Suspension setup for the track

[djjerme]

I actually ran bone stock Bilsteins for the first season in my home built coilover setup on the PRO3 car. They weren't half bad, and it was kinda nice not having any knobs to fiddle with and get wrong! :)

You can't go wrong with Billies on an E30 as a default..

[Joeyz31]

Just some input here with the whole isc situation. If you are having a tough time time understanding what everyone is saying as far as they are "not as good" as a none adjustable koni or bilstein... consistency is a great way to measure a difference. This is a tough one for a lot of people and quite honestly I think why there are a million of these coilover companies out there making a sub $1k coilover that looks cool as hell. They survive because the primary function of how the shock works is not visible. you are going into the quality of the product blind with the exception of years of experience and customer backing (bilstein, koni. JRZ, etc..)

When I had a Miata, I needed a stop gap solution to my shock spring combo. I ended up with a brand new set of megan coilovers that came to me with 16 way adjustable dampning and a pretty look. Upon putting them on, they felt absolutely awesome over what I had previously. However, it did not take long to realize that a cheap dampener makes all of the difference. This is no joke, 60 degree day... casual driving the adjustment worked awesome and the car felt great. 30 degree day, full soft and the car was so stiff over bumps that it felt like a rock. 90 degree day, full hard and it felt like I was driving a wet noodle.

There is no telling what was going on with the seals/ fluid inside of those things. I switched to bilstiens and swift springs ( for almost the same price) and it feels the same every day. My point.. on a race track, things heat up as you go around the track/speed up. Your car could literally feel different as the session goes on. You do not want that.

[Bimmerman325i]

Yup, and that doesn't get into the nittier grittier detail about shock valving and how these cheap brands aren't even consistent there.

Case in point, back when I was involved in Subaru land, someone bought new BCs or Megans (same level of junk) and then got them dynoed on a shock dyno. I think these had 32 clicks or something stupid like that of adjustment, and lo and behold, to get them to respond the same way on the dyno required mismatches of up to 10 clicks side to side and front to rear-- and this was at the same temperature and testing conditions! There were other engineering-y reasons why they sucked, but unless one is a shock nerd that's not relevant.

Konis and Bilsteins, which are the established players in the market, are super consistent and repeatable. Just because sideways-cap strawberry-vaping stance bro at the Friday night tilted-windshield-sticker-oogling fest looks down on them for not being 32 way adjustable and shiny does NOT mean they're bad. They're actually drastically superior to most any shock near their price range.

It's also why GCs and TCKs use Koni shocks as a basis. Those two respective kits (plus the Bilstein PSS9s) consistently win championships on the racetrack and autocross courses. Megans and BCs and similar level crap win the "hey look I broke another oil pan, aren't I cool? Let me post about it on instatwitter, #attentionwhore #hashtag" championship.

I may have strong feelings on this matter, but the proliferation of cheap crap being passed off as quality combined with the lack of knowledge about suspensions is troublesome. Hence, education!

[whitebulat22]

Really liking the info in here.

There were other engineering-y reasons why they sucked, but unless one is a shock nerd that's not relevant.

I may have strong feelings on this matter, but the proliferation of cheap crap being passed off as quality combined with the lack of knowledge about suspensions is troublesome. Hence, education!

May I ask where to read up on becoming a shock nerd? So I can help with the education thing maybe!

[alas]

I have to agree with most:

Track it first as is for your "base".

From then on you have a reference to move on from.

That's the whole fun in setting up your suspension, they're noticeable gains to be made!

Unfortunately, that won't be possible until you become consistent with your runs.

Get driving! Enjoy, and good luck.


-E

[matthugie]

May I ask where to read up on becoming a shock nerd? So I can help with the education thing maybe!

http://www.penskeshocks.com/assets/Adjustable%20Manual.pdf

This is probably the best single resource I've found. Great mix of technical detail and verbal explanation.

[Bimmerman325i]

http://www.penskeshocks.com/assets/A...e%20Manual.pdf

This is probably the best single resource I've found. Great mix of technical detail and verbal explanation.

Wow. That is a seriously good reference.

Another great thread that I've been following is this one, from m3forum. The poster is working with Fat Cat Motorsports to prototype a good street suspension for his E46 M3, which is cool and all, but the technical detail that the poster and the owner of FCM go into are what make the thread a good read.

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=534318

[petrolhead]

A complete answer to that question would be the lenght of a book. Which, many people have actually written.
Test your car, change the setup according to results, test again, scratch your head and wonder why changes didn't bring the expected result, change back..

The world's most awesomest 4 way adjustable shocks and "adjustable everything made from titanium" will improve nothing if they're not tuned properly.

[BraveUlysses]

OP already left the thread cause we didn't tell him what he wanted to hear

[nando]

Just because sideways-cap strawberry-vaping stance bro at the Friday night tilted-windshield-sticker-oogling fest looks down on them for not being 32 way adjustable and shiny does NOT mean they're bad.

thanks for dashing my hopes and dreams.. LOL

[djjerme]

OP already left the thread cause we didn't tell him what he wanted to hear

I think that's how 90% of the threads end nowadays.

Perhaps the FB people DID figure out there was a forum..

[2mAn]

perhaps the fb people did figure out there was a forum..

dammit

for what its worth, I love my IE3 and Bilstein setup, though the shocks/ struts are getting tired so Im considering switching to Konis

[stonea]

Perhaps the FB people DID figure out there was a forum..

Well anyone got any ideas for a new domain name?

[TobyB]

Your car could literally feel different as the session goes on

It could also feel figuratively different.

r4vlimited is available, I think...
...but in current BMW-numbering schemes, that would mean that only 2- doors could join.

t

[Bimmerman325i]

It could also feel figuratively different.

r4vlimited is available, I think...
...but in current BMW-numbering schemes, that would mean that only 2- doors could join.

t

Well, 4-door "gran coupe" as well. Do they make a 4gt yet?

I'm pretty sure BMW has lost its mind on naming conventions.