on adj struts, why set rears stiffer? - Honda Prelude Forum

snb3 · 02-14-2002, 01:12 AM

I've noticed some of you set the rear stiffer than the ft. Is it for a more neutral handling (less understeer)? woundn't that make the lighter rear end bounce & rattle?
How much of a change does it make as compared to setting it even.

Ruchmate · 02-14-2002, 02:02 AM

It is for understeer prevention, of couse you wouldn't want too much or it could be quite jittery with lots of lift off oversteer.

Heat Rave R · 02-14-2002, 04:10 AM

That doesn't sound quite right... Everything I've ever read says to set the rear softer for more oversteer. To get oversteer, you want the rear end to "slide out" more than the front.

For example, let's say you're hanging a hard left turn. The g-forces will shift all the weight to the right, of course, and you'll want the rear end to move more to the right than the front so that the facing of the car is more to the left (think of how a RWD car can bust a donut by making the rear of the car move more than the front). By stiffening the rear, you're making the lateral weight transfer of the rear less than the front, thus creating understeer. But you don't want that. You want the rear shocks softer so that they don't inhibit the lateral weight transfer that helps the rear move farther out. This rear lateral weight transfer is esp. important on FWD cars since we don't have the powered rear wheels to help move the rear end out. So we have to rely solely on weight transfer (and therefore, our suspension) to help out.

Remember, when you're adjusting the shocks, you're adjusting the *rebound*, that is, the strength/speed of the shock's ability to return it back to the normal position when compressed. So if the rears are set high, they'll be trying to "throw" the car back into the straight position rather than turn.

The time you want the rears set high on a FWD car is for drag racing for the same reason. At the launch, all the weight is shifting from the front, driving wheels to the useless back wheels. Well, stiff rears will help "throw" the weight back onto the driving wheels.

Ruchmate · 02-14-2002, 12:35 PM

No, you set the rear stiffer (same principle as a rear sway bar) because the rear tires will load up faster than the front ones and thus give way faster than the front ones too.

Mugenlude · 02-14-2002, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ruchmate
No, you set the rear stiffer (same principle as a rear sway bar) because the rear tires will load up faster than the front ones and thus give way faster than the front ones too.

I agree

Heat Rave R · 02-15-2002, 01:30 AM

Oh I think I see what you're saying.. So, because the shocks are now trying to "throw" the car back the other way harder, it puts more stress on the tires to bring them to their traction limit (and thus be quicker to swing out). Makes sense. But the other way I talked about still kinda makes sense to me too. Not just cuz of the reasoning I stated but also cuz I've read it elsewhere and my super-handling-obsessed tuner friend says the same thing too.

Perhaps both principles work but depends on the driving style? For those who want to break the rear wheel traction loose to make turns, stiffer rear would be better. But then perhaps for a less aggressive driver softer rears would be better since, if they fail to generate enough lateral g-force to break the traction limit, then they just created all this resistance to moving in that direction. Ack, my head hurts now. Well I do agree with your reasoning and will try it out on my next mountain run. But whatever, I don't think I really notice much difference either way so heck, I'll just set em even and be done with it.

In any case, I normally run 3 of 4, front and 2 of 4 rear. I have the fronts relatively stiff to help avoid bottoming out that heavy front end of ours and the rears less stiff simply for comfort (and then I stiffen the rear when going out to the runs ^_~)

TCB007 · 02-15-2002, 01:59 AM

..kinda off-topic but how stiff or soft do you guys set your shocks to for everyday driving and commuting?

Mugenlude · 02-15-2002, 11:50 AM

Two turns softest=0 to stiffest=2:

Front: 1.5
Rear: 1.75