too much would just rattle the crap out of you (you know, as in your fillings fall out of your teeth). But that's the extent of my knowledge - I haven't investigated any further than that, since I can't affect it with my current setup... I'll concentrate on what I can change. Otherwise, too much information may overload the already over-worked brain...

 

SJR: Thanks for the reply. Much of what you said makes good sense.

Sounds like a methodical way to match damping to spring rates. I'll have to try that.

I agree, and that's a good part of the reason I asked this Q.

I don't personally know many, but the folks I do know who do real road racing suggest that you swap out the springs for different tracks that make different demands on the car and driver. Then, you simple readjust the shocks to be "tuned" to whatever spring is on the car.

Again, what real road racers have told me is that for our cars (GSRs and Civics) the way you get the best rotation is to have to rebound set as soft possible in the rear, while having the compression adjustment on the stiff side of things. For the fronts, they suggest doing just the opposite - stiff rebound and loose compression. But that's for those who have D/A shocks. They also suggest alignment (mainly the toe adjustments) is mucho important and can vary from track to track as well.

Again, I agree. Maybe I'm just thinking too much about this and should just get out there and drive, dammit!

 

Classic shock test: Set them, then close up the trunk, and start pressing down on the trunk to bounce the car. Once you get it going pretty well, let go and step back. The car should bounce 1 more time, and then stop, and that bounce will be small. With stiffer spring rates, (like something in the 6-800 pound range) that bounce will be very small. It still will bounce though. Like SJR said, too little will give the car a springy feel, while too much will feel like there is sand or clay in there somewhere, and everything is sllooowwwiiinggg doowwwwnnn......
BTW, how did the cap/rotor/wire/plugs swap go? Are you emissions legal yet?

 

LOL!

Went fine, thanks. Pushed the timing back from 18 to 14 BTDC, too. I'm getting smogged again this afternoon so I'll let you know soon.