New dampers, and camber plates
Recently (last Thursday!) I got Koni Yellows and camber plates installed onto my car. The camber plates are from Maximum Motorsports. I would have installed Vorshlag plates but they simply couldn't get them built in time. The Vorshlag plates are still on order and it sounds like they'll have them finished relatively soon, so I may change over to them or, alternatively, keep them in case I go with coilovers. Worst case is that I sell them to someone who wants them.
Camber is dialed to -1.8 degrees, toe is zero, and caster is 7 degrees.
If you recall, I've been quite pleased with the stock suspension, but knew (after some experience) that I did indeed need camber plates. But the main thing I was unhappy about with the stock suspension was the harshness of the ride. It wasn't unbearable or anything, but it seemed harsher than it needed to be given the amount of suspension travel available.
For those who haven't seen my past messages here, my original plan was to go with coilovers. However, one of my requirements is to maintain the stock ride height (or darned close to it -- no more than a quarter inch drop up front, and no more than a half inch drop in the rear) because it's a daily driver and because the front roll center drops through the floor when you lower the car and requires that much more spring just to maintain the same amount of roll you had before, and off-the-shelf coilovers simply wouldn't have worked for me (well, except perhaps for the JRI coilovers that Maximum Motorsports offers, but I only found out about those very recently) because they all drop the car by about an inch at a minimum. Ground Control said they could make coilovers to my exact specifications and do it in time for my shop to install them before the Evolution driving school event that I just came from today. They failed to come through.
Well, i wasn't about to go to the Evolution driving school without camber plates, and if I'm going to install camber plates then I'm going to install something better than the stock dampers. Since I was already happy with the general behavior of the stock suspension (in terms of its controllability and balance), and thus wanted springs that maintained that balance, Koni Sport dampers seemed the logical choice because they are readily available, highly regarded, and I would then be able to keep my stock springs (I had computed front and rear rates that, in conjunction with the stock sway bars, should retain the handling characteristics at stock ride height that I already have, and that's what I would have gone with for coilovers, but that option didn't pan out).
That may have worked out for the best, as now I'm changing only one variable at a time (really, two, as I installed camber plates as well). This change allows me to see what better dampers do to the ride and the handling without complicating the question with spring rate changes.
As part of the process, I had my new dampers sent to a place to get them dynoed. I did this for two reasons. The first is that I wanted to be able to set the damping to equal amounts left and right. The second is that I wanted to be able to set the percentage of critical damping. Both require that the dampers be measured on a dyno.
The initial plots I got back are of one in the front and one in the rear. I'm presuming they did dyno all dampers, as that was my instruction to the shop that ordered them and sent them. If not, then I'd need to remove them and have them dynoed again for that purpose, and that's something I might not bother doing. I haven't noticed any side to side difference in damping, but I'm not really sure that's something I could notice even if it existed.
Once I got the dyno plots, I set the rebound to as close to 65% critical as I could for the low speed range (1 to 4 inches/second). For the front, that meant 1/4 of a turn above full soft, and for the rear, that meant 3/4 of a turn above full soft. Then it was off to Evolution driving school.
On the trip there (and back), the value of these dampers became apparent. The ride is substantially improved. The stock dampers have a "rubbery" characteristic that is difficult to explain but is rather unpleasant. That characteristic is completely gone. At 65% critical, the damping over typical SF Bay Area freeway bumps and street irregularities is vastly improved. While you can still feel some of the larger irregularities, it's no longer jarring in the way it used to be. You can feel that the bumps are damped smoothly. It adds a very pleasant characteristic to the ride that wasn't there before.
The Evolution Driving School, Redux
This was the second time I'd been to the Evolution driving school. The first time was on a bone-stock suspension. This time, I was equipped with camber plates and Koni Sport dampers.
The car feels nice and responsive. Frankly, that wasn't a complaint with the stock suspension, so I'm not sure there's a huge difference here. But it certainly didn't disappoint in that regard. It does handle the slaloms rather nicely. The main difference that I noticed is that the car is now a little more neutral, with a little more oversteer characteristic than before. This is mainly with respect to "steady state" cornering, e.g. in a long sweeper, and is especially noticeable when you start playing with the throttle. Whereas before, lifting the throttle would primarily make the front tuck in, this time, sufficient throttle lift alone will make the rear come out a bit, and there was one time when I had to correct that with steering. This makes the car immensely fun around long sweepers. It's just cool to be able to control the car like this. Since I have the same springs as before, and the dampers don't come into play except in transitions, this effect clearly is the result of the additional negative camber up front. Whereas before I really liked the suspension of my car, I now love it.
