Suspension Theory/Chat Thread

[flamewing]

once I learned to drive at the cars limits I will be looking to improve my stock setup. I was curious if lowering a car really made a big difference or not

[Highrev1]

Do 1 season of AUTOX then start modding....A good Autox driver almost always makes a good track driver....A good track driver almost never makes a good Autox driver

[flamewing]

cool good to know. I will need better tires if I am looking to Auto cross

[flamewing]

so in basic autox I will gain the needed driving skills? I can do basic driving but I feel like my cornering and braking skills aren't what they need to be.

[Sirbelch]

Yes it will

[flamewing]

cool I was dreading the idea of spending a few grand on driving lessons. I am still willing to do it but if I can gain the skill else where I might look into said options

[Sirbelch]

No place cheaper than Auto x.

[flamewing]

cool that works

[chunky]

Hi friends. This question doesn't necessarily relate to suspension tuning directly, but it does relate to the handling of the car. I'm thinking about buying some lightweight 17x8 wheels and probably a 225 tire to go with that.

The wheel comes in a variety of offsets and I was wondering what the pros and cons are of going with a 38 offset in the front and a 42 offset in the back?

I'm assuming that the lower offset in the front would affect the geometry in a negative way by itself, but the overall differences in offset front and back would cause the car to move away from understeer.

The difference in offset is minimal so the effects may also be negligible. I would prefer to just keep the offsets and widths the same for all four corners and just buy a thicker rear sway, but I'm a bit hesitant to do any welding/reinforcement of the endlink brackets, plus I might as well exercise the offset options.

[Sirbelch]

Go with a 235 tire on an 8" wheel, it will fit.
The lower the number is for the offset, the further out the wheels will be. This increases track width which will increase grip but will wear your wheel bearings faster.
Having less offset in the front than the rear will lessen understeer but you will lose the ability to rotate your tires. What you could do is get 42 all the way around and then by 5mm spacers for the front. This way, you can have your offset difference and still be able to rotate your tires. Do you plan on autox or racing?

[chunky]

I've just realized that I've been hitting the "Go Advance" button instead of the "Post Quick Reply" button. Car will be tracked at a small track locally. I don't think the speeds are any higher than say a autox event.

I've researched the tire sizes for 235 tires and it seems that the fitments have either a significantly smaller or larger circumference. The car will be daily driven so I'm not sure if I should go with the smaller circumference tires for the performance benefits.

Comments, suggestions?

[Sirbelch]

A 235/40/17 tire is smaller than stock. This make make your final final drive ratio short and help with acceleration. I run that size wheel/tire all day every day. The smaller diameter combined with the lower weight, really helped the car out in acceleration.

You might hit 65 on an auto x course in our cars.

[vaek]

My tech was cool enough to give me the before and after alignment specs for my Si HFP suspension. Might make a good baseline analysis, so if anyone is interested let me know and I'll post them up.

[fg2jap]

how do i get rid of a coiling sound? i just dropped my car and when ever i turn the wheel it the spring make noise. so how can i fix that?

[mbringle]

My Tein Flex seem to be making a little creaking noise I can hear when turning at slow speeds or going over speed bumps. The Honda guys said it was the springs (front) but everything was tight. This weekend I will take the wheel off and double check and try to find what is causing it.

[mbringle]

Originally Posted by chunky

Hi friends. This question doesn't necessarily relate to suspension tuning directly, but it does relate to the handling of the car. I'm thinking about buying some lightweight 17x8 wheels and probably a 225 tire to go with that.

The wheel comes in a variety of offsets and I was wondering what the pros and cons are of going with a 38 offset in the front and a 42 offset in the back?

I'm assuming that the lower offset in the front would affect the geometry in a negative way by itself, but the overall differences in offset front and back would cause the car to move away from understeer.

The difference in offset is minimal so the effects may also be negligible. I would prefer to just keep the offsets and widths the same for all four corners and just buy a thicker rear sway, but I'm a bit hesitant to do any welding/reinforcement of the endlink brackets, plus I might as well exercise the offset options.

Im looking at 17x8 with 225/45/17 too. But I will probably get a 45 offset, the RPF1, which are 15.2lb. I am dropped 1 inch so I am worried about rubbing. What are you looking at that had the 42 and 38 offset?

[Sirbelch]

Get a 235/40/17 on that 17x8. I have that same size with that same offset dropped even more with no rubbing. The tires are the most important part of the suspension. The more rubber, the better the suspension.

[eugenekim.net]

pic performance fg2 coilovers... thoughts on them?

[Sirbelch]

Originally Posted by eugenekim.net

pic performance fg2 coilovers... thoughts on them?

pic performance? is that the brand?

[Moose]

Originally Posted by Sirbelch

pic performance? is that the brand?

YUP - pretty good for an off-shorre company ... the designer actually took the time to design / build a decent setup with good performance ... they offer various off-the shelf spring rates that are aggressive and track oriented ...

NOT for FG's though

picperformance.com Redirect

FYI - He participated in the Shock Dyno free for all on HT


Moose