Soft or Stiff Springs?

[z3r0cfm]

Whats easier on the track, to reduce fishtailing and to increase steering response...

Would it be soft springs, or stiffer ones, or the so called tukod style...

I've seen several slalom cars having the tukod suspension setup, most of them have it, some use coil overs, no play also...

Any advice?

[speedyfix]

for slalom and circuit, definistely stiff springs. but too stiff and you bounce all over the place, too soft naman and pangit din handling.

you have to find the ultimate balance between grip and controllability when setting up a suspension.

[GRaMLyTZ]

You need to have adjustable dampers to fine out where you stand or to ur advantage . Sometimes , its a different set up today and maybe tomorrow is another set-up . Thats why its important to do test runs to figure out the best suit ride for that certain event on that specific driver ...

[Eikichi Onizuka]

zero_cfm

a tukod set up is best for drag because its good in trasferring the weigh upon lunching, pero nakakatakot pag braking hehehehehe parang aangat na yung likod mo dahil sobrang taas ive got a friend na nagfishtail ang hit the guard dahil sobrang tigas ng suspension nya sa likod. pag soft naman yung suspension upon tackling a corner in a high speed parang tataob yung auto mo dahil sa centrifugal force. pag stiff naman ang suspension mo and youll be passing in a street with a lot of path holes hehehehe grabe parang sinisipa ka sa pwet ng kabayo. just my 2cents..

[Ernest]

As a rule of thumb with stiffer springs you sacrifice a bit of traction for better handling.  For a beginner it is better to stay stock and learn what the car can do there.  

Installing performance springs with the stock shocks might worsen your handling.  This is because the stock shocks may not be able to dampen those stiffer springs properly so you will be bouncing around.  It is better to install performance shocks with stock springs than install performance springs with stock shocks.

Stiffer springs up front will create more understeer and stiffer springs at the rear will create more oversteer.  For most FWD applications it is better to have softer front springs and vice versa for RWD applications.  

[z3r0cfm]

Thanks Guys.

Maybe thats whats wrong about my setup, I'm using performance springs and using stock shocks.

I really don't want to oversteer as it causing my car to go sideways... Is that right?  I have a friend who's telling me that I'm not going sideways because of my suspension...  Maybe... I'm not really sure...

[Ernest]

Thanks Guys.

Maybe thats whats wrong about my setup, I'm using performance springs and using stock shocks.

I really don't want to oversteer as it causing my car to go sideways... Is that right?  I have a friend who's telling me that I'm not going sideways because of my suspension...  Maybe... I'm not really sure...

Oversteer is when your rear end wants to swap with the front end.

There is a saying that when a car oversteers the passengers get terrified, when it understeers the driver gets terrified.

[enigmazutapia]

 really don't want to oversteer as it causing my car to go sideways... Is that right?  I have a friend who's telling me that I'm not going sideways because of my suspension...  Maybe... I'm not really sure...

you might be breaking thru the corner upsetting the balance of the car.

go to a track meet then dun ka magtanung and mag practice. knowing is diff from application.

[luwe]

mas madali naman i-control yung understeer a lalo na kapag FF kaya mas kabado ako sa oversteer  

[Ernest]

mas madali naman i-control yung understeer a lalo na kapag FF kaya mas kabado ako sa oversteer  

Kaso with oversteer at least you get the car to turn into the corner.  If ever you do spin away it takes off so much kinetic energy from the car so you could stop rather quickly.  If you understeer you could go straight into a wall...  That is one of the reasons Rally drivers drift a lot.  They do not know the exact racing lines so they are trying to avoid understeer by drifting the car.

[z3r0cfm]

enigs,

you're right! i'm braking a lot on the corner, had fatbastard drive my car, and i saw the difference, i also noticed it when i was driving, once i brake it made the rear move, so i released the brake, and it controlled better.

practice, more practice....

[Eikichi Onizuka]

zero_cfm

why not practice the lef foot breaking upon tackling a corner, since your car has an FF layout..

[dhoeze]

zero_cfm

why not practice the lef foot breaking upon tackling a corner, since your car has an FF layout..

left foot braking............. wow.... ang sarap.... sana kaya ko yun....... huhuhuhuh

[z3r0cfm]

Toms,

Tried hat a few times, bigla tigil ng oto ko  

[luwe]

Why left foot brake an oversteering car?


Anyway back to the original question. My car's ride height during the last trackday was two finger fender gap at the front and four at the rear. Suffice to say my car was just half a finger lower than stock at the rear (because of rubber lifters). The setup took away all the understeer from my car especially at the lower speeds. I had to change my entry at the double apex since I got used to understeering through it. I used lowering springs so I didn't get massive roll.