The driving school was awesome, primarily due to the instructors. One of them was Shelly Monfort, and she seemed to connect with me better than any previous instructor there had. This made a big difference in terms of what I was doing and how I was doing it, and made for substantial improvements in my approach. My internal limitations are still there, of course, but that's generally true of anyone, and it's always just a question of figuring out how to work around them. But that's essentially what we did, and it paid off nicely.
My primary goal wasn't that, however -- it was to learn the car's behavior at the limits, and especially how it differs from the behavior in stock form. That was accomplished very nicely here, even more than I had hoped. Not only have I learned how the car behaves at the limits, I've learned to control it with some precision, e.g. modulating the throttle around a sweeping turn to make it "dance" around the turn. This works especially well for decreasing radius turns.
All in all, it was a great time.
Tire wear
At -1.8 degrees of camber, the wear rate on the outer edges of the front tires now matches that of the rear with the tires and size. During the last Evolution driving school, the amount of wear I accumulated on the front tires was something like 3 to 4 times the amount I accumulate during a track event with the same camber. With the camber plates installed, the amount of wear on the front dropped to about the same as what I was accumulating in a single track event. This is a major improvement. Total grip hasn't really changed, as I'm still getting about 1.1G as measured by the built-in accelerometer. But these tires are now pretty worn, and I may get somewhat better grip with new rubber.
Needless to say, this is a major improvement.
With the balance being what it is, I'm going to keep it here for now and see how the tires wear in a different setting: the road course. The very outer edges are scrubbed away (or nearly so), but I think there's enough left for one track day. That track day is December 1, at Laguna Seca. I believe I've written about my experience at that track the last time I was there. The upshot is that it's some of the most fun I've had at a track, and I expect it'll be the same again this time.
Future plans
I'll stick with the current setup for at least a year. I may go with coilovers in the end, but I now have much less incentive to do so. Randy Pobst, in his comments about the Mustang GT in Motortrend's comparison between that and the BMW M3 (the Mustang tested looks like the Brembo package version, which should have the same dampers as the track package version I have), seemed to think the main shortcoming of the Mustang was in the damping. The Konis seem to fix that, and the camber plates take care of the tire wear issue. It may be that there are additional major improvements to be had, but I'm skeptical of that.
Regardless, the only reason I'm in this is for fun, and that has definitely been improved with these changes. Would coilovers bring even greater enjoyment? Perhaps. But then, perhaps not. Only time and experience will tell, and this setup needs and deserves time to really show what it can do in that regard. So far, I'm very pleased, and in the end, that's really what it's all about.
Recently (last Thursday!) I got Koni Yellows and camber plates installed onto my car. The camber plates are from Maximum Motorsports. I would have installed Vorshlag plates but they simply couldn't get them built in time. The Vorshlag plates are still on order and it sounds like they'll have them finished relatively soon, so I may change over to them or, alternatively, keep them in case I go with coilovers. Worst case is that I sell them to someone who wants them.
Camber is dialed to -1.8 degrees, toe is zero, and caster is 7 degrees.
If you recall, I've been quite pleased with the stock suspension, but knew (after some experience) that I did indeed need camber plates. But the main thing I was unhappy about with the stock suspension was the harshness of the ride. It wasn't unbearable or anything, but it seemed harsher than it needed to be given the amount of suspension travel available.
For those who haven't seen my past messages here, my original plan was to go with coilovers. However, one of my requirements is to maintain the stock ride height (or darned close to it -- no more than a quarter inch drop up front, and no more than a half inch drop in the rear) because it's a daily driver and because the front roll center drops through the floor when you lower the car and requires that much more spring just to maintain the same amount of roll you had before, and off-the-shelf coilovers simply wouldn't have worked for me (well, except perhaps for the JRI coilovers that Maximum Motorsports offers, but I only found out about those very recently) because they all drop the car by about an inch at a minimum. Ground Control said they could make coilovers to my exact specifications and do it in time for my shop to install them before the Evolution driving school event that I just came from today. They failed to come through.
Well, i wasn't about to go to the Evolution driving school without camber plates, and if I'm going to install camber plates then I'm going to install something better than the stock dampers. Since I was already happy with the general behavior of the stock suspension (in terms of its controllability and balance), and thus wanted springs that maintained that balance, Koni Sport dampers seemed the logical choice because they are readily available, highly regarded, and I would then be able to keep my stock springs (I had computed front and rear rates that, in conjunction with the stock sway bars, should retain the handling characteristics at stock ride height that I already have, and that's what I would have gone with for coilovers, but that option didn't pan out).
That may have worked out for the best, as now I'm changing only one variable at a time (really, two, as I installed camber plates as well). This change allows me to see what better dampers do to the ride and the handling without complicating the question with spring rate changes.
As part of the process, I had my new dampers sent to a place to get them dynoed. I did this for two reasons. The first is that I wanted to be able to set the damping to equal amounts left and right. The second is that I wanted to be able to set the percentage of critical damping. Both require that the dampers be measured on a dyno.
