hey namers
i'm riding on a koni coilover right now, and wondering if stiff strut setting is causing my car to be a bit bouncy on big dumps? (dropped 1.5~ 1.7 ish)

car handles good but too nervous and it feels light at higher speeds..bumps or tars on the roads at high speed (60~ mph upperwards) makes the car crazy nervous....

any inputs would be appreciated..!!

 

O also, what do you feel like when you ride on the bump stops? I believe it feedsback some sharp thumps and loud noises? or does the car get bouncy when u ride it?

 

Too stiff is not too good for streets which are not smooth to begin with.

Using other brands of coilovers usually we notice bouncy is when shock settings are too soft so we go a little stiffer than full soft like 15 to 20% less than full soft. Make the fronts about 20% softer than the rears. Set the rears to middle stiffness and try it out. Full stiff for shocks is for the track not for street use- it's too jarring and uncomfortable.

I have found that a full drop with coilovers leads to very stiff and uncomfortable ride. If you get tired of it then raise your ride height 1/4" front and rear.

Also what are your alignment settings?

And make sure you have the shock adjustments moving in the right direction- that when you set it to full soft it IS really full soft and not full stiff.

Another option is to try it with all four shocks set to full stiff then full soft then all in the middle so you can see how it feels. More bouncy or less bouncy, more noisy or not.

 

so stiff shock maybe causing a bit of bouncy ness over the bumps / delicate feeling at high speeds??


I guess I'm going to turn the fronts down 1/4 turn tomorrow on the way to school then another 1/4 down when i will be coming home and see!


thanks btw!

 

if a set up is under dampened, that can also cause a bouncy situation. if the damper can not keep up with or slow down the spring recoil, the spring will compress and expand over and over again. The damper is meant to slow the movement, and settle the spring down.

having a well matched spring rate and damper valving is important, smoothes out the ride, even when the damper is stiff.

 

Valving and spring rates have a lot to do with it - mess either one up and you're hosed. Many coilover units maintain a 3:1 ratio throughout their adjustment range, but the sophistication of the valving can still wreak havoc on ride quality and performance (depending on the manufacturing). I'm not sure how the Koni units function...