Tuning your adjustable suspension...

[Shades]

... so my suspension has settled in and I'm ready to play with different settings.

Oh yeah, I've got MS adjustable struts with H&R's...

So what's the best setting for cornering... as in, hard in the front and soft in the rear, or vice-a-versa?

[FE3-323]

if ur rocking h&r springs id personaly tighten up the rear a bit should help you pull the ass end around more. you'll have to play with them & see what works best with you

[deadly_sleeper]

how many different way adjustable are they? i assume they are 6. i would go with 3-4 in the front and then 1 click softer in the rear. go out and drive it hard and fast and go from there. there isn't gonna be a simple asnwer to this due to everybody is gonna have a different style of driving. some like it to be completely neutral, where other people like the front end to slide, where there are people that like the back to slide out before the front <-- this is most people since it is easier to control the back end sliding out when the front.

luckily for you, you only have so many settings, where as if you had 16 or up way adjustable, it could take you several months to dial it in where you like it. i bet you could get it dialed in to where you like it a weekend or so.

[Shades]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah I know that I will have to find my own comfort levels... but I was wondering what the general public likes for ride (soft/hard).

Also it's 4 settings on the adjustments... 1 being soft, 4 being hard... I have it on 3 on the front and 2 on the rears.

Oh yeah I'm also sporting 17" rims with 205/40's on there.

[Mazda_Powered]

Just like the guys said Jon, just play around with it. Best bet is to autocross the car a couple times so you can really push the suspension, then tune it to what you feel is for you. I'd like my car to be a bit stiffer in the rear compared to the front since our cars are FWD and front traction is a must with that lol.

JACK.

[Shades]

Thanks Jack... yeah I'll try it out.

So you think that softer in the front is better for FWD... Hmmm... I'll try that next.

[1967cutlass]

I'd go full soft or close to it on the street, then worry about stiffer setting when/if you race the car.

[swalltr207jg]

i dont know how your roads r, but I like to set mine to hard in the front, harder in the back. so its hard, but not painfully so on decent roads, then I kick it up even more for racing. I hate the feeling of how a front wheel drive car understeers at the limit, so I do my best to tune it out, and if you can with your coils add some negative camber as well.

[13thghost]

well i will give you some of my thoughts. if i was you! i will go as low as i can with the car hight. the 3# setting on your shocks is perfect.also dont go with a aftermarket sway bar or a stiff sway bar. go with a soft sway bar and stiff springs.this will allow the tire to bite down on corners.you dont whant the ass end enny diffrent then the front.also look into more negitive camber with a 15'' or 16' inch rim.and good tires.you dont want the ass up high becouse it will mess up the balance of the car if you have a cast iron block it is very heavy and tends to want to limite your capabileties .you want to have a neutral suspesion.

[deadly_sleeper]

well i will give you some of my thoughts. if i was you! i will go as low as i can with the car hight. the 3# setting on your shocks is perfect.also dont go with a aftermarket sway bar or a stiff sway bar. go with a soft sway bar and stiff springs.this will allow the tire to bite down on corners.you dont whant the ass end enny diffrent then the front.also look into more negitive camber with a 15'' or 16' inch rim.and good tires.you dont want the ass up high becouse it will mess up the balance of the car if you have a cast iron block it is very heavy and tends to want to limite your capabileties .you want to have a neutral suspesion.

he's on springs, so he can go any lower. and just cuz you go low as you can doesn't mean it gonna handle good. if you go too low, then you will go past the limits of the shocks, and they won't work properly.

[13thghost]

i will agree with you .but thats why i sed as low as you can. hint hint !! and if they are true racing shock they will still or should still work proper in a track application.where there are no pot holes just chicaines to run over lol.well if he is on spring then he will need to no his spring rates.on front and back to properly adjust all so take into account wear is most of his cars engine and trans weight.LF/ or RF. and one more thing the lower your center of gravety the better you will handel.and that is 100% fact lol.

[FE3-323]

theres a limit point sub 2" drop in the front where the center curve of gravity changes for worse handling just for the record

[b6tcapri]

You could also play with removing the front sway bar. I agree that "getting it low" isn't an end all solve all way to go. You still need suspension travel. This isn't a track car, it's your daily driver right? You want to start bending things? Plus if the bump steer isn't addressed with the lowering you're going to get some weird things happening in a corner with bumps.

Think of it this way. H&R springs usually sticks to around 1.5" lowering with it's "sport" springs. You know the ones that replace the stock springs. I'd start with that setting with your coil overs and get the car to were you like it and see if you have any bottoming on the roads that you drive. Once you have determinded you've got your useable travel established start tuning the car using the shoack/swaybars and caster/camber settings.

Just my two cents
Ed

[1967cutlass]

So much misinformation ... lol

[Shades]

Haha... this is true.

Ok, I have H&R Sport springs... so yes I have the 1.5" drop.
I also have Mazdaspeed adjustable struts, which have "FOUR" settings from soft to hard... they aren't coilovers by any means. They just adjust the rebound rate of the shocks. 1=soft, 4=hard.

So far I've tried:
3=front, 2=rear
2=front, 1=rear

For street use, I kinda like the 2=front, 1=rear... just cause it's a softer setting, and I'm riding on 205/40R17's with reinforced sidewalls which make it kinda a hard ride.