basic suspension set up for a noob


5alldaway

ek9 owner
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
793
hi folks i have my first track day at oulton park on tuesday, i am running miester zeta r coilovers(rest of the suspension is standard) and i was looking for some advice on a rough suspension setting

do i need to run the front soft or hard?

do i need to run the rear softer or harder than the front?

any advice would be greatly welcomed! thanx
 
I would say set them both the same, probably more on the stiffer side. Get a feel for the track then come in and adjust the front, few more laps adjust the rear few more laps and so on. Basically see what works for you.
 
I have zero practical experience with coilovers so far so take what I say with a bucket of salt... When you say soft or hard, are you referring to the damper adjustment? I always thought that was there just to control the spring movement? Sure, bumping up damping will make it stiffer, but it will also render the spring useless and inevitably you'll eventually blow the shock? From what I've read you should be changing springs and use the damper adjustment to make it all work together. I'd imagine there's just a small window for adjustment around each different spring rate. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong lol
 
cheers for the input folks, ive been asking around and people are saying is to set the front to "hard" and harder than the rear and adjust to suit
 
One question, you're asking for daily drive setup or track setup? :D
 
Looks like you had some fun!
 
full track set up sorry lol!!!!

went for 25 clicks on the front and 20 clicks on the back, it felt really good


Next trime 25 clicks on the rear and 20 clicks on the front. :)
 
Looks like you had some fun!

my first real track day and getting used to rev matching on the down shift, 2nd gear would of been far better for the chicanes but i was uncomfortable rev matching from 3rd to 2nd so i just did the chicanes in 3rd, the day was all about getting a good feel on track with the car and to get through the day unscathed
 
I agree with RVM, typically you'll find having the rear harder than the front best for a FWD car.

A stiffer axle transfers load faster than a soft one, and the bigger the load transfer between two tyres on an axle, the less grip they'll have. Ergo, the stiffer axle has less grip, so you really want to be giving the front as much grip as possible on a FWD which is why you set it softer than the rear.
 
I agree with RVM, typically you'll find having the rear harder than the front best for a FWD car.

A stiffer axle transfers load faster than a soft one, and the bigger the load transfer between two tyres on an axle, the less grip they'll have. Ergo, the stiffer axle has less grip, so you really want to be giving the front as much grip as possible on a FWD which is why you set it softer than the rear.

Thanks for the information. :bow:
 
thanx kozy, i will run the rear softer next time im out

thanx for everyones replies
 
You'll also notice less oversteer with a softer rear
 
And the wetter it gets, the less clicks you want on the front, or it will give you bump oversteer.
Looks like you had some fun though !
 
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