The initial plots I got back are of one in the front and one in the rear. I'm presuming they did dyno all dampers, as that was my instruction to the shop that ordered them and sent them. If not, then I'd need to remove them and have them dynoed again for that purpose, and that's something I might not bother doing. I haven't noticed any side to side difference in damping, but I'm not really sure that's something I could notice even if it existed.
Once I got the dyno plots, I set the rebound to as close to 65% critical as I could for the low speed range (1 to 4 inches/second). For the front, that meant 1/4 of a turn above full soft, and for the rear, that meant 3/4 of a turn above full soft. Then it was off to Evolution driving school.
On the trip there (and back), the value of these dampers became apparent. The ride is substantially improved. The stock dampers have a "rubbery" characteristic that is difficult to explain but is rather unpleasant. That characteristic is completely gone. At 65% critical, the damping over typical SF Bay Area freeway bumps and street irregularities is vastly improved. While you can still feel some of the larger irregularities, it's no longer jarring in the way it used to be. You can feel that the bumps are damped smoothly. It adds a very pleasant characteristic to the ride that wasn't there before.
The Evolution Driving School, Redux
This was the second time I'd been to the Evolution driving school. The first time was on a bone-stock suspension. This time, I was equipped with camber plates and Koni Sport dampers.
The car feels nice and responsive. Frankly, that wasn't a complaint with the stock suspension, so I'm not sure there's a huge difference here. But it certainly didn't disappoint in that regard. It does handle the slaloms rather nicely. The main difference that I noticed is that the car is now a little more neutral, with a little more oversteer characteristic than before. This is mainly with respect to "steady state" cornering, e.g. in a long sweeper, and is especially noticeable when you start playing with the throttle. Whereas before, lifting the throttle would primarily make the front tuck in, this time, sufficient throttle lift alone will make the rear come out a bit, and there was one time when I had to correct that with steering. This makes the car immensely fun around long sweepers. It's just cool to be able to control the car like this. Since I have the same springs as before, and the dampers don't come into play except in transitions, this effect clearly is the result of the additional negative camber up front. Whereas before I really liked the suspension of my car, I now love it.
The driving school was awesome, primarily due to the instructors. One of them was Shelly Monfort, and she seemed to connect with me better than any previous instructor there had. This made a big difference in terms of what I was doing and how I was doing it, and made for substantial improvements in my approach. My internal limitations are still there, of course, but that's generally true of anyone, and it's always just a question of figuring out how to work around them. But that's essentially what we did, and it paid off nicely.
My primary goal wasn't that, however -- it was to learn the car's behavior at the limits, and especially how it differs from the behavior in stock form. That was accomplished very nicely here, even more than I had hoped. Not only have I learned how the car behaves at the limits, I've learned to control it with some precision, e.g. modulating the throttle around a sweeping turn to make it "dance" around the turn. This works especially well for decreasing radius turns.
All in all, it was a great time.
Tire wear
At -1.8 degrees of camber, the wear rate on the outer edges of the front tires now matches that of the rear with the tires and size. During the last Evolution driving school, the amount of wear I accumulated on the front tires was something like 3 to 4 times the amount I accumulate during a track event with the same camber. With the camber plates installed, the amount of wear on the front dropped to about the same as what I was accumulating in a single track event. This is a major improvement. Total grip hasn't really changed, as I'm still getting about 1.1G as measured by the built-in accelerometer. But these tires are now pretty worn, and I may get somewhat better grip with new rubber.
Needless to say, this is a major improvement.
With the balance being what it is, I'm going to keep it here for now and see how the tires wear in a different setting: the road course. The very outer edges are scrubbed away (or nearly so), but I think there's enough left for one track day. That track day is December 1, at Laguna Seca. I believe I've written about my experience at that track the last time I was there. The upshot is that it's some of the most fun I've had at a track, and I expect it'll be the same again this time.
Future plans
I'll stick with the current setup for at least a year. I may go with coilovers in the end, but I now have much less incentive to do so. Randy Pobst, in his comments about the Mustang GT in Motortrend's comparison between that and the BMW M3 (the Mustang tested looks like the Brembo package version, which should have the same dampers as the track package version I have), seemed to think the main shortcoming of the Mustang was in the damping. The Konis seem to fix that, and the camber plates take care of the tire wear issue. It may be that there are additional major improvements to be had, but I'm skeptical of that.
Regardless, the only reason I'm in this is for fun, and that has definitely been improved with these changes. Would coilovers bring even greater enjoyment? Perhaps. But then, perhaps not. Only time and experience will tell, and this setup needs and deserves time to really show what it can do in that regard. So far, I'm very pleased, and in the end, that's really what it's all about.